Mark M
I've done a lot of scout camping in my younger days, was our pack's campmaster for 15+ years, and continue to do a lot of camping every year, sometimes with larger groups of family and friends. I often hear stories about how this or that model tent stinks, but upon listening further, I realize that the problem primarily is due to the user not setting-up the tent properly or not preparing/maintaining the tent properly.
So what are some of the tent setup and maintenance mistakes you've seen, and how do you prevent them from happening. For example:
Do "modern, high-quality" tents need to have their seams sealed before use? Exactly which seams need to be sealed? Do you apply sealant to the inside or outside? Do the seams need to be periodically resealed? What about tape?
With heavy-duty, sealed, waterproof, bathtub floor designs, is a ground sheet still a necessity, and if so, what kind? Is a larger ground sheet better than a short one?
Orienting your tent versus ground features, the sun and wind?
Protecting against water, animal and overhead dangers?
Anything else you've experienced.
So far some great answers. I like to make my own ground sheets as well, but they do need to be shorter than the floor of your tent, or tuck the excess under, to avoid rain from running down the tent walls, collecting on the ground sheet and then possibly pooling between it and the tent floor.
Making a nice layer of dried leaves, leaf duff, pine needles or dry grass not only protects the floor of the tent, it adds insulation and padding while crawling around on your knees. I don't trench; on hard ground I think it's too disruptive, and on loose or sandy ground it's generally unnecessary. But I will take advantage of existing trenches if aligned conveniently.
I'll admit the rolling vs. stuffing argument is new to me. I've seen a few fathers stuff their tents back in the bag, but always chalked it up to laziness. I've always been anally-retentive enough to try and roll my tent as neatly and compactly as possible. Maybe it's why my tents have lasted so long?
Haven't seen anything
... about cheap or incorrect type of stakes. Are they all the same?
Answer
I've seen more tent damage from mis-use, carelessness than anything else, here are some off the top of my head (Scout Leader)
#1) Tent not fully dried when packed. Mold will destroy a tent fast.
#2) Not fully opening zippered doors prior to entry/exit. My little twits can not get out of the habit of opening the fly with the double zipper juuuuusssst enough to step through. At best this puts a lot of stress on the zipper and eventually they will no longer close the zipper coils. Worse, though, the little buggers overestimate their grace and frequently trip on the small opening, causing a tear.
#3) Along the lines of grace, tripping over guy lines.
#4) Tent pole jousting (rolls eyes and sighs)
#5) Food in tents (including other objects that smell like food to animals). Ever see what a determined squirrel can do to a tent? I hope to never see what a Bear would do after seeing a tent destroyed by a small furry mammal.
#6) Failure to pin and guy the tent. I've been in the middle of a 50 mile long lake when a tent went rolling by. I was impressed with it's ability to shed water, but never did locate the owner. My Scouts frequently are running after tents, but have never lost one...yet.
We do use ground tarps cut from large sheets of plastic, seems a good practice.
I have read, but am unable to locate the source, about a test between high end and cheap tents pitched in direct sunlight. The gist was that both were functionally destroyed within 150 days.
Seam sealer, if it is not broke, don't fix it. About every other year we gently hand wash the tents and re-apply nickwax as per the instructions. We only seam seal if there is a leak noticed as we begin the wash process.
I've seen more tent damage from mis-use, carelessness than anything else, here are some off the top of my head (Scout Leader)
#1) Tent not fully dried when packed. Mold will destroy a tent fast.
#2) Not fully opening zippered doors prior to entry/exit. My little twits can not get out of the habit of opening the fly with the double zipper juuuuusssst enough to step through. At best this puts a lot of stress on the zipper and eventually they will no longer close the zipper coils. Worse, though, the little buggers overestimate their grace and frequently trip on the small opening, causing a tear.
#3) Along the lines of grace, tripping over guy lines.
#4) Tent pole jousting (rolls eyes and sighs)
#5) Food in tents (including other objects that smell like food to animals). Ever see what a determined squirrel can do to a tent? I hope to never see what a Bear would do after seeing a tent destroyed by a small furry mammal.
#6) Failure to pin and guy the tent. I've been in the middle of a 50 mile long lake when a tent went rolling by. I was impressed with it's ability to shed water, but never did locate the owner. My Scouts frequently are running after tents, but have never lost one...yet.
We do use ground tarps cut from large sheets of plastic, seems a good practice.
I have read, but am unable to locate the source, about a test between high end and cheap tents pitched in direct sunlight. The gist was that both were functionally destroyed within 150 days.
Seam sealer, if it is not broke, don't fix it. About every other year we gently hand wash the tents and re-apply nickwax as per the instructions. We only seam seal if there is a leak noticed as we begin the wash process.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a tarp instead of a tent for camping?
Q. My dad and I go backpacking a lot and while we were hiking a section of the Pacific Crest Trail we met some other hikers who were using a tarp for a shelter, instead of the usual tent. Using a tarp is not only lighter than a tent, but it is larger and easy to set up. We've been wondering if maybe using a tarp would be better.
Answer
Ultralight backpackers such as Ray Jardine have revolutionized backpacking with the popularization of using sil-nylon tarps instead of tents.
Tarps provide ventilation which tents do not, thus reducing condensation, which dampens everything inside your tent, especially your clothing and the insulation of your sleeping system, which, especially on long trips, will leave your gear heavier and colder every day, especially during inclement weather. Tarps are lighter and offer more coverage as you've already mentioned. Tarps require no poles and can be pitched between two trees or using two branches or a combination of the two. And tarps are actually stronger than tents by weight, contrary to ignorant assumptions, because they can be pitched low into high winds, and ideally have multiple guy lines that can be staked or tied out. And there are no poles to bend or break. It's utterly laughable for anyone to state that tent poles are stronger than a couple of stout poles found in the woods: You're doing it wrong.
A couple years ago I sewed my own tarp and net tent, which hangs underneath the tarp as protection from mosquitoes, and replaces the need for a ground cloth, using Ray Jardine's tarp and net tent kit and Tarp Book, which includes all the instructions you need.
Since then my wife, daughter and I have successfully and comfortably camped under our tarp tent inside our net tent several times in the Sierras, strangely often in high winds. I have had a corner stake pull out during the night but on our last trip to Winnemucca Lake in Mokelumne Wilderness the winds were just as strong but the tarp required no adjustment during the night.
My tarp is 17.6 ounces with its stow-bag. 8 anodized aluminum stakes plus stow-bag weighs 4.5 oz. And the net tent its stow-bag weigh 11.9 oz. For a total of 2 lbs, 2 oz. for a shelter for 2 1/2, half the weight of the 2 man REI Quarter Dome with stakes. Like I said, no ground sheet needed because the net tent has a sil-nylon floor which hasn't shown much sign of wear.
We haven't had too much rain yet, but after sewing and seam sealing my tarp I set it up in the backyard and rigged up a sprinkler to test it and I have no doubts I'd stay dry and comfortable in any weather short of a blizzard.
Of course tarps are three-season use only and in winter you'd want a single wall tent but why suffer the other three seasons because you can't afford two tents when your second tent can be an inexpensive tarp.
You can read about Ray Jardine's 2009 through-hike of the Appalachian Trail where he evaluates the performance of his own tarp and net tent here: http://www.rayjardine.com/adventures/2009-AT/index.htm
Before Ray designed his net tent he used the same tarp but to protect against swarms of mosquitoes he wore a set of uncoated nylon wind-shirt and wind-pants to bed along with homemade nylon mittens and of course a head net. The wind-pants and wind-shirt are dual use of course, keeping you warmer in the wind and drier in light rain while repelling mosquitoes.
Everyone in my family has a set of wind-pants, windbreaker and mosquito head net because you can't stay in the net tent forever, and I've gone without it, sleeping with mosquitoes buzzing around my head net in the evening, and would anyway to save weight, but my family likes the comfort of the net tent.
Of course if you don't want to sew your own sil-nylon tarp with "beaks" and other features you can buy plain square tarps of various materials and weights from coated nylon to sil-nylon. I used the $60 Campmor Sil-Nylon Tarp before Ray started making his kits but it's not the best, which is sewing your own.
Here's another article on the subject: http://www.the-ultralight-site.com/backpacking-tarps.html
If you're planning to camp above treeline it's a simple matter to pick up a couple of sticks along the way and keep or discard them as needed. Better than carrying poles ALL the time.
They also make tarp poles for the uninitiated.
Anyone who's sewn their own tent, sleeping quilts and backpacks for themselves and their family and used them successfully while backpacking solo and with a child from age four to six, all over the Sierra in all kinds of weather , please stand up, otherwise you don't have a leg to stand on nor any right to tell me what I've said isn't true and what I've written doesn't work. If you don't know how to pitch your tarp in the wind or don't have the wherewithal to move your camp to somewhere more sheltered if the weather becomes unbearable you don't belong in the wilderness.
Ultralight backpackers such as Ray Jardine have revolutionized backpacking with the popularization of using sil-nylon tarps instead of tents.
Tarps provide ventilation which tents do not, thus reducing condensation, which dampens everything inside your tent, especially your clothing and the insulation of your sleeping system, which, especially on long trips, will leave your gear heavier and colder every day, especially during inclement weather. Tarps are lighter and offer more coverage as you've already mentioned. Tarps require no poles and can be pitched between two trees or using two branches or a combination of the two. And tarps are actually stronger than tents by weight, contrary to ignorant assumptions, because they can be pitched low into high winds, and ideally have multiple guy lines that can be staked or tied out. And there are no poles to bend or break. It's utterly laughable for anyone to state that tent poles are stronger than a couple of stout poles found in the woods: You're doing it wrong.
A couple years ago I sewed my own tarp and net tent, which hangs underneath the tarp as protection from mosquitoes, and replaces the need for a ground cloth, using Ray Jardine's tarp and net tent kit and Tarp Book, which includes all the instructions you need.
Since then my wife, daughter and I have successfully and comfortably camped under our tarp tent inside our net tent several times in the Sierras, strangely often in high winds. I have had a corner stake pull out during the night but on our last trip to Winnemucca Lake in Mokelumne Wilderness the winds were just as strong but the tarp required no adjustment during the night.
My tarp is 17.6 ounces with its stow-bag. 8 anodized aluminum stakes plus stow-bag weighs 4.5 oz. And the net tent its stow-bag weigh 11.9 oz. For a total of 2 lbs, 2 oz. for a shelter for 2 1/2, half the weight of the 2 man REI Quarter Dome with stakes. Like I said, no ground sheet needed because the net tent has a sil-nylon floor which hasn't shown much sign of wear.
We haven't had too much rain yet, but after sewing and seam sealing my tarp I set it up in the backyard and rigged up a sprinkler to test it and I have no doubts I'd stay dry and comfortable in any weather short of a blizzard.
Of course tarps are three-season use only and in winter you'd want a single wall tent but why suffer the other three seasons because you can't afford two tents when your second tent can be an inexpensive tarp.
You can read about Ray Jardine's 2009 through-hike of the Appalachian Trail where he evaluates the performance of his own tarp and net tent here: http://www.rayjardine.com/adventures/2009-AT/index.htm
Before Ray designed his net tent he used the same tarp but to protect against swarms of mosquitoes he wore a set of uncoated nylon wind-shirt and wind-pants to bed along with homemade nylon mittens and of course a head net. The wind-pants and wind-shirt are dual use of course, keeping you warmer in the wind and drier in light rain while repelling mosquitoes.
Everyone in my family has a set of wind-pants, windbreaker and mosquito head net because you can't stay in the net tent forever, and I've gone without it, sleeping with mosquitoes buzzing around my head net in the evening, and would anyway to save weight, but my family likes the comfort of the net tent.
Of course if you don't want to sew your own sil-nylon tarp with "beaks" and other features you can buy plain square tarps of various materials and weights from coated nylon to sil-nylon. I used the $60 Campmor Sil-Nylon Tarp before Ray started making his kits but it's not the best, which is sewing your own.
Here's another article on the subject: http://www.the-ultralight-site.com/backpacking-tarps.html
If you're planning to camp above treeline it's a simple matter to pick up a couple of sticks along the way and keep or discard them as needed. Better than carrying poles ALL the time.
They also make tarp poles for the uninitiated.
Anyone who's sewn their own tent, sleeping quilts and backpacks for themselves and their family and used them successfully while backpacking solo and with a child from age four to six, all over the Sierra in all kinds of weather , please stand up, otherwise you don't have a leg to stand on nor any right to tell me what I've said isn't true and what I've written doesn't work. If you don't know how to pitch your tarp in the wind or don't have the wherewithal to move your camp to somewhere more sheltered if the weather becomes unbearable you don't belong in the wilderness.
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