Searched through the archives and couldn't find any specific discussion of tents related to plane camping, so I thought I'd start one.

Looking back on some of the fun fly outs this year, the one piece of gear I'd like to upgrade is my family tent. If I am solo, I have a Eureka Timberline 2 that has been a great product for the almost 30 years I have had it. I am looking for a new family camping abode. The current unit we have been bringing is a Coleman Monterey 6, a relatively inexpensive model I bought for a car camping trip about 7 years ago. what I liked about it was the high dome height, which allows me at 6'-3" to stand. That's about its only positive attribute. It is a tumbleweed in moderate breezes, is pretty heavy at 18 lbs, and looking at the poles I don't think it has more than a couple more seasons left before singificant repairs might be in order.

I have done a little looking around at larger Eureka's, Kelty's, etc, without an opportunity to test drive I'm a little apprehensive about pulling the trigger on dropping a couple/few hundred.

The things I need: 1) Absolutely waterproof, getting wet in a tent sucks. Spent too much of my childhood that way. 2) Room for the 2 kids, 10 and 8, and me and the gear. Possibly a dog - thinking 4 place should do. 3) aluminum poles. The aluminum poles on my Timberline have been extremely durable. 4) A vestibule. The area to put stuff outside the tent with kids is essential, and I really like the one I carry with my Timberline 2.

I am not sure if the ability to stand up is as important as I once thought it was, while it is nice for car camping and the like, I think I'd be better off with one of those huge tents for that purpose.

So, what thoughts does everyone have? If you have a tent with these features and have been happy with it, I'd like to hear about it, good or bad.

Thanks,
Flynengr

Actually, there has been lot's of talk about tents. Those threads must be well buried. Maybe Zane can find them?? I'll look through all my bookmarks.

I think this is the thread I was thinking of: http://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9528

But, I do believe there's more. But heck, should just start a new thread here

OK went through the research on tents earlier this year... last year in Idaho my smaller eureka finally failed me by waking me up in the middle of a storm with leaks everywhere...had to make a mad dash to the bunkhouse at 2 AM.. so my criteria are this... No longer getting dressed on my knees so a good center height is essential.. you should think that one again I hated no headroom...a vestibule...fairly light weight in the plane,So I bought a Eureka tetragon 1610... It's huge, in fact a little too huge for just me... camped for 5 days with my wife at Mammoth a few months back and it is a great tent with a small vestibule and way more room than I need for my idaho and Utah trips... so I downsized and bought a Eureka 1210 and tried it out for a weekend... plenty of room for me, my cot and any shit I want to put inside. haven't had to camp in rain yet but I waterproofed the seams and fly fairly good setting it up in my hangar...any tent you buy has to be waterproofed by you, and there are numerous products specifically for tent waterproofing..four cots or sleeping bags would go fairly comfortably in the 1210 with room for the dog..got my 1610 on line and the 1210 on sale at a sporting goods store for $130.00... neither one has aluminum poles but the fiber glass or whatever they are with the bungee cord running through them...so now I have two tents 0ne for family camping and the other for me airplane camping..by the way the 1210 sets up in about 20 minutes pretty easy...check them out on Ebay by typing in Eureka tetragon tents...

Couple more.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5605&p=71714

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=7264

TENT RECOMMENDATION #1

Try it out on your lawn first least you be surprised when you need it most.

And now for the rest of the story…

A number of years ago I was in Anchorage and knowing I needed a new tent for my survival kit I picked one out at REI. Later that night, heading my own advice, I tried to assemble said tent in my motel room only to find out it required tent stakes to support itself and between the moss and liken tundra and frozen lake ice it was never going to do.

Luckily REI has a generous return policy and I picked out one they had demoed on the the floor. I stuffed it into the bottom of my survival tote never giving it another thought. Bad idea! Really bad idea!

Fast forward a year and a half, February in Western Alaska, four inches of snow on about three feet of ice, about forty miles from home, then the temperature and dew point converge. I will skip the gory scud running details, and move right past the landing out for the first time ever on a lake about ten miles from home, to the setting up the tent for the first time…the all mesh tent. The F%#@&^% all mesh tent that I had never opened since stuffing it into what is supposed to be my survival tote. Those of you familiar with the region know that 20 to 30 below is not unusual for this time of year and luckily for this fool it was a balmy 19 deg F.

Let me finish by adding that after my bird was secured with ice screws and rope, the wing covers where on, the bleep-ety-bleep tent set up, and darkness falling, my engine cover was not covering the my engine cawling; it was covering my ass.

Rocket

Howdy................

You might want to consider a Big Agnus Big House 6
http://www.campsaver.com/big-house-6-te ... n-3-season

A couple of us in the Arizona backcountry group have this tent and it is roomy, stand-up head room, comfortable for cots, and easy to set up. Have not been out in real bad weather yet, but seems to hold up reasonably well with the winds and has plenty of air flow for warm weather. I do not have the vestibule, but one is available. It weighs about 14 lbs. Like Iceman, we have a smaller one for short trips, but the Big Agnus 6 roominess for extented trips is sure welcome.
Jim

Tents are one of a few things that Sierra Designs really gets right.

I have Cabelas XPG and really like it. Lots of room/storage, water tight as a ducks butt and, all vents have closures so the dirt stays out when the wind is blowing, light colored to reflect heat on hot Southwest days, doesn't matter how hard the wind blows. Pretty bomb proof.
25lbs.
Gary

I got a 6 man Coleman tent for about 100 bucks at Bass Pro shop -I had a smaller more compact tent year earlier at U88.When getting up off ground (pad under sleeping bag ) it was a real chore with my replacement knee.Next year I went for taller(6 ft. stand up inside ) bigger tent and double height air mattress -what a change ! Now getting up in morning is much less painful and quicker. Air mattress pumps up with airpump -12 volt . I carry a 12 volt power supply (includes tire air and light) in back of airplane . Spare tube and tools to change or replace almost wheel even at most remote spots.I weigh everything and that goes in and do weight and balance.When going to backcountry strips I take out copilot and back seat
and load accordingly .Fuel when I land I want about 1/2 or slightly less (for me about 30 gallons) that gives me about 2-3 hours to get to somewhere for more.Take plenty of food for twice as long as want to camp out. YMMV

I have a Big Agnes Big House 4, which I use for airplane camping. It's roomy enough for 4, although any tent designed for 4 means they better be good friends. At 5' 10", I can't quite stand up in it, but close. I also have the vestibule.

It's been through some horrendous storms without significant damage or getting wet inside. This past summer at OSH, it survived a humongous storm mid-week that took down many of the tents in the vicinity, with only some bent poles. But even with the bent poles, it was still plenty usable for the rest of the week. Big Agnes repaired the poles at no charge!

It also has great ventilation for hot weather. The fly opens up allowing cross ventilation, and if a sudden rain comes, it only takes about 30 seconds to lower the sides again to keep out the rain.

I guess the best recommendation I can make is that if it were to be destroyed and need to be replaced, I'd get another one in a heartbeat.

Cary

Rei kingdom 6 tent or rei base camp 6 tent.
You will never want another tent.

Clips if possible. Sleeve tents suck. Single walls are lighter but double wall is always drier and warmer.

Arctic Oven from AK Tent and Tarp along with the stove they sell for it. You'll need a Caravan to haul it around but you'll be damned comfortable.

tucsonwis wrote:Howdy................

You might want to consider a Big Agnus Big House 6
http://www.campsaver.com/big-house-6-te ... n-3-season

I have a Big House 6 and I would avoid it at all costs. It is a cheaply made tent that doesn't hold up. It is light for its size, which is why I bought it. Last summer at Schafer Meadows it got to blowing 20-25 one day. Here's the result:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newps/8214 ... otostream/

This is the second failure in a year. Last summer, also at Schafer, a rain storm came thru during the work party weekend. 50 tents on the field and only one collapsed in a heap of bent and twisted metal and torn fabric. Mine. Avoid the Big House 6 at all costs.

gbflyer wrote:Arctic Oven from AK Tent and Tarp along with the stove they sell for it. You'll need a Caravan to haul it around but you'll be damned comfortable.

Might have to sell the plane to afford it...

What do you guys use for a one or two person tent. I spent this whole summer getting wet or wrapping the then up in a tarp which really kept me dry during the typical new Holstein rain storm.

Tom

HILLEBERG makes the best tents. Expensive - but worth it!

Tom wrote:What do you guys use for a one or two person tent. I spent this whole summer getting wet or wrapping the then up in a tarp which really kept me dry during the typical new Holstein rain storm.

Tom

This is what I use.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camping/ ... t105517980
6-Person 16 lbs. 10' x 10' height 100" wall 24"

gbflyer wrote:Arctic Oven from AK Tent and Tarp along with the stove they sell for it. You'll need a Caravan to haul it around but you'll be damned comfortable.

I currently own 15 of these bad boys! Not a fan of the stoves but thats another story. Went with a generator and a small heater that drives you out in the coldest of temps. Of course we carry all this with helicopters to our backcountry ski camps.

I think 1 arctic tent weighs around 25lbs give or take.


For our river trips the Cabella's Guide model tent is very hard to beat. I have the 3 and 4 person tents (several of them) and have always ended the trips reaffirming how much I really like them. Easy to use/setup and very roomy and light weight. Have also spent ALL LOT of time in them on the river in very nasty wet/windy weather conditions. If you have spent much time around south west or south central AK in the fall you know what I mean. They work!
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camping/Tents-Shelters/View-All-Tents|/pc/104795280/c/104779080/sc/105517980/Cabelas-Alaskan-Guide174-Geodesic-Tent/714588.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcamping-tents-shelters-view-all-tents%2F_%2FN-1102375%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105517980%3FWTz_l%3DDirectLoad%253Bcat104779080&WTz_l=DirectLoad%3Bcat104779080%3Bcat105517980


And of course, the North Face is spendy but, you get what you pay for as well.

My winter tent
http://www.backcountry.com/the-north-face-mountain-25-tent-2-person-4-season

AKT

now do you guys usually put anything down under the tent? I just dont want to be wet anymore, and im usually alone, so looking for 1 or 2 person tent

Tom