All,
I am going to be driving in this year without my trailer so I will be needing to buy a tent and accessories. I am NOT a tent camper and I have very little experience with what is needed to do this. Can anyone give me some advice on tent features and other items that will keep me from suffering while I am there?
Your advice and experiences are GREATLY appreciated!
Rick
You'll probably find people have lots of opinions on it, but in 25 years of camping at Oshkosh, I can tell you that I've gone through more than a few different tents. The one we've been using the last five years or so is the Cabelas Alaskan Guide dome tent. We have the 8 man for the wife and me because it gives us plenty of room to stand up and have stuff besides our cots. The advantage of this tent is it stands up pretty well to the inevitable Oshkosh thunder and wind storm that hits at least once every year during the show. It's easy to set up and take down. In fact, if you wander over to where we camp, you'll find a little compound made up of nearly a dozen of these tents in various sizes. It's popular among our volunteer group.
You can order online or there are Cabelas stores in Green Bay (right by Lambeau Field) and between Milwaukee and Fond Du Lac. I've made shopping runs to both over the years.
Be sure to secure the tent, leads and stakes. It will storm at some point in the week, don't let your tent blow over! I also pack my clothing in some sort of waterproof container. Used to do ziplocs, now I use a rubbermade tote.
I am sure that is is a stupid question.... I will be traveling light and a tent like my kids is really easy to knock down and stow. Do I look for a tent that is easy like that and throw it in the car while I am not there? I know it would be a pain in the rear but there is nothing worse then not being able to sleep in a dry place. (My only other tent camping experience was Sun-N-Fun and that very thing happened... T-Storm collapsed the tent and soaked EVERYTHING. Have you ever tried to sleep in a 172? lol ). Is it worthwhile to pack some sort of device(s) for running a fan? Can you run a gen in Scholler during the day to charge a battery? I know I know I am making this WAY more complicated than necessary.
Thanks
Rick
The Cabelas and most of the dome tents break down pretty small and light. Of course, not that we've taken it home EVER. We leave everything up in a storage locker out on Highway 41.
I bring a small 4d fan. I set up camp in the beginning of the week and leave it up. Camp Scholler is a pretty friendly place. I wouldn't let worrying about weather get in the way of watching airplanes.
Lots of the storms come overnight. You really don't want to have to deal with a collapsed or leaky tent at 2:00 in the morning. Get a good tent on the front end and you don't need to worry about it.Originally Posted by wyoranch
Agreed, besides cabelas does anyone have any recommendations for brands of tents to look at or to avoid?
I agree with Flying Ron, the cabelas brand is very good (waterproof) We use one repeatedly in my son's Scout troop and it has held up well. I have owned a couple leaky Walmart Ozark trail tents over the years, and will not purchase again. Eureka and Columbia are also good brands.
REI does a good job with tents if there is one near you. Their house brand is good. One thing I always look for in a "weather" tent is aluminum poles. Higher quality tents tend to have them, cheap tents (generally) use fiberglass poles.
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