Tents

Don't have one but would love to get a Tentsile hammock tent.

I’ve had and used many.

A canvas wall tent makes a great base/long term camp, but it takes quite a bit of space to store and transport. Also it’s rather heavy.

Currently I’m utilizing 3 different tents and considering a fourth to go along with the tin- teepee (travel trailer).

I have an MSR Nook 2 man/3 season backpacking tent. Good shelter and light but not much room.

Eureka Timberline 4 man a frame outfitters grade. More room, but better for 2-3 than 4.

And a 4 person modified dome from Marmot (Limelight) which has more room than the Eureka and still considered a backpacking tent. All three are synthetic.

I’m also considering a Canvas Baker style tent for the Mountain Man Rendezvous, but am not too sure how primitive I want to go.

It all depends on what you are planning on doing and anticipated needs.

Back? HMG
Truck or Jeep? Montana Canvas

Oxbow73 said:

Material synthetic or canvas?

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Canvas? Are we in the 1970s? 1880s? Unless you are talking about outfitter-type tents with a wood stove inside.

For modern tents goto https://sectionhiker.com and https://outdoorgearlab.com and knock yourself out. Great reviews in those two sites.

If your carrying it or on the move..pick one that works

If your setting up for a while
this one looks nice if you have Footmen

Spring Turkey hunted in a Eureka Timberline 4 man tent for 15? Years. Would treat tent every 3 years. Was a great tent. Upgraded to Eureka Timberline 6 Outfitter tent. With a Mr Buddy heater it is a good combo for early Spring Turkey hunting

I like my tent setup, it comes in around 4-5 pounds altogether thanks to carbon poles and the titanium stove. It's a seek outside guardian.

If tipis, Kifaru.

If tents, Hilleberg.

Done.

It really does depend on what you "need". Backcountry pack in or long term all-weather and everything in between. If you're living in this thing a lot don't be afraid to spend more and get some quality, piece of mind and with most a great warranty should something occur. Most won't/can't spend $1k on a tent. There are many options out there and plenty of reviews on Youtube for anything you might be after.

I recently retired from the military and now relocated to my home state of Idaho. Backcountry hunting is back on the plate. My buddy uses a an Argali Absaroka 4 person floorless tent that's stove ready. He's used this on many backcountry hunts in all weather conditions to include our recent hunt, 3 days of rain, high winds, and 1" of wet snow the last morning with 14 degree temps. You'll fight some condensation issues on these type of tents (they make inserts to help fight this) but overall it kept him dry and warm. Very lightweight and easy to set up. Get the titanium stove rocking and comfort levels go up.

I purchased a NEMO Hornet Elite ultralight 2 person for this hunt, to include footprint, and the tent didn't disappoint in the weather conditions stated above. I highly recommend the tents that offer a vestibule. Great place for muddy boots or other gear, outside the tent, while still keeping this kit out of the elements.

Must be freestanding for me

2lb 15oz total, 2lb 1oz minimum weight

difficult to go much lighter on a freestanding tent... you'd really have to look into true ultralights like NEMO or Zpacks

I have a variety of Hilleberg free standing tunnel tents, Seek Outside tipi shelters, and outfitters tents. I find myself using my Seek Outside shelters the most. My 16man tipi and stove makes a phenomenal base camp and packs down small, while my Redcliff works great for backpacking.

My favorite tent is a hard sided (for bear country) pickup truck camper with A/C, heat, sink, refrig, microwave, toilet, and beds. Or a 4wd RV.

Just used my seek outside cimarron this past weekend, I like it I run the half nest with a stove when it’s cooler, if the wife is with me and were not using the stove I have a full nest as well. Also have a seek outside guardian.

My favorite tent is my pants when I see your mom

So what is the intent? What info are you gathering with this bait? I’m truly confused.



3 posts since 2010 and this is your question?

This

Hilleberg

pmclaine said:

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I saw her in concert. Opened for breaking Benjamin

Bender said:

I saw her in concert. Opened for breaking Benjamin

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Odd I must have grabbed the wrong YouTube link.

Wasnt the song I intended. Fixed above.

Chick seems to have had some Madonna with an edge thing going on.

Hilleberg Tarra Colorado base camp


Hilleberg Saitaris Buffalo River canoeing trip


Hilleberg Anaris NC backpacking trip

Over $1000 for tents. Insane.

What's wrong some rope, blue tarp and sticks?

Poncho and some bungee cords work like a champ

padom said:

Nothing, on a nice weather camping trip. But, catch days/weeks of straight downpour rain and your once dry ground is now a lake or a flowing river under your sleeping area and you wish you had a quality tent with a sealed bathtub bottom...

Ive been caught in a few of these situations with a river running under my tent in the middle of the night, stayed bone dry the entire time.

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Been there done that and agree.

Spent a week on the Alaskan Tundra living in a REI Halfdome 2, used the fly and footprint and stayed comfy the whole time. Plenty of weather changes way up in the Artic Circle in August/September.

Have also lived for weeks at a a time under a poncho rain shine and tornado close by. That was more of a have to than want to, uncle sugar makes you travel light.

The artic 10 man tents are nice and sound, but a lot of weight to haul around. I guess any of the larger canvas tents are more set and leave for a while types though

Have done it all.

All depends.
Fortunately all my decisions are my own.

Im old enough now that the old Mtn Hardwear 5 lb, 4 season, single wall tent goes out more than a bivi and tarp if very chilly.

Or spend $1000 or more to get a tipi and and stove to save a few oz……

I will follow my own advice and just workout harder

I hear that. I've got old surplus tents, a normal 4 person tent and a huge teepee style one from way back when Bass Pro didn't suck that's like 18ft across at the ground.

I bought a tiny one man off Amazon for moto camping last summer that worked pretty well. Probably wont hold up to abuse but was good enough and weighed all of nothing while packing down tiny.

Moose hunting = Arctic Oven extreme 12 w/wood stove; Sheep is Kuiu Storm star 2 man; plain camping Cabela's guide 6 man.

ToKeepAndBear said:

Hilleberg Saitaris Buffalo River canoeing trip

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What outfitter or shuttle did you use?

ToKeepAndBear said:

Hilleberg Anaris NC backpacking trip

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Max Patch?

R_A_W said:

What outfitter or shuttle did you use?

Max Patch?

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1. Buffalo River Outfitters

2. Close, not Max Patch, it is Huckleberry Knob off the Cherohala Skyway on the TN/NC border.

I run a older northface 4 season 3 person and it's pretty awesome. A little heavy. I would say 8lbs. But I've camped in 60mph winds and blowing snow and been comfortable. Its a 2 person tent if you want any room inside for gear or you move when sleeping.

I have spent quite a few nights in tents that I carried for extended periods so take what I say with that in mind. I have no experience in wall tents except at outfitter camps on guided hunts.

Many of the lightweight options currently on the market have only one window and door combination with no additional window that is not covered up when the rainfly is up. Having spent significant time back country camping in areas that were normal territory for Grizzly, Brown and Polar bears only having one window is unnerving, I like to see out from at least two sides of the tent and sleep better when I do.

I've had a few tents from Big Agnes and have been extremely happy (lightweight for backpacking).

Had one that had the original seam sealer coming off in spots and another small wear point issue. The tent had been rode hard for a number of years (likely 150+ nights in it) so not a poor quality cause, just honest use. I sent it back for repair and they just sent me a brand new similar model tent - no questions - no charge.

I went to hammock camping a few years ago and I won’t sleep on the ground, like a cave man, again. Even considering an under quilt, my setup is lighter and warmer than an equivalent tent and bag, and much more comfortable. Of course, I need a couple of trees, so maybe camping in Wyoming is out. But, other than that, it beats the pants off sleeping on the ground.

hlee said:

I went to hammock camping a few years ago and I won’t sleep on the ground, like a cave man, again. Even considering an under quilt, my setup is lighter and warmer than an equivalent tent and bag, and much more comfortable. Of course, I need a couple of trees, so maybe camping in Wyoming is out. But, other than that, it beats the pants off sleeping on the ground.

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I have heard others say the same thing. I like hammocks a lot. So long there are boulders or trees to tie to.

So sleeping up in the air in a hammock beats a R8 pad and -5 western mountaineering bag at 10F and 18” of snow on the ground?
Or in the middle of 50 mph winds and sideways rain in WY…..

There is a time and place for hammocks I suppose.
My mountain time says a good tent is hard to beat though.

hlee said:

I went to hammock camping a few years ago and I won’t sleep on the ground, like a cave man, again

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Both times I rowed to Grand Canyon I slept under 1 bedsheet on a paco pad on the boat & got what may have been the best sleep of my life. I had a ton of trouble falling/staying asleep in a bed for over a month after returning from both trips…

powdahound76 said:

So sleeping up in the air in a hammock beats a R8 pad and -5 western mountaineering bag at 10F and 18” of snow on the ground?
Or in the middle of 50 mph winds and sideways rain in WY…..

There is a time and place for hammocks I suppose.
My mountain time says a good tent is hard to beat though.

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No. If it’s cold it still needs insulation underneath. Like an under quilt.
I know some with back issues that a hammock is the only thing they enjoy. a hammock is comfortable but I personally always use a tent.

Tents have been a fantastic shelter for thousands of years, from hot deserts to snowy windy mountain sides, and everything in between.

Options are nice. Pros and cons to everything.

Yeah, under-quilt and over-quilt. The Advantage is that you are not compressing the insulation under you by laying on it. The under-quilt goes under the hammock. Half of the insulation in your mountaineering bag is useless because you are laying on it and compressing it between your body and the ground. That’s why you also need the R8 sleeping pad.

No rocks in your side. No sticks cutting up your ground cloth. You could string a hammock across an actual creek and not risk a wet night’s sleep.

18” of snow? So what? You are sleeping above it.

It should be pointed out that hammock camping employs a hammock and a weatherproof tarp. That tarp can be strung such that it hugs the ground, and the ends fold over eachother to create a weather resistant closure. Wind can blow under the tarp which makes it, counterintuitively, very wind resistant. It doesn’t need to fight the wind the same way a tent must in order to stay erect. You sleep- essentially- in the peak of the shelter.

The tarp can also be kicked up so that you have one or both sides open. The ends can be left open or closed down like a burrito. And, it can be pitched so that you have a lot of distance between the bottom of it and the ground, or nearly none.

A good backpacking hammock has an integrated mosquito net.

So long as you have supports for the hammock, you are much less constrained to what makes a good camp site. Uneven ground? No flat ground? Waterlogged ground? 18” of snow? Jagged rocks? Dead falls? None of these are problems when you are sleeping suspended above the ground.

There are, however, a few disadvantages of hammock camping.

The major disadvantage is that you need to string it between 2 supports that will hold your weight. As I said earlier, Wyoming may be out. And, if you are traversing variable environments, it pays to plan for the possibility of sleeping on the ground. (I used a sleeping pad as my under-insulation on my last trip, instead of an under quilt, as I was unsure that I would have trees every time we made camp.) The tarp can be pitched using 2 hiking sticks as supports…

The other major disadvantage is that they can be less comfortable for side sleepers. You can get pretty flat and level sleeping in a hammock (you lay in them diagonal to how they are strung), but my experience is that you still have a bit of an arch in your back.

They can be claustrophobic to sleep in if you are the thrashing type.

For reference, I am both a side sleeper and tend to turn all night. I still prefer a hammock to sleeping on the ground.

They take some experimentation to pitch correctly, and getting it wrong can mean a pretty miserable night.

They are, with few exceptions, a one-person affair. And, you need enough space at you site to accommodate everyone. 2 hammock campers use 2x the space of 1 four person tent. You’re not sharing any heat with your camping partner, but you’re still hearing them snore.

I was very skeptical when my brother in law mentioned hammock camping for a backpacking elk hunt. But, the more I looked into it, the more intrigued I became. It beat fighting gravity in a tent on a slightly inclined camp site. Start the night at the “top” of the tent and wake up an hour later in a ball at the “bottom” of the tent. Rinse and repeat.

But, if you like your tent, do you.

Those under quilts have to be pretty damn warm, I slept in a hammock every night for well over a year, over two winters, and I froze! And that was in a house! lol Some of that (winter) time in a Selk Bag, most of it with an open ended sleeping bag like a tube, slid over the hammock. But even indoors (in admittedly a fairly cold house) I'd lay there and think "Man I don't think I'd want to do this outside in the winter."

cas6969 said:

slept in a hammock every night for well over a year, over two winters, and I froze! And that was in a house!

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More info needed lol

cas6969 said:

Those under quilts have to be pretty damn warm, I slept in a hammock every night for well over a year, over two winters, and I froze! And that was in a house! lol Some of that (winter) time in a Selk Bag, most of it with an open ended sleeping bag like a tube, slid over the hammock. But even indoors (in admittedly a fairly cold house) I'd lay there and think "Man I don't think I'd want to do this outside in the winter."

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A good one will be 850 fill goose down. And, you need to get the hang right. Too loose and you have a gap between you and your insulation. Too tight and you are compressing the insulation. In both cases, you are cold. And, your clothing is part of your insulation “system” when sleeping in a hammock.

Below is an example…

carbonbased said:

More info needed lol

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As I was writing it, I couldn't even remember why I'd started sleeping in the hammock? Maybe it was just to have an occasional something different? A place to nap? Once I got used to it, I really preferred it. I physicaly felt so much better. On the rare occasions when I would sleep in a bed, when I'd get up in the morning I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Everything hurt when I got up. I got to where I was seriously thinking of getting rid of my bed. (moving it into the spare room anyway)
Somewhere along the end of the run, I started to realize I was tired all the time. Run down. And I was coughing a lot. I began to piece it all together that sleeping that way I was snoring a lot had had a sleep apnea thing going on. So I switched back to a bed and while I hurt a lot more, i was more rested. It's something that developed along the way, because in the beginning I was great, but after that I couldn't sleep on my back anywhere anymore. If I do, I'll be coughing all the next day, must be a post nasal drip problem. If I fall asleep in chair I get the full on apnea gasping thing.

Nothing cooler than a real tipi ! sleep in front of open fire and cool in the warm months just need to be able to haul the poles