Flying, tent camped, June, 3 adults 6 kids, two weeks

[Gillian]

KongKarls, I think you may need to have a certain number of posts before you're allowed to do pics. If you want to just post the links or IM them to me, I can make them clickable.

For the camper who always gets wet, there have been threads here about staying dry with lots of good suggestions. Try a search, although it can be a little fussy. A lot of people put tarps overhead, but there are other factors too. Like making sure you put a tarp underneath that's fitted to your tent with none sticking out, not touching the inside of the tent walls when they're wet (that means keeping your stuff away from the walls too), waterproofing seams, etc. People also put a tarp or plastic inside the floor of the tent sometimes.

We moved to a popup last year and I don't miss tenting at all!

 

[#1 TITANS FAN]

Sorry to wear you out with questions, but was wondering how the ac in tent worked out. Did you use one of those boots to mount the a/c ? You also mentioned a condensation problem that you were able to solve. I'm tenting at FW 9/6 -9/11 in a 10' x 12' tent, just bought a small a/c last week and am trying to figure out the best way to configure it. Thanks.

 

[hsmamato2]

I just bought some tarp poles at campmor.com- they were around 13 apiece,if that helps-they were called tent poles- my next camping trip I intend to set up a tarp over our tent too- I refuse to get soaked again!
you are intrepid people for sure!

 

[disneynewbeemom]

I just bought some tarp poles at campmor.com- they were around 13 apiece,if that helps-they were called tent poles- my next camping trip I intend to set up a tarp over our tent too- I refuse to get soaked again!
you are intrepid people for sure!

Are tent poles going to give as much support as tarp poles? Are they thinner than tarp poles? Did you buy two poles or are more needed? Thanks for your help! Everyone on this site has been so informative and so helpful!!

 

[hsmamato2]

you know-I don't know....I bought these 2 poles, they are eureka brand, aluminum,and they collapse down - or extend to 7 feet tall- they are strong and sturdy,I intend to use them to hold the tarp up and open over our doorway,with tie downs to hold them-they came in different lengths-
I'm going to check out the tarp poles too,just to see the difference,if there is any- I do know that I love campmors prices

 

[KongKarls]

Sorry to wear you out with questions, but was wondering how the ac in tent worked out. Did you use one of those boots to mount the a/c ? You also mentioned a condensation problem that you were able to solve. I'm tenting at FW 9/6 -9/11 in a 10' x 12' tent, just bought a small a/c last week and am trying to figure out the best way to configure it. Thanks.

I read up on those AC boots, but didn't want to cut into the tent. Fortunately, the tent we used has 2 end and 1 side door. The doors have one zipper on the bottom and 1 that arcs down from the top.

I took a square sheet of plastic and wrapped it around the front end of the AC, taping it all the way around, but leaving the seam untaped on the bottom. This was the "boot" and it extended, maybe 18inches in front of the unit. I made a cardboard divider to seperate the cool air output from the return (taped to the face of the AC and extending to the end of the boot). I then opened the door to roughly the size of the AC face. I used standard office binder clips to clip the end of the plastic boot to the opening. I then picked a point on the top/center of the boot to fasten a cord and tied it to the tarp line above. This allowed a slight pitch in the top of the boot to allow condensation to drain, rather than puddle and collapse the boot. I played with the idea of using some segments of an extra fiberglass tent pole to make a frame within the boot, but this proved unnecessary.

I also used a small black and decker blower fan to circulate the air in the tent.

Note: I came up with most of this onsite. The key thing is to keep the AC about 2 feet away from the tent, and separate to cold air from the return. This was a window AC unit, with a remote, so I was able to turn it on and off from within the tent.

We had to turn it down several nights as it was getting to cold.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

I certainly tip my hat to you. You planned everything out and seemed to work flawlessly. I love reading about how people go to Disney on a budget and you did it!!!!

 

[Jill in Chicago]

Where did you store all of your food? We have never camped at Disney, but when we do camp all the food goes in the van at night. Once we forgot and left food in our screen tent and woke up to find an animal had eaten a hole through the tent to get to the food, and then eaten into the food box!

 

[dsneygirl]

What a great experience! Can you tell me what kind of air conditioner you used?

 

[KongKarls]

Where did you store all of your food? We have never camped at Disney, but when we do camp all the food goes in the van at night. Once we forgot and left food in our screen tent and woke up to find an animal had eaten a hole through the tent to get to the food, and then eaten into the food box!

Four of our checked bags were a foot locker style case that fit with airline measurements. We kept a majority of our food in these, within the tent. Other items, like pop and some snacks were in boxes in our storage tent, but were never disturbed by animals. However, we did leave a pack of oreos on the picnic table while at the park, only to find it opened and empty upon return. So you're right, animals are a consideration.

The middle fly door of our cabelas deluxe backwoods tent, made into a closed chamber, where we kept most of the cases (within easy reach from the main part of the tent). Once the cases were on the ground, we could set other bags on top of them. We also had the porti potti in this chamber (a little crowded, but worked well late at night).

 

[KongKarls]

What a great experience! Can you tell me what kind of air conditioner you used?

It was a daewoo 5350 btu window unit from costco. Under 50lbs with a remote control. Around $100.

I packed it, box and all, (minus the window mount gear), in a supersized duffle to provide handles. The duffle, if full, would have been to big, but the ends compressed in about 16inches and I put a lashing around to make it smaller. It worked fine, but was right at 49 lbs.

BTW, I used a rapala 50lb fish scale to weigh my bags before heading to FW and again before heading home.