free standing or stake reliant tents.....

[Brad Fournier]

Does anyone have a favorite tent design they want to share, is free standing the way to go for our type of camping (ie: kayak camping) Then there are stoves and sleeping bags, enough designs to make you dizzy. HELP.

[djlewis]

The basic decision is what capacity you want -- a solo, tight-double, roomy-double, etc. That said, the solo models are often not that much lighter and smaller than the doubles. They vary a lot. Of course, size is somewhat more important than weight for a kayaker, by contrast with backpackers.

I really like my Mountain Hardware Hammerhead 2...

http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Product.as...7&viewAll=False

but the REI Halfdome 2 was the runner up, and is cheaper...

http://www.trailspace.com/gear/rei/half-dome-2-hc/

The review there about leaky seams did not seem to be repeated elsewhere, so I assume he had a lemon.

These are doubles with decent height. I do have a solo as well, but have yet to use it. For non-wilderness use, the Hammerhead 2 makes a lovely solo with more room.

On your original question, these are both freestanding, which I think is a good idea even if you stake it. It's easier to set up and fiddle with the siting.

--David.

[Jed]

Favorite tent for paddling . .

Integral Design's Silshelter (a minimalist tarp-tent) can use a paddle split as it's only pole, tie down with stakes, sticks or deadmen.

http://www.integraldesigns.com/product_det...producttypeid=1

. . plus a bug screen for black fly season . . .

http://www.integraldesigns.com/product_det...producttypeid=1

cheers,

The ability to defend our beliefs with absolute certainty . . .

   . . . is often inversely proportional to our level of experience.

[rick stoehrer]

i have a hammerhead 2 as well and both janis and i really like it. it is quite roomy enough for the 2 of us to camp out of and is free standing. as far as tents go, i really like this one...although for durability, i have a 20 (yes, that # is 20) year old, 3 man, 3 season free standing coleman dome that is holding up like a warrior.

BUT...both are bulky.

size wise, the sil nylon tarp is tiny....but i used one as a sleeping shelter only once...and it soaked through in the middle of the night (this is a month ago on thief) and i awoke in my hammock, wet and hypothermic. not ideal really. so not too impressed with sil nylon myself but again, maybe it was just a one off ocurrence....although, my igloo shelter is made of the same stuff and that will soak through eventually as well....hmmn, maybe it's just a characteristic of the material, after all?

in any event, what about a bivy bag? small, waterproof, minimal impact and free standing. not very bulky.

[Joan_H]

I have a Northface Tadpole 23 tent which is classified as a 2 man 3 season tent. It would have to be 2 very small men but for one woman it is fine. Lightweight, easy to pack in a kayak and dry dry dry. I was caught in a fierce thunderstorm with raindrops the size of small boulders and just waited for it to soak in, but I remained dry as a bone. In fact everytime I've used it, it has rained. Only complaint is that on a hot rainy night with the rain fly on it really gets steamy.

http://www.trailspace.com/gear/the-north-face/tadpole-23/

[JohnHuth]

One I took on a 4 day Maine Island trail trip was the sierra design clip-flashlight. It's a stake-reliant tent - but is very compact and fits well into the cargo hatch.

There aren't a huge number of spots where you would need a free-standing tent, but one that's a good option is the MSR hubba

http://www.msrcorp.com/tents/hubba.asp

I've heard good reports on this one.

Both are small enough to fit well into cargo hatches.

At the other extreme, I have a Northface Mountain 25, which is your basic North-col, survive-Everest model, and I've weathered the toughest storms in this puppy and always have been comfortable. Unfortunately, it takes up a lot of room in the hatch.

[chetpk]

I've used an extensive variety of tents going back to camping in the backyard as a kid to a number of years mountaineering. My preference has been towards free standing tents because they are sometimes a little easier to set up in little less then ideal places and their ability to distribute pressure from a big wind blast. Sierra Designs, North Face, MSR all have excellent tents, but even some cheaper tents under the LL Bean, EMS, REI brands or brands like Kelty and Eureka will more then meet the needs most people will ever have. Stay away from the department store ones as most of those don't have flys that come almost all the way to the ground. For the last twenty years I have used one of the origional Sierra Designs Stretch Dome tents and finally the fly ripped (degraded by UV) on the MITA last summer. Sierra Designs did repair it, but my brother did get me an MSR Hubba at cost. Nice tent.

If your tent is going to be hit by winds make sure it is effectively staked or rocked down irregardless if it is free standing or not. Lost an expensive Stephenson Warmlite on the side of a mountain once to the Wind God. It wasn't a free standing tent(only requires 4 stake out points), but a free standing one would have also gone that day if not properly staked down.

There has been a trend towards simple and lightweight gear in the backpacking and mountaineering worlds and the link below has a wealth of information on that including shelter systems you can easily make. Jardine has been setting standards in outdoor adventuring and designing some of the most effective outdoor gear for decades now going back to his creation of the origional climbing protection camming devices "Friends" in the early 70's.

http://www.rayjardine.com/index.shtml

[Jed]

>size wise, the sil nylon tarp is tiny....but i used one as a

>sleeping shelter only once...and it soaked through in the

>middle of the night (this is a month ago on thief) and i

>awoke in my hammock, wet and hypothermic. not ideal really.

> so not too impressed with sil nylon myself but again, maybe

>it was just a one off ocurrence....although, my igloo

>shelter is made of the same stuff and that will soak through

>eventually as well....hmmn, maybe it's just a characteristic

>of the material, after all?

>

>in any event, what about a bivy bag? small, waterproof,

>minimal impact and free standing. not very bulky.

Sorry to hear about your less than comfortable night on Thief. Been there, not fun. I'm not sure what you had over you, but I'd be surprised if your igloo is SilNylon. Even the SKGa cags are not actually SilNylon.

My SilShelter (and my other SilNylon stuff) has work flawlessly over the past 5 years. Never had to seal seam, never had a leak. The SilShelter packs up smaller than a 16oz nalgene.

I'll second the suggestion for a bivy. I tend to use a SilNylon tarp with a bivy beneath. works like a charm but not for those claustrophobic at heart.

The ability to defend our beliefs with absolute certainty . . .

   . . . is often inversely proportional to our level of experience.

[rick stoehrer]

it's that same igloo we used the day on plum. you remember? i thought that was sil nylon?

my igloo is about 3 years old...the more recent iterations aren't the same fabric and are builkier and a different material.

[shewhorn]

>Does anyone have a favorite tent design they want to share,

>is free standing the way to go for our type of camping (ie:

>kayak camping)

I am new to 'yak camping (went on my first trip a few weeks ago to Jewel and am headed out to Penobscot Bay for a week on Tuesday). Here's what I learned from my first outing...

I was at first overly concerned with pack size (which is important, I ended up using most nooks and crannies of the boat) and bought a 1 person tent which packed up nice and tight. It was not free standing but it does pack very small and it's relatively light (I'm keeping it for other stuff but not kayak camping). So... here's tent #1

http://www.sierradesigns.com/tents.display.php?id=45

It worked fine but a couple of things I now look for in a tent (at least where kayaking is concerned):

1) I want to be able to sit up to take a shirt off instead of putting myself in a semi situp position and having to wriggle out of whatever it is that I'm wearing.

2) I want ALL my drybags in the tent with me so I don't have to go outside at night searching for crap.

So... tent #2 is a 2 man Sierra Designs Electron (comes with the footprint, the fly, cup holders, a shelf, electricity, running water...). It's a free standing tent (you still need to stake it down but as mentioned, it's easier to setup).

http://www.sierradesigns.com/tents.display.php?id=19

In order to make the extra room for a bigger tent this time around I've decided to sacrifice my uber big Thermarest pillow for a small one. I've also ditched a few of my larger dry bags and gone for mostly 5.5 liter dry bags which are easier to pack. I'm also leaving the fancy frying pan home as well as I quickly discovered that cooking pancakes with a pocket rocket is a royal pain in the ass (and really, pancakes are the only reason I'd want a frying pan with me).

I'm hoping those two changes will give me a lot more room. I'm going to do a test pack of the boat tomorrow afternoon just to be sure. I suppose I could use a dry bag of clothes for a pillow but it just wouldn't be the same (sigh).

>Then there are stoves and sleeping bags,

>enough designs to make you dizzy. HELP.

I went with a Pocket Rocket per Brad's recommendation. Cheap, SMALL (the only way to get any smaller is probably an alcohol stove but one could argue it defeats the purpose due to fuel consumption), decent flame control.

Bags... the bag I have is a synthetic mummy bag (Mountain Hardware Ultra Lamina 45 http://www.mountainhardware.com/Product.as...58&viewAll=True )and rated for 45 degrees. It was about that cold that night (I think) and I was sweating like crazy. The new tent is obviously larger and has much more ventilation, hopefully it will run a little cooler, especially since the evening temps will be warmer (I may run with the fly off or partially off if it gets too warm although we're supposed to have rain so that may be a no go).

Cheers, Joe

[gyork]

>I suppose I could use a dry bag of clothes for a pillow..........

Hi Joe. A simple solution that works for a pillow for me is to buy a cotton pillow case and sew a new seam to a size to your liking (mine is 14 x 20 inches). Stuff the case with clean extra clothes (fleece works well) and zip closed.

Gary

[Paul Sylvester]

Kelty, Teton -2 freestanding, room enough for me and all my gear or two people if needed. small enough and only 120$

[EEL]

My personal opinions about shelter are due in part from my relatively rural childhood and mountaineering. Basically, I see no reason to have any shelter unless the threat of rain or snow is real or insects are a problem or you are stuck in a campsite with others. I like the fresh air, the smells and sounds of being outside as well as watching stars while falling asleep. Having a drawer of T shirts, I try to go in reasonable weather and usually just sleep on a ground cloth in the open. I have found that in almost every situation I can create a more spacious and essentially as weatherproof shelter when needed in a greater variety of settings more quickly by using a tarp than any tent. The advantages in space and weight and time putting up and taking down are considerable.

However, most like to take civilization with them and the concept of having a house is strong. So a roof becomes a necessity when it is really a barrier. Of course sometimes a barrier is a good thing.

So once in awhile just forego setting the tent up and sample some simple pleasures. It might change how you look at things.

Ed Lawson

[Brad Fournier]

I agree with you completely,however getting Lisa to do that is a dealbreaker for a camping trip. But I love camping in the open, definitly brings one closer to nature.