Ordered New Tent

[Sford13]

Well I finally ordered my new tent. Took months of looking and waiting and looking again. From the get go this tent was probably the front runner even if it was the most expensive. Bass Pro's catalog has some new Ascend tent that looked good and was cheaper but could find no info on them and it was new after all. I went with the Cabela's Alaskan Guide Model 8-man with fiberglass poles. Figured with a rating of 4.8 out of 5 after 166 reviews that it must be a sound tent. My brother-in-law has one and says it is well worth the price. And the thing has been a staple in Cabela's dome tents for a while so it is a tried and true design. On the advice of others I did get the floor saver as well as the floor liner. Looking forward to many years of family camping in this thing. And rain no longer has to ruin a camping trip.

Probably be first of April before I can get this out to use it because of being busy at work. But man it feels good knowing it is on the way.

[renodesertfox]

Thanks for the update! April is right around the corner almost! It'll be great to hear about your tenting experience!

[tplife]

It's a geodesic-domed tent design of high-quality. I would have paid for the aluminum-pole option because of the size of the thing being larger than a 4-man, but I've had good luck with my fiberglass-poled Base Camp model.

[Eaglebait Ranch]

It's a geodesic-domed tent design of high-quality. I would have paid for the aluminum-pole option because of the size of the thing being larger than a 4-man, but I've had good luck with my fiberglass-poled Base Camp model.

What kind did you get?

[tplife]

What kind did you get?

Uh oh, here we go... Actually, I bought a Sierra Designs Bedouin 6 (aluminum poles) off of Ebay. It was a milestone purchase to celebrate my 1987 Sierra Designs BaseCamp 4 (fiberglass poles), still in use and going strong. I also own a Sierra Designs Electron for motorcycle camping, and a Eureka! Tetragon 7 for my "guest" tent. I buy Sierra Designs because although I've found better quality tents (Marmot), low production numbers mean no great deals for new-in-the-box tents off Ebay. Sierra Designs is an innovator, the SwiftClips in your new tent are just one of the many patents they own that companies pay royalties to use.

Here's the BaseCamp (left) and Bedouin (right) in action 11/09 in Glamis before changing the guy-out lines to fluorescent Home-Depot cord and 12" steel stakes for the Bedouin (note loose rainfly edge at right)...

[Sford13]

I went with the fiberglass due to the fact that I will not be using this in extreme weather and it's primarily going to be a car family camping tent. So that weight strength and durability did not seem like a $150 value to me which is the difference between the FG and AL poles. Also read in reviews that for my use the FG will suffice just fine.

[renodesertfox]

Great looking pics tp! Thanks for sharing! Everyone should pay attention to your reviews! They are timely and right on target!! Thanks, when you camping next?