I'm tired of trashing my tent every year.... suggestions?

Puckmaster · Post by **Puckmaster** » Mon May 16, 2011 5:46 am

Aggree I'm making a yurt this year and found everything for under 300 bucks (closer to 200) if you look around you can find those panels for like 10 bucks look at lumber yards and building supply stores. I'm getting mine from mccoys

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon May 16, 2011 9:38 am

For a low low fee of just $500 I am happy to trash your tent for you.

peachandpapa · Post by **peachandpapa** » Mon May 16, 2011 12:53 pm

peachandpapa wrote:
Spend the money and buy a wall tent. Reliable, strong, and roomy. Invest and you will love it and use it for decades. Best playa investment I have ever made!!!

Alt 12 wrote:
this sounds like what I am looking for... any make/model recommendations?

We use Reliable Tent Co., Denver Tent Co. or Montana Tents. In addition, from time-to-time there are good deals on Ebay.

MoonSplash · Post by **MoonSplash** » Thu May 19, 2011 1:25 pm

2008: Cheapie Wal-mart $30 4-person tent lasted until the very last day when the winds just killed the poles. Taped car windshield reflectors to the mesh and it was pristine inside. So sad because it was great otherwise.

2010: Invested in much bigger, more expensive Alps Mountaineering 6-person tent. Piece of shit started collapsing on Day 2 and by Day 4, I was sleeping in the car. Full rainfly coverage over mesh - still lots of playa dust inside. Not happy. Splintered poles and ripped tent fabric due to relentless winds.

I'm looking at Coleman's Instant Tent 4 - reasonably priced, has poles that lock in place, looks easy to put up and down, and all windows and doors zip closed fully. Anyone ever use one of these out there?

Post by **AntiM** » Thu May 19, 2011 1:36 pm

Our Coleman four person ripped and broke a pole after three days at our regional (we get similar winds).

Post by **Savannah** » Thu May 19, 2011 1:46 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:For a low low fee of just $500 I am happy to trash your tent for you.

alt12, I have one of the wigwam designs from the company you linked. It's survived the 2009 and 2010 burns so far, and I'll be bringing it again. Easy as hell to set up. I use 10 inch Coleman stakes with it. The headspace is wonderful; I'll never go back to a 5 foot high tent again, even though I'm only a few inches taller; I hate stooping/bruising my knees cumulatively over the course of the week. If its third burn is its last, the space, height, ease and interesting appearance will have been worth the $100 or so spent--to me.

In the event of a really long 2008-style windstorm, I have given thought to covering my bedding in plastic, placing all items back into their rubbermaid containers, collapsing the center pole, setting a heavy cooler on top of it all and walking away. I haven't had to do this yet.

It shed the rain from the 2 rainstorms last year (the one the Saturday night before Gates opened, and the one the day of) although the rain did bead up a little during the first storm, which was (to my sleepy recollection) longer in duration than Monday's. When I speculatively touched the wall, a little rain would seep through on my fingertip. If I didn't, it dripped down the outside successfully. Since I hadn't felt rain out there in years, I'm willing to take a chance on it one more time.

A friend of mine with the same model did find that she got a bit of rain inside during 2010, but I'm not sure how many outings her tent had had for regionals, or how much rain she got inside.

I'm bad, I don't wash my tent. I'm an apartment dweller and have no place to dry it. I suppose I could borrow someone's yard or something.

Minxy · Post by **Minxy** » Thu May 19, 2011 2:15 pm

Hey, Savannah, which wigwam? I see three diff ones when I searched. I'm looking for at least one, possibly two good tents for the additional people coming with us this year.

illy dilly · Post by **illy dilly** » Thu May 19, 2011 2:22 pm

Savannah wrote: When I speculatively touched the wall, a little rain would seep through on my fingertip. If I didn't, it dripped down the outside successfully. Since I hadn't felt rain out there in years, I'm willing to take a chance on it one more time.

A friend of mine with the same model did find that she got a bit of rain inside during 2010, but I'm not sure how many outings her tent had had for regionals, or how much rain she got inside.

I'm bad, I don't wash my tent. I'm an apartment dweller and have no place to dry it. I suppose I could borrow someone's yard or something.

Savannah, maybe try spraying it down with that water proof spray you use for shoes? Though, it might take two whole cans of the spray to do the job.

Back on topic, our first year we used an REI tent I had picked up at Good Will. Its just your typical dome tent: 3 poles that all intersect at the top, two doors opposite each other, and a rain fly. Thought that tent didn't have any windows, so it would get a bit stuffy. The tent held together very very well, until one night in a drunken stupor I went to rip the door open real quick and screwed up the zipper- but thats user error.

What really screwed us over is taking off our shoes right inside the tent, and changing our clothes in the tent. All that dust that comes off of you when you change in the tent really gets things dirty. And even though our shoes were only right inside the door, it still tracked in dust. A trick we learned is to strip down to your undies (or just get naked) then dive in. And leave the already dirty clothes piled out side tell your changed and can deal with them properly.

Post by **Savannah** » Thu May 19, 2011 2:58 pm

Minxy wrote:Hey, Savannah, which wigwam? I see three diff ones when I searched. I'm looking for at least one, possibly two good tents for the additional people coming with us this year.

Guide Gear Single Pole Wigwam

Be forewarned--it holds up much better to moderate wind than rain, but how it would fare in the craziest of windstorms is unknown to me. The reviews are fairly consistent on decent-for-wind, iffy in rain. It's not for Pacific Northwesterners who want an all-purpose tent, for example, but for a playa-only person . . . maybe. Rain doesn't happen all that often during Burn Week, and when it does, it's usually light. Except for last year.

I pointed the door away from Center Camp, which always helps lessen intrusion of the elements. Slightly. Since--according to reviews--one of the weak spots for rain seems to be the door zipper, this would explain why no rain came in at my door.

Also helpful if it rains: sleep nearer the central pole than normal, as the rain will probably schuss down the side . . . and if it seeps though, it will be where things are pressing hard against the fabric.

Used with: Coleman 10 inch stakes w/ t-shaped head. I pound them flat and remove them later with a Fulton 30-Inch Wrecker Pry Bar. Pull gently, or you will (well, I will) get cut.

It's a luxurious amount of space for 1 person, but will sleep two twin mattresses (1 Amzn site review claims a Queen can fit--who knows) and still have a little space left if they're storing some items in their vehicle. (I did not, I pretty much had everything I owned in it).

My illustrious neighbors used the double pole version, and had scads of space.

Minxy · Post by **Minxy** » Thu May 19, 2011 2:59 pm

Thanks! We are hoping to put our tents under a carport, but that might not work out.

I appreciate the review, super helpful!! <3