On 3/23/10 1:37 PM, "revmaaatin" mjearl@venturecomm. net> wrote:
--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com , Scott Reitor wrote: > > Cuhck, > > The advice on getting a cheapo tent is spot on. I have been camping for over > 3 decades and have changed tents a few times. I have different tents for > different types of weather, modes of travel, length of stay, etc. Buy a > cheap one and figure out where you want to go from there. May I suggest one to avoid? I lack the years of experience-- but have had years of 'training' in few short days! Footprint size and rainfly matter. Avoid: the cheep-o, Ozark Trail dome tent, with approx 6x6 footprint. I'm 5-9. should work right? ah, no. Anywhere you touch the tent, water is going to enter. Being 5-9 gives you about a 6-6 footprint with the sleeping bag, etal, and is very difficult to keep from touching the tent wall due to the arc of the dome, etc. Also, take a look at the 'cheep-o' tent's rain fly. This tent only had a rain fly for the top 1 foot radius of the dome; when the wind blew, it pushed the rain under the rain fly and I got a nice misty shower as long a s the rain and wind blew. My next tent (spoken of here) was the Eureka 3xta. (The style/badging for the 3xta style has changed--its all marketing mumbojumbo; call the company and ask for the current equivalent-- now sold under a different name and perhaps a different color. I think the new name is APEX--ask to be sure) A wonderful piece of gear. Likewise, I bought it in the seconds dept; liked it so well, I bought two more, one for my 14 and 11 y/0 for their own adventure motorcycles riding. The 3 in 3xta indicates it is 3person, 3 season. It is pretty snug with two M/c folks--riding gear, helments, boots, and luggage. Very comfortable with just one. smile. This tent has a >80% rain fly, two vestibules that are adequate to put the m/c luggage inside if it is raining. The double vestibule is good for when two people share the tent--each has its own entrance for those nighttime potty visits without stepping on you. The only downside--it is about the size of two loaves of bread, but IMO well worth the trade off for the level of protection. http://www.eurekate nt.com/default. aspx Touch the tab marked OUTLET. Give them a call--will be worth the effort to talk to someone face to face. When I called them last January, I could not remember the exact name for my tent. Three years after I bought me first tent from them, I was still on record, and was able to buy the same tent again. Did I mention how important the rainfly was? It rained everyday from Canada to Mexico--and more than 1/2 of that was at night! HTH. revmaaatin.