A New Project: The 1500 Loop - Will My Tent Fit?

[bama_ed]

All,

During my visit last week while staying in the 1500 loop, I thought about a question that has come up frequently lately. It usually goes something like this, "We are considering camping in a tent at the Fort. How big are the sites? My tent is X by Y feet. Will it fit on the sand pad?"

I decided to spend some time trying to help people by providing some certainty. Usually our answers to this question in the past were "it should fit but put the size as a note on your ressie". But that doesn't truly answer the question. So I set to work on the 1500 loop that I was in. It's a Partial hook-up loop (along with loop 2000) and is for tents, pop-ups, and the like.

On Wednesday and Thursday morning as people checked out of 1500 I went and took a few key measurements of their sites. There are 21 sites in 1500 and I measured 10. What's key about 1500 is the sand pads are not always rectangular; the grills are inside the pad in a corner (usually back left) which take up some space; and the power post and water hookup are also inside the pad (usually front right) and also takes up some space. What's left is what I call "useful space" to set a tent up in. 1500 Loop is an original Fort loop when it opened in 1971.

Here are the measurements I took for each of the 10 sites. Several were of the driveway and the others were the "useful width" and "useful depth" which defined the SINGLE largest rectangle possible in the pad. Note it is not a full "side to side" measurement because the grill, picnic table, and power post create some wasted space. Again you can set up tents around in different ways or even go off the pad.

Is your head spinning yet? Let's keep it simple.



Here are the measurements for 1500 loop.



Note the asterisks for the biggest and smallest usefal pad widths and depths.

Now that you got some numbers, here are a few pictures:

1501 is a relatively small outside site and the pad is not rectangular.







1512 is an inside site and very long and deep as you can tell by the numbers above.



1510 is an outside site along the canal which I did not measure because someone was set up on it and I respected their privacy but there are some trees inside the pad borders that might inhibit a "one big tent" approach. Note the tree on the near right and back left both inside the pad.



So I didn't photograph every site either.

We often advise folks if they need a big Partial pad site, 2000 loop is your best bet. Here's why: 2000 was added to the Fort during an expansion phase in the 1976-1977 time frame. MOST of the sites have the grill moved to an additional "cut-out" space near the pad which is also large enough for the picnic table if desired. The power posts are MOSTLY outside the pad timbers. The net effect of this is to allow more "useful space" within the pad timbers. Alas, I didn't get over to measure any sites in 2000. Here is an example of the "cut-out" (the picnic table is not in the cut-out now but could easily fit next to the grill):





I also measured two nearby Full Hookup sites in loop 1600 and one Premium in loop 600.



Here is a photo of 1634 Full (it is very close to the 1500 Comfort Station):



Here is a photo of 1638 Full:



Here is 619 Premium:



Again, these measurements assume everything is on the pad (picnic table, tents, etc). You can work around some of these limitations by using two smaller tents set off-center from each other to avoid things. I only measured roughly to the nearest quarter foot. These numbers aren't exact but they're close.

So IMO these numbers verify that the sand pads sizes do vary. I would suggest always listing tent and screen room/e-z up sizes to fit on the pad (which looks best). Of course when I left Saturday, 1503 had four tents on it (I say ON it but none were on the pad. They surrounded the pad which was set up with tables, chairs, and overhead strung lights.)

What do you guys think? Too many numbers?

Bama ED

PS - I'd like to thank my beautiful surveying assistants DW and DD

[2goofycampers]

[Bearikens]

I also have a couple of ideas to expand on your GREAT idea.

1) those who camp in those sites in 1500 and 2000 that you haven't included could take measurements to add to your list and take a photo of the site empty.

2) I think this thread should be added to the FAQ section

BTW, I don't think there are too many numbers...every little bit helps!

[FL Ranch Girl]

Ed, my dad said he can save you tons of time and give you some great info so you don't have to work so hard.


Annie

Well guess he can't because it gets blocked because it came from another site. He said email him.

[twoWDWfools]

Great info, thanks!

We'll be there in just over 2 weeks so can do some other measuring if needed/wanted. We'll have a medium sized tent plus screen room so figure we'll be fine just about anywhere.

[bama_ed]

Folks,

I appreciate the posts. However, it was not my intention to measure EVERY site or build a database of site sizes. (it sounds like that info is already on the net - no surprise). Also, I'm measuring in a very specific way (for those folks who ask about the ONE big tent). If you have a regular tent and a separate ez-up, for example, the fit is not as difficult for you.

I appreciate the kind offers of additional info but I (for one) am not interested in pursuing it any further.

PURPOSE: I wanted to know about "useful" pad sizes in 1500 loop

RESULT: I measured approximately half of the 1500 sites. (that's a sample and not a population statistcally speaking)

CONCLUSION: There is no standard site size. You'll notice some of the pad measurements vary about 150% between min and max and some vary 250%+ min and max in the other measurements.

CONFIRMATION: Put the size of your tent on your ressie. Anything other than a medium tent might bump into some restictions. That was my intention.

Personally I stayed in 1504 and it felt VERY wide and it is the widest sample in the group. Alternatively, 1512 was very deep out of the sample (but it was only a sample none the less).

I get paid daily to be analytical and to reconcile numbers and personally (just between us here on the DIS and those lurking) I don't want to pursue it any further. My measurements are accurate for the underlying assumptions for the sites I measured. Some folks may have measured "timber edge to timber edge" and their numbers may be different. It's apples and oranges, folks.

There were some consistent numbers if you look at them which are obvious even to the untrained observer.

This was part of the "after glow" of my recent trip; separate from my recent TR (which is racking up great numbers BTW) but still related to the same visit.

I'm not scheduled for a return visit to the Fort until 2013 (always need a future Fort visit to keep the peace of mind).

So no more measurements - it is what it is.

I'm a Fort Fan!

Bama ED

[rapriebe]

Ed,
Just wanted to let you know that I think it was awesome that you took the time to measure out those sites. It does give people a good sampling of the usable camping space especially in the 1500 loop. For those who camp with multiple tents or screen rooms, it gives them a good idea if their equipment will even fit on the sites.

Kudos to you for taking the time out of your trip to do this.

[Jennybird]

Wow, thanks Ed! This is something my husband I have wondered about a lot lately! Thanks for taking the time!

[4kids4karen]

Thanks for the info! This is useful for me!

[Tented1]

Originally Posted by 4kids4karen

Thanks for the info! This is useful for me!

It was for me too. I've discovered that BamaEd is a GREAT DISer. I should have said thank you long ago too. THANK YOU !!!