Bass Pro Shop Brand Tents?

[Armybass]

My boys and I want to get into camping and we want to start with tent camping and see where that leads. I did my homework and had decided on a Coleman Montana 6 person, but of course they are nowhere to be found right now and are back ordered. So I went with a Bass Pro Shop brand 6 person tent. Seems to be of equal quality but I was really sold on Colman's Weather Tech. Anyone have any opinions or experience with the Bass Pro tents?

[renodesertfox]

Howdy Armyb****
I personally have had no experience with Bass Pro tents, but I can tell you that they make excellent fishing poles and lures, back before I started fly fishing. Everyone grew up Coleman and the great name and gear continues, however I think Bass Pro tents to be just as good maybe better. At least you made three good starts, going camping is the first! Second is beginning with tenting! And third when you found out that waiting for a Coleman tent would just take too long, you gambled and went with another name. Sometimes a gamble pays off. Bass is a major sponsor of ESPN sports, the fishing shows on tv. I think you might have made a fine gamble...won't know for sure till you get your feet to actual camping! Let us know how you trip goes and all of that. Will like to know your reaction to Bass Pro tents. Don't forget the seam sealer and corn starch the seams to help the seams dry faster. At least you have begun the best sport of all, camping. Welcome to the campfire!

Wish I had known that the Army had choirs, maybe then I would have sung instead of jumping from airplanes being a "ranger."

[Christn2000]

Ok, so I'm a latecomer. I have 2 tents from Bass Pro. No complaints, they serve me well enough.

[Bigdog57]

Like most vendors, Bass Pro has their gear made by the major manufacturers to the store's specs - so you may well be getting a 'rebadged' Coleman, Eureka or other brand tent. Not a bad thing if it is a good brand -likely cheaper than the maker's normal catalog price. Depends on the price-point that BP wants to sell at.

[Ramaniac]

Bass Pro uses Blue Springs Tents made by Coleman. Have one, love it, put 7 people in it in August with temps at 95 during the day. Just used a fan. Down and up really easy. It would not be good in winter at all. No way.

[tplife]

With these "brand names" you're playing tent roulette. Just keep in mind what makes a good tent and you'll be OK. Avoid tents that use fiberglas poles or any pole less than 14 mm. Avoid any tent that uses "d-ring" attachments, avoid rain flys that aren't full-length (or darn near), avoid any tent that requires you to run more than about 20' of poles through sleeves without using Swiftclips, avoid tents that have a floor made of tarp material, avoid tents with triangle designs that waste useable space, avoid tents larger than 10X10 (unless you have termites), and most importantly, avoid tents that have a 2-pole design.

[frank6160]

With these "brand names" you're playing tent roulette. Just keep in mind what makes a good tent and you'll be OK. Avoid tents that use fiberglas poles or any pole less than 14 mm. Avoid any tent that uses "d-ring" attachments, avoid rain flys that aren't full-length (or darn near), avoid any tent that requires you to run more than about 20' of poles through sleeves without using Swiftclips, avoid tents that have a floor made of tarp material, avoid tents with triangle designs that waste useable space, avoid tents larger than 10X10 (unless you have termites), and most importantly, avoid tents that have a 2-pole design.

That takes out the majority of tents made today except the ones costing hundreds of dollars. The average camper doesn't want to spend that kind of money and doesn't have to to get a usable tent. JMO

[Bigdog57]

Yep, don't need a high-tech Corvette to go to the corner store......

Don't need to waste money on the latest four-season expedition-grade tent to enjoy family camping in three-season zones. Gives more money for the necessities, and allows us to camp more often...... :cool:

DO check the quality- any GOOD tent will show it's worth. The name brand means little really - ALL brands have good ones and not-so-good ones. Make sure it has the size and features YOU need. If you will solo camp, can it be set up easily alone? An economical tent can be perfectly good.

[tplife]

That takes out the majority of tents made today except the ones costing hundreds of dollars. The average camper doesn't want to spend that kind of money and doesn't have to to get a usable tent. JMO

I don't agree with that Frank, if you check websites like Campmor or REI you would be pleasantly surprised to find tents from the companies I listed (or their knockoffs) that are far better than picking a tent out of a discount store rack and hoping to get lucky.

BTW, I never recommended 4-season expetition tents. I did suggest doing your homework and utilizing sites like Ebay to buy top-quality tents for 60% off MSRP. That leaves a lot of $$$ left over to buy lanterns, sleeping bags and other gear.

[CruiserManny]

Re: Bass Pro Shop Brand Tents?

Tplife's advice seems odd. I've camped with my family for over 15 years and my favorite car camping tent is a two-pole, 11mm fiberglass poles, half length rainfly, tarp floor, Coleman sundome 10x10.

It's super easy to setup, roomy, and affordable. I bought it about 10 years ago for about $80. I've used this tent in death valley, Joshua tree, yosemite, sequoia, anza borrego, Angeles crest, etc.

In my early camping trips, I had a 3-room, 4-ft tall, six pole tent that was too short and too complicated to setup.

I have a 2nd Coleman sundome tent in the 7x7 size and it has served me well. Again, I love the simplicity in setting them up. When car camping, I always use heavy duty all metal stakes instead of the flimsy stakes that come with most tents. In fact, even the stakes on my backpacking black diamond tent had to be replaced with lightweight titanium stakes.

So, I highly recommend these two-pole, thin fibergl**** tarp bottom tents.

[MikeB]

Re: Bass Pro Shop Brand Tents?

Tents are things that you can always upgrade. Buy something that fits your needs and is in your budget. If you buy a $50 tent, you are going to get a $50 tent. Decide how much you are going to use your tent and in what weather you will be camping. While all of tplife's suggestions are valid, you may do well observing 2 or 3 of them in your first tent. If you get to be an avid camper, you will grow in your preference. I grew from a dome tent to a 12 X 29 wall tent with a woodburning stove. But I live in mine for the entire month of
September. It is most important that you get out there and get your hands dirty! You will love it!

[tplife]

Re: Bass Pro Shop Brand Tents?

Tplife's advice seems odd. I've camped with my family for over 15 years and my favorite car camping tent is a two-pole, 11mm fiberglass poles, half length rainfly, tarp floor, Coleman sundome 10x10.

It's super easy to setup, roomy, and affordable. I bought it about 10 years ago for about $80. I've used this tent in death valley, Joshua tree, yosemite, sequoia, anza borrego, Angeles crest, etc.

In my early camping trips, I had a 3-room, 4-ft tall, six pole tent that was too short and too complicated to setup.

I have a 2nd Coleman sundome tent in the 7x7 size and it has served me well. Again, I love the simplicity in setting them up. When car camping, I always use heavy duty all metal stakes instead of the flimsy stakes that come with most tents. In fact, even the stakes on my backpacking black diamond tent had to be replaced with lightweight titanium stakes.

So, I highly recommend these two-pole, thin fibergl**** tarp bottom tents.

I'm only making my recommendations out of personal experience - we are blessed to live in the same area as you do, so we have a 365-day camping season that includes beaches, valleys, mountains, low desert, and the foothills, and get out about every two months. We do experience weather, and from the 33 years we've been pitching stakes and tightening rope, these drawbacks to many tents have presented themselves -nighttime rustling in light winds, broken poles the first few times out of the box, total destruction in high winds, failure to sustain light snow loads, driving rain that enters less-than-full length vestibules, too much "canvas" for the number of poles, , fibergla* poles that quickly debraid, shock cord that is way too small and poorly braided, thin materials that fail due to UV damage in only a couple of seasons, polyurethane tent floors that become seives even with ground cloths, guyouts placed at the wrong heights for structural integrity, the list is almost endless! We too started out with $40 tents bought at swap meets from outlets on clearance where we had to sew our own repairs to factory seconds, but we built up our gear and kept upgrading in every category of our equipment, because we love our sport and have always learned that the least-expensive items aren't often the most cost-effective ones, if you plan on going out more than once or twice a year. You don't HAVE to spend more money on a good tent, but our ebay experience buying high-end tents for 60% off new-in-the-box proves that for only about 20% more money than the big-box store tents, you can have the latest features, quality construction, and a lifetime guarantee. It just takes time to follow auctions and research the gear you want, and not bee too brand-loyal...But it's doable!

[MikeB]

Re: Bass Pro Shop Brand Tents?

Hey tp, I don't want you to feel picked on. You are absolutely right. Poor tent designs work fine when you camp once a year in perfect weather but I have been camping in June when wind and sleet have knocked down half of all tents in the area. It is not fun waking up at 3:00am and smoving to the car after the weather has turned your shelter into a blanket. All of us who are campers started out cheap and upgraded. That is part of the fun. We just don't want newbies having a miserable camping experience!

[CruiserManny]

Re: Bass Pro Shop Brand Tents?

You can have a miserable camping experience unrelated to your tent. My first camping trip was to Lake Cachuma and hated it. there was a large group who was noisy and got into several fights. No ranger in sight. I learned to carry ear plugs to help reduce noise.

Another time the weather got so cold that our liquids froze overnight. I had a 20* degree sleeping bag that felt cold and had a hard time sleeping. I learned to use a beanie and carry hand warmers to throw in a sock and put inside my sleeping bag.

Another time it rained so much at a Boy Scouts camporee in seal beach that our campsite tuned into a 6" lake. We had to evacuate even tough my Coleman 7x7 held up pretty good. I learned to bail out when the weather goes that bad.

I have other examples where the problem was something other than the tent. So, I suppose that in my camping experience, the tent is rarely the weak link. However, I do carry various tent repair items like duct tape, pole repair kit, seam sealer, tent patches, extra heavy duty stakes, etc.

I see your point about buying a great tent at a discount the first time, but most of us graduate into a more expensive and better built tent as we gain some experience. Heck, some people go camping only once, so it doesnt really matter what net you have.

[dancing2some]

Re: Bass Pro Shop Brand Tents?

When purchasing big ticket items, especially things so subjective as tents and sleeping gear, we prefer to purchase in a face to face transaction at a local retailer. The ability to put our hands on the gear, and in the case of tents, sometimes get to see them set-up, is more than worth the savings we might get through an e-bay shopping experience. While we've bought and sold through flea-bay, and it may be fine for some items, purchases on large items come with some caveats. You need to know what you're purchasing, as many times we've found "buy it now" prices higher than what we could purchase locally, and have even seen auctions items bid up higher than full retail. Another big issue for us is return policy. In the case of purchasing big, heavy items through e-bay, though the seller may offer free shipping, and 100% satisfaction, that will almost never translate into free "return shipping", and many sellers will tack on a restocking fee. Certainly if someone is comfortable with the e-bay shopping experience, by all means have at it, but for us, we'll keep our $ local. One only needs to have to return one big, heavy tent, to see their savings vanish.

PS Maybe it's just the season, but a search through e-bay this morning for large family sized tents didn't yield any especially good deals, though I'm sure if someone were in the market to purchase, watching an e-bay category over some time, might yield a deal like TP finds. Just be sure to read all the fine print.