tent shopping

[eagles]

i am narrowing in between these two:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...parentType=index&indexId=cat602107&hasJS=true

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true

i like the second because it has a room divider, and the reviews are great for rain and wind and warmth. if it keeps people warm in cold weather, with my a/c it should keep us cool in hot weather, right?



any opinions from you?

 

[clkelley]

I honestly would go with the 2nd one also, not really because of the room divider, but because it's not canvas. Canvas is a miserable thing if it gets wet. It gets really heavy, and would be miserable to put away wet.

The other one, simply is not canvas. If waterproofed regularly, the water will practically shake off, will not be heavy if wet, and when you get home just hose it off, dry in the sun and put back away.

 

[eagles]

thanks clkelly.

i was sort of leaning towards that one more so.

this is the screen room i have been eyeballing for it.
http://www.familytentcamping.com/site/1406228/product/900-6000-000

 

[Cindy F]

The tent and awning together without tax or shipping is $578. You might want to look around for a little used pop up camper, we got ours for $750 (as everyone on the board and the universe knows by now. I bet they were taking bets on how long it would be before I chimed in ~grin~)

Just thought I would mention it since we never considered a pop up before and now love it. Here's a page with a few on it

Even my Hyundai Sonata could pull a pop up

Here's a pop up camper for rent ($50 a day) in Atlanta. It looks really nice and has air conditioning, 2 king beds, shower, toilet, awning, fridge, stove, sink etc. There are lots of pics on the site. I don't know how long you're going for but you can rent it for about 11 nights for what you would pay for the tent and awning. Just a thought.

You'll have a great time no matter what you pick and FWIW, I like the non canvas tent too

 

[eagles]

that one does look nice.

i ended up ordering the non canvas tent. should be here mar 3rd.

i am not sure how much the pop up weighs that my neighbor has offered. but if its more than a 1000 lbs, i am out. my baby car only has a tow rating of 1000. this leaves me little room. i know that it has a flat tire, and if we can get it here, even by pushing it across the properties, then i will get it anyway and fix it up.

we are tent campers primarily because we have never had a tow vehicle. the tent we have now has served its purpose well. its a cheap $50 or $60 ozark from walmart, i bought it several years ago. we have used it well, but it is too tiny for any lenght of stays so that is why i went to a larger size tent this time. now hopefully this one will last a couple of good years. and now with the a/c i got last year, we can go through out the summer.

i do think i am going to need a roof rack and/or tow hitch with carrier for the baby car also. i want to bring bikes, and without that i have no idea how i am going to stash it all in my baby car. i wished our van was reliable for this trip (but its not)

oops sorry about the long winded post. i got carried away with ramblings.

 

[eagles]

i ordered the second one. the 2 room tent. ordered it on the 23rd, it shipped on the 24th and it should arrive on the 26th TOMORROW!

once i get that i am going to see what i can fit into my tiny car. i also hope the weather is nice this weekend, i really want to try out this tent.

 

[DWFan4Life]

The tent and awning together without tax or shipping is $578. You might want to look around for a little used pop up camper, we got ours for $750 (as everyone on the board and the universe knows by now. I bet they were taking bets on how long it would be before I chimed in ~grin~)

Just thought I would mention it since we never considered a pop up before and now love it. Here's a page with a few on it

Even my Hyundai Sonata could pull a pop up

Here's a pop up camper for rent ($50 a day) in Atlanta. It looks really nice and has air conditioning, 2 king beds, shower, toilet, awning, fridge, stove, sink etc. There are lots of pics on the site. I don't know how long you're going for but you can rent it for about 11 nights for what you would pay for the tent and awning. Just a thought.

You'll have a great time no matter what you pick and FWIW, I like the non canvas tent too

Thank you for taking time to share this info, we are planning in maybe we can rent something like that. But still we are not yet decided.

Have a nice day.

 

[eagles]

yippee, the tent is out for delivery!


i hope it gets here before hubby gets home, he doesn't know i ordered it.

 

[Cindy F]

Thank you for taking time to share this info, we are planning in maybe we can rent something like that. But still we are not yet decided.

Have a nice day.

You're welcome! If you do rent from these folks, make sure to let us all know how it turns out.

yippee, the tent is out for delivery!

i hope it gets here before hubby gets home, he doesn't know i ordered it.

WOO HOO!! Congrats! I love it when I order something and it's due to arrive-it feels like Christmas........I know......I'm pretty easy to please ~grin~

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I was hoping someone would address the 1000 pound towing capacity. My car will only pull 1500 pounds so whatever I would get would have to be less than that including the people in the car and the luggage. I've had 4 people in the car weighing probably 700 pounds and I've noticed the difference so I wouldn't take that 1500 pound limitation lightly.

 

[Cindy F]

I was hoping someone would address the 1000 pound towing capacity. My car will only pull 1500 pounds so whatever I would get would have to be less than that including the people in the car and the luggage. I've had 4 people in the car weighing probably 700 pounds and I've noticed the difference so I wouldn't take that 1500 pound limitation lightly.

With that kind of tow limit, if you really wanted a pop up, you'd probably have to go with something like the *********** 5.0 or 8.0 they are super lightweight but I would still probably get a trani cooler just to be extra cautious.

A few of the tent trailer companies make an ultralight Coleman's Switchback would probably be within your limits.

There are other lightweight campers that don't involve canvas but it really limits your sleeping capacity so it would depend on what you're looking for
The A-Lite by Aliner is pretty Lite at 500 pounds or you get get a bit more for a bit more weight in the other models. The Kamparoos are pretty cool and I have to admit although I wouldn't use one...I think the car top tents are kinda interesting! LOL

Here's a link to a web page with some pretty good info on lighter weight campers. Staying under 1000 would be hard without canvas-even the fiberglass "egg" type campers (Burro, Casita, Scamp, etc) are around 1200? I think and only sleep 2 in the lightest weight models.

If it were me and I really wanted a camper that would sleep 4-6 people but stay under 1000 pounds- I would probably go with one of the ultralight canvas pop ups-but it depends on what you're looking for.

I hope this gave you some info you were looking for or at least point you in the right direction. Good Luck!

***ETA**
PS here's a cute little fixer upper at about 955 pounds with A/C!

Another one at 800 pounds

 

[eagles]

this one is cute. but pretty expensive i think for what it is.
http://www.sylvansport.com/it.html


but for now i am sticking with the baby car and tent camping. hubby just bought the car for me, so it will be a while before we can get anything else. but once we start looking i am going to first get a car with some better tow capacity.

i think the go-daddy (i hope i have the right name), but they are kind of cool too.

 

[juligrl]

that one does look nice.

i ended up ordering the non canvas tent. should be here mar 3rd.

i am not sure how much the pop up weighs that my neighbor has offered. but if its more than a 1000 lbs, i am out. my baby car only has a tow rating of 1000. this leaves me little room. i know that it has a flat tire, and if we can get it here, even by pushing it across the properties, then i will get it anyway and fix it up.

we are tent campers primarily because we have never had a tow vehicle. the tent we have now has served its purpose well. its a cheap $50 or $60 ozark from walmart, i bought it several years ago. we have used it well, but it is too tiny for any lenght of stays so that is why i went to a larger size tent this time. now hopefully this one will last a couple of good years. and now with the a/c i got last year, we can go through out the summer.

i do think i am going to need a roof rack and/or tow hitch with carrier for the baby car also. i want to bring bikes, and without that i have no idea how i am going to stash it all in my baby car. i wished our van was reliable for this trip (but its not)

oops sorry about the long winded post. i got carried away with ramblings.

What kind of a/c did you get for your tent?

 

[eagles]

What kind of a/c did you get for your tent?

i don't know what kind it is. i bought it on sale last year at sears. i think it only cost $50. it was an exchange item, someone bought it and returned it, saying it was too small. which was fine with me. it worked great in our tent. it is a small window a/c unit. not sure of the brand or btu's. sorry.

 

[DrewLuck]

that's a great idea with the A/C unit. I have one for my garage, but never thought of using it for my tent. We always just plan our camping around the weather. And good choice on the tent. I would have picked that one, and you can't beat the quality of Cabela's. I have a friend who has almost that exact same tent that he has had for years and loves it. I hope you were able to find a screen room that was less expensive than that somewhere online, that sounds a bit pricey for a screen room. It does seem to have all the bells and whistles though.

 

[eagles]

well my shopping spree is pretty much over at the moment.

my fridge died on us, so i had to call "the man", and he is scheduled to come out tomorrow. house calls are not cheap, so i can only hope i have enough now to fix the fridge.

i did get the tent up with the help of my daughter. it is huge! since bad weather was heading our way i took it back down. can't wait for some nicer weather to try it out.

 

[mjmoon]

Some of those campers are cute and I would LOVE a popup (my car isn't rated for towing at all) but I'm curious what the purpose of those ultra tiny ones is.. it seems to me it would be easier to pack your tent and equipment than go through the hassle of towing a camper that barely sleeps one. Perhaps I'm missing something? I'm especially perplexed by the tent that goes on your car's roof.. why bother? My cougar flats and air mattresses seem much roomier and comfortable.