New to camp tenting

[elizabethdyt]

Ok so I have always gone with my two kids and husband cabin camping. Due to economic struggles we thought we would try tent camping. We have booked a spot up in Hocking Hills,Ohio for 2nd week of June. Now it is off to buy a tent.....oh my all the choices have me overwhelmed. We want a tent with lots of space. I am very cautious about spending so much money on something that I am not postive I will love. So any way we were looking at tents and we really like this one : http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_139680...e_tent_reviews

So I was hoping to get some advice from all of you. Do you think this looks like a good tent?

[renodesertfox]

Howdy elizabethdyt,
Welcome to the camping boards. We here hope that your stay will be along and happy one. And to answer your question, that is an excellent tent! If you have never tent camped, this home away from home is a very good choice. It is a big tent, with lots of room. Hope you like tent camping because if you find out that if don't like tent camping then you'll have a nice big tent that you'll never use. Good luck, let us know how your camping trip went and thanks for taking the time to join our humble camping site!

[lowplainsdrifter]

My family is the same size as yours, 4 people. From the picture and reading about the tent the only thing I can tell you is it would probably work for my family.

However, Here are a few things to consider. My kids are 2 and 4, their clothes and gear can fit into whatever my wife and I put our stuff in. Your gear can take up more space than you think. Also from experince one of the biggest things my wife and I look for is ventilation. On a hot humid night you want to make the most of any breeze there is, but at the same time stay dry if it rains.

Like anything, you just need to get out there and get some experience. You'll learn things. When you're out camping you will see other peoples tents. Don't be afraind to ask about their tents. Campers like to talk about gear.

One suggestion I have before buying anything on line is go to a sporting goods store where they have tents set up inside. That will give you an idea of what you're looking for and it will translate better when you go looking online.

Also check out the thread I started "Economy goes down, Tents go up"
Where we have been discussing camping and the economy. I'm not sure which forum it's in.

[elizabethdyt]

Well thanks for all the advice everyone. I to hope I will like this. I have always loved camping and the outdoors. I am fond of hiking,fishing and of course camp fires :-). So as long as I can handle sleeping outdoors I should be ok. I have a 4 year old daughter and a 9 year old son. I feel they could both use some more outdoor time(to much computers and tv) So I can't wait for this trip. I just don't know if I am prepared for this. So if anyone has any advice for a first timer I would sure welcome it.

We decided against the Field and stream Berkshire tent. It was just to much money for something we are not sure we will use again. Even though we did go look at it set up at Dicks sporting Goods and it look wonderful. We wanted to stay in the hundred dollar range. Sorry for wasting anybody's time at looking at it. I am just very cautious about what to buy. However I do feel we found the one we want. It is exactly in our price range and we can pick up at Walmart. We plan on purchasing it in a few days. So we have time to set it up in our backyard and get a feel for it. I will post the link for it http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10927048&findingMethod=rr#Sh ort Review Title Bar So sorry for the change.

I will try not to ask to many questions on here. I will try to go through and read all the other posts. I just feel a little overwhelmed and just want to make sure I am prepared.

I will definitely post here after my trip and let you know how it went. Once again thank you so much for all the advice.

[Chile Chef]

Ok so I have always gone with my two kids and husband cabin camping. Due to economic struggles we thought we would try tent camping. We have booked a spot up in Hocking Hills,Ohio for 2nd week of June. Now it is off to buy a tent.....oh my all the choices have me overwhelmed. We want a tent with lots of space. I am very cautious about spending so much money on something that I am not postive I will love. So any way we were looking at tents and we really like this one : http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_139680...e_tent_reviews

So I was hoping to get some advice from all of you. Do you think this looks like a good tent?

if you can afford it they have tents called Cabin tents, The tents would have a gear room where you could place gear, lots of windows, Some kind of ac unit or ac unit hook or a fan setup.

And you could possible sleep 10 people in the tent, But looks like you have a descent one picked out.All add and then an edit for my post here.

Ma'am Please don't get this tent, This tent will not "STAY UP", I had this tent and we never could get it to stay up either on it's own or help with a tree. And with a good gust of wind on a normal wiindy day it fell down faster then rain does!

[renodesertfox]

Howdy elizabethdyt,

I will post the link for it http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10927048&findingMethod=rr#Sh ort Review Title Bar So sorry for the change.

I will try not to ask to many questions on here. I will try to go through and read all the other posts. I just feel a little overwhelmed and just want to make sure I am prepared.

I will definitely post here after my trip and let you know how it went. Once again thank you so much for all the advice.

This tent seems more in line of what you are looking for. Wal-mart is a good place to start for camping. But you should try to ask as many questions as you can about camping, being overwhelmed is a natural phase to go through about camping. Instead of just reading all the posts here on this site another way to go about looking at what other tent campers use, go to the "Member List" tab and look at my home page, under vegasdesertfox. I have about 18 photo albums of stuff ranging from photos of the gear I use to photos of where we have gone. I think you will find these photos helpful. Another idea about going camping and not waiting for june to come is, if you can, set your tent up in the backyard and water-proof all the seams and then sleep in it for one night in your backyard. Now that's a test to see if you'll like camping. In fact, you can involve the entire family. Hey, thanks for sharing and asking questions...that's what it's all about here at campingforums.com!

[Chile Chef]

VDF, is right you can get the whole family involved, in fact you can let each family member take turns to cook and so on. This way you can play a part in there future of camping and so on. I guess what I'm trying to say it's a good idea to take the whole family along even the dog.

[Sandy]

Yep, backyard camping is an excellent way to test everything out before you get to the campsite. The first time the tent goes up is definately the hardest and once you're at the campground you will want to finish setting up so you can enjoy yourselves. It really is a lot of fun!

Happy Camping!
Sandy

[PikeHunter2]

Our whole family camps together and has done so since the mid-70's. We have an older Eureka Space 10 tent (10x10) which is made of heavy duty poplin - not the plastics found today. I don't like the newer tents b/c they don't hold up well in our higher mountain atmosphere. When snow is on them they collapse. Now granted the poplin is heavier and framework more substantial but it has held up very well for being 37 years old! But we can sleep six easily. We use the truck bed and tailgate for the cooking. We can put it together in a half hour and down in ten minutes. Think practically and you will not need to replace equipment every few years.

[jehan60188]

if I recall correctly, REI rents out equipment (including tents)
members get a discount on things (lifetime membership is $20, and you get 10% back on most purchases), so you might want to rent a tent, just to try out tent camping...

[Mike59]

Large cottage tent

I recently saw a huge tent-maybe 15'x15'-- from a company called Northwest Territory that was bought at Kmart for around $200 called the Olympic Cottage. It had tons of room and tall ceiling height but the best thing is that it looked like a little cottage in the woods. I bet it could sleep 6-8 easily.

[Mike59]

Large family tent

I recently saw a huge tent-maybe 15'x15'-- from a company called Northwest Territory that was bought at Kmart for around $200 called the Olympic Cottage. It had tons of room and tall ceiling height but the best thing is that it looked like a little cottage in the woods. I bet it could sleep 6-8 easily.

[Dagnabfarm]

Large Tent?

Large tents are fine if you plan on spending all your time in the tent. We often see very large tents set up, but everyone is sitting around outside the tent. I know the advertisers take photos of the large tents showing them set up like houses with living rooms, bedrooms, tables, etc. But likely you are only going to sleep in the tent.

I think you should consider a couple of smaller tents and a large canopy or screen house and comfortable chairs. Even a couple of large tarps. This gives everyone a shaded and rain protected area to gather in and socialize. The tent is going to be too hot to get in during the daytime. You could carry a window fan if the site has electricity. It will cool and fan bugs away.

If you decide you don't like tent camping you can still use the other stuff in the backyard for cookouts and things.

I would never purchase a tent that did not have a full coverage rain fly. This means the rain fly extends to the bottom of the tent on all walls, including the door.

You also want what is called a bathtub floor. This is a floor with seams that are about 8 to 12 inches up from the ground. A tent with seams at ground level will leak.