[drm]

[Franco]

Some deal with condensation by either maximising air flow and or simply wiping down the walls when needed (I do that) With the Rainbows you can get a liner to cover the area of the fly seen in this shot :

(the liner is NOT in place there, you just see the roof and bits on the side that it would cover if it were there) That of course does not eliminate condensation it just prevents you for rubbing against the wet walls. The liner also works to give better sun protection , so with that and having the sides open it is less of a "sweatbox" BTW often when I see comments about wind performance (my tent was shaking/bending etc...) I noticed that guylines where not in place. In some areas even buildings have "guylines" so if you camp in exposed areas use them. The Rainbows (1 and 2) take 4 guylines and if you prefer you could have all of them split in two (inverted V fashion) so up to 8 extra stakes. franco@tarptent

[MtnGoat]

[MtnGoat]

[HitTheTrail]

[Voxxjin]

I like my Kelty Salida 2 tent. Works well for me. Easy set up and you can sit upright in it. The vestibule that the fly creates is not large and I do wish it were slightly larger. I suppose two people could sleep in it if you were both thin and in those mummy bags but I like the tent as my solo tent. Both the floor and the rainfly have been good about keeping a driving rain out and has held up with no problems in windy conditions. The only complaint I have is that when the fly is zipped up, condensation happens. Maybe I just have to pull out the rainfly more for more air current.

[SlingShot]

Wind River & Yellowstone Sept 2014 - (36)

The Winds - Sept 1-15 2012 - 0157

Best Tent For Me. Lightheart gear SoLong6. I am 6'3", I can't touch both ends of the tent at the same time. My sleeping bag never touches the tent at the feet. Great venting, and the rain flies can be rolled up using only 4 steaks. I like this tent so much I have two, a silnylon and a cuben fiber. If your over 6' and need room to stretch this is the tent. Its also 55" wide, two medium sleeping pads will fit.

[Jaberwock]

WORST TENT: Nemo Inflatable tent (forget what it was called). I got this thing as a freebie, tried using it a few times before giving it away. It's inflatable poles offered no advantage over normal poles, but were much weaker, took longer to set up, etc. This tent was also the subject of endless jokes, the most constructive idea was to fill the inflatable poles with helium and pull the tent behind my pack like a balloon. Unfortunately we never tried this before ditching it. BEST TENT: Homemade 8x9' silnylon flat tarp. What an amazing thing a tarp is. I use a bug net bivy with this and I've never stayed drier or more comfortable than when using this. LOVE IT. Takes practice to use, you can't just pop two poles in their sleeves and call it good, it's mandatory to understand how to use a tarp in different situations for effectiveness. After a few years I feel confident. Pic below is the morning after a windy drizzle from one direction.

[Pyrites]

Best, unfortunately, worst. Eld Equipment Pod Two shock-corded poles provide self-supporting single layer tent of breathable Climate. ~8" high one-piece (no stitching to leak) bathtub floor. Zippered front access door, with full zippered mosquito netting. To describe shape, think baseball hat. Two poles cross at top of hat, and self support dome section of hat. Feet go towards brim of hat. Brim or foot section looks different from hat in that it is a skewed catenary curve, higher at dome, maybe 14" high at feet. Foot end of inside of tent supported by inserted Tygon tubing. Foot end can, and normally is unzipped for ventilation, with non-zippered mosquito netting. End is pulled out to a point by some cheaper water proof material to a single stake, in a half-cone shape. Front access door again is front, not side door. It has a little eye brow again supported a piece of Tygon tubing. Normally two stake are used at front corners. For two persons in a night with a foot of new snow, use a couple stakes to keep tent off bags to maintain ventilation. Also use in high wind (50 mph). 2 3/4 pound. True three season. Inside pocket so you can always locate light. String at top to support candle lantern, one person only. Only one person can get dressed at a time. Experienced users can put up in the dark without using a light in a couple minutes. A real lightweight tent that keeps out rain wind bugs. Spacious for one, fine for two, although probably not for snow camping. Worst? Eld folded camp eons ago. Wordy in hopes some sewing wiz will take up challenge.

[Franco]

Pyrites, Eld Equipment Pod Do you have a photo of it ?

[Malachai Constant]

Worst: K-mart special single wall "waterproof" pup tent Lynda had when we first met. Took it up to Cascade Pass in April for snow camping. Rained hard all night in the morning were on a snow Mesa with a 3"deep filled moat all around us, good times! Best: Hubba Hubba love the large vestibules great bug tent without the fly. Honorable Mention: Sierra Designs Mondo Condo 4 season 4 person Expedition Base Camp Tent with centimeter thick poles used for car camping and canoe camping. Easily withstands whole gales and blizzards accommodates two army cots.

[Pyrites]

http://tinyurl.com/EldEquipment This is a later more traditional double wall tent. I think it is also the 2-3 person tent. They offered traditional fly/tent model also, although at the time their just heavier than gossamer inner tent was unusual in this configuration. It does show basic shape. Some just wouldn't trust the Climate (kly mate) based on the inferior performance of contemporary Goretex so they made shown fly/tent in catalog. My memory is that Climate lost patent trial. Eld bought all they could find. Supply lasted for years with their 2-4 person production unit. I think Goretex has caught up to quality of Climate in the mean time and might now work.

[Franco]

Thanks for that. I could not find anything on them, still cannot beside that ad.

[Vluch]

I apologize for bump an old topic... I have used the Cabela's "Alaska Guide Model" tent in the past, I don't generally recommend it. There are much better choices out there in a four-season tent. I could spell out all the reasons, but I've already written a LOT about this in the past. Maybe one day I'll write it all out again, but it's running up on midnight now, and I have to be up at 5am. BTW, I use "Alaska Guide Model" in quotes, because I see that label applied to a lot of gear, but I don't see a lot of Alaska Guides using it. One of the first decisions you have to make with a tent is whether you must have something you can stand up in or not. If you insist on a larger tent that you can stand up in, you are automatically limiting yourself in terms of where you will hunt. Open tundra areas commonly found in the Arctic and Western Alaska will not tolerate any structure with high sidewalls for long. You will get a few folks here who disagree with that assessment, but I maintain that many of these folks have not really been in serious weather with a tent like that. Still, if you can park the tent in the brush or use terrain features to shield your tent, you can camp in quite a few places with a taller tent. The two I would recommend are the Barney's Bombshelter and the Arctic Oven by Alaska Tent and Tarp. I also use the Eureka Timberline Outfitter Six in these situations. If you want a tent with a much broader application, have a look at a sturdy four-season mountaineering tent such as those made by Terra Nova https://bestoutdooritems.com/best-frame-tent/ I know some folks really love the Kifaru tipi, but I prefer a tent with an actual floor to sleeping on the wet ground and dirt, and I like my mosquito netting, which you don't get with the Tipi. Again, I suspect that most of the Tipi fans have not spent a lot of time in one during warmer weather when the bugs are really out in force. I could be wrong though. I can tell you that when you think it's raining outside and you take a peek and discover that the lee side of your tent is black with mosquitoes (this is not an exaggeration), brother, that's when you're mighty glad to have some netting between you and them! Plan on spending $500 or more for a good tent that will last you many years. Plan on paying much more than that over the years, in $350 installments as you replace cheaper tents every few years. Hope it helps!