Feedback on my setup

[Said teh Bear]

Hey. Jacq here again for some quick questions.
I will be flying from Miami, FL to Reno and camping with some people I met.
This is my setup for my first Burn and I hope I'm getting it right because I've done a good amount of research on tents, what to look for, durability, tent stakes, and everything there is to have a secure tent.
I went to those big retail stores and unfortunately every one of them carry mesh walls. Sucks to live in South Florida for this reason.
So I went online and found this



Its a good 4 Season low profile tent, small mesh opening for a little ventilation, made for high intensity winds, and a great price.
Am I leaning in the right direction with this? Its a little small for my girlfriend and I but we will manage.
Should I replace the poles and guy lines that come with it even though the descriptions says its made for high winds?

Now I'm looking for some tent stakes. Rebar is an option but only as a last resort when I touch down in Reno.
I really just want to purchase regular tent stakes that I can use for other trips.
I found these also on amazon:



18 inch steel pounded into the ground looks promising. The price is quite high but if these do the job time and time again than its an investment I would be happy with.


As soon as I get this figured out I may work on a shade structure.
Thanks.

[lemur]

that tent will be fine.

i use one of a similar design..



with a tent that size you wont need rebar, or huge 18 inch stakes.. i made that mistake the first year or two that i used my similar sized tent... carrying around 10-12 pounds of stakes is a pain in the butt.

youll get along just fine with these, pounded about an inch below the playa surface.



these ones are 'msr gr0undh0g' stakes... but there are similar varieties out there.. they dont weigh anything and they hold plenty well.

i use braided nylon cord 1/8th inch doubled up for my guylines..... i think i used about 50 feet.

its held many dust storms and nasty stuff since 2008.


you shouldnt need to replace the tent poles.

bring some 'tent pole repair tubes' if youre worried about them breaking (i bring 4 of them.. and havnt had to use them)

if you guy your tent out good, it should be a very strong structure with the taught lines providing plenty of bracing to keep the poles from bearing too much pressure...i.e. the stitching of the fabric rainfly/tent fabric itself will be bearing the load ..not the poles

[FIGJAM]

You don't need stakes that long for that tent.

Go to a hardware store and get the longest nails you can find.

[lemur]

that tent looks like its got 16 points for stakes. (at least)

you could probably just go with 12......

but considering its your home during the event, another $5-6 might not be so bad.

i use every tie down point i can on my tent.. which means i need a minimum of 13 ..i bring 16 just incase. (plus a few cheapy crappy 'ones that come with the tent' ones too)

..roughly $200 for a tent + 20 fancy lightweight aluminium 7inch stakes at 2.50a pop from rei and you got a solid home that ends up costing about $25 a night..



youll need to store your gear outside of the tent/in a car/someplace else if you plan on getting two people in it..

but hey! that seems likely a reasonable price to me.

[Said teh Bear]

Thanks for the replies, I'm feeling much more confident now. The tent should be coming in by Wednesday, tomorrow, so I'm going to set it up and go from there. I found similar stakes at 9 inches for $5 4pk.

[illy dilly]

A little low profile round tent like that will be great against the wind.
The super round backpacking tents like that do great in the wind. I wouldn't bother with replacing the poles or guy lines.
I've seen small dome tents get blown flat in a huge gust of wind, then just pop right back up after the gust.

Inside the door of the rain fly that extends out past the actual tent area is a good place to store some stuff out of the wind and rain. Sort of like a little awning for taking your shows and jackets off.

As for stakes I like these metal ones with the plastic tops. Surprisingly, so far none of the plastic tops have broken off.
And apparently Amazon sells a 10 pack for $5.35 plus shipping, thats better than what I paid.

http://www.amazon.com/Non-Rust-Galvaniz ... 988&sr=1-1

[lemur]

i bring a little rug to go in that empty space in front of the tent that is covered by the rainfly... in tent parlance i think they refer to that area as the "vestibule"


having a little rug there is, in my mind, essential..

i try to pack small and bring as little as possible and the rug always comes


not only does it make it feel more like 'home'.. but, you can shake the dust out... it traps moop from getting mushed into the ground and it helps to keep the inside of the tent cleaner, ..along with being a bit of space to do outside of the tent type stuff, like (carefully) cooking breakfast on your little tiny backpacking stove

the one i bring is like 34inches by 18 inches.

when sleepin in a tent.. sometimes its the little things that make the difference!