Tent Camping bad weather

[malexander]

If you put a tent (canopy) over your tent it will never leak because it can't get wet!

Back YEARS ago, I put a tarp over my tent (we were in Branson, 1984 IIRC), seems like we had EVERY kind of flying bug you could imagine under that tarp.

[Cary]

I have a Big Agnes Big House 4, which is great. My previous Big House 4 was damaged at OSH, because I had pitched it too close to the airplane's wing. The wind blew the tend enough that it rubbed on the trailing edge of the wing, slicing into the rain fly. Big Agnes wasn't able to resurrect the fly because of age, so they sold me a new tent at a huge discount. Consequently, they are very high on my list of great companies to deal with.

Last year at OSH with the new tent, I had not fully pegged the edges of it down when the first storm hit, so water got under the tent between the tent floor and the footprint. A little seeped through the floor. I spent a little time squeeging the water out from under the tent with a towel, and in spite of more storms through the week, I had no further problems. Seems as if every time I get lazy, it comes back to bite me.

Big Agnes makes several tents similar to the Big House 4, including a Big House 6. None of their tents are cheap, all use quality materials, and as I indicated, their service is excellent. My only gripe is that it seems as if every other year or so, they change the features of the tents while retaining the name. Many of the sporting goods handle Big Agnes products, but you can also deal with them directly. https://www.bigagnes.com/

Cary

[FlyingRon]

In the 25+ years at Oshkosh, I've had about seven or eight different tents. The one I currently use is a Cabelas Alaskan Guide large dome tent. It stands up to the worst of the Oshkosh thunderstorms. One of my prior tents (a nice Eureka acquired an odd set to the metal poles after a last night of the show thunderstorm). My Gander Mountain tent is still holding up well but it rocks and rolls a lot in the weather where the Cabela stays solid. We use the Gander Mountain to hold the massage table where and for evening socializing when it is too chilly to sit out side.

[Kyle Boatright]

I have a Big Agnes Big House 4, which is great. My previous Big House 4 was damaged at OSH, because I had pitched it too close to the airplane's wing. The wind blew the tend enough that it rubbed on the trailing edge of the wing, slicing into the rain fly. Big Agnes wasn't able to resurrect the fly because of age, so they sold me a new tent at a huge discount. Consequently, they are very high on my list of great companies to deal with.

Last year at OSH with the new tent, I had not fully pegged the edges of it down when the first storm hit, so water got under the tent between the tent floor and the footprint. A little seeped through the floor. I spent a little time squeeging the water out from under the tent with a towel, and in spite of more storms through the week, I had no further problems. Seems as if every time I get lazy, it comes back to bite me.

Big Agnes makes several tents similar to the Big House 4, including a Big House 6. None of their tents are cheap, all use quality materials, and as I indicated, their service is excellent. My only gripe is that it seems as if every other year or so, they change the features of the tents while retaining the name. Many of the sporting goods handle Big Agnes products, but you can also deal with them directly. https://www.bigagnes.com/

Cary

I'll be getting a Big House 6 or a Big Agnes Flying Diamond 6 sometime in the next year or so. Right now, the Flying Diamond is on sale for ~$450 at several online retailers, compared to the normal price of ~$600.

[mr_wes]

Just chiming in regarding Big Agnes. I have been using one of their 3 person tents for several years for both plane and motorcycle camping. It has held up in several serious storms and always kept me and my gear dry. Their gear is well made and if there is a problem their customer service is top notch. I have one of their insulated air mattresses. It developed a leak at a seam and they replaced it at no cost.

For dome tents, the shape of the dome makes a huge difference in how it will stand up to wind. Some are geometrically stable even if the poles flex, others just collapse.

-Wes

[TedK]

MOTORHOME

I can't get it to fit in the back seat of my airplane.

[Tom Charpentier]

Not to be the weird non-conformist around here, but two years ago I spent a few nights in Camp Scholler with a camping hammock from Hennessy (https://hennessyhammock.com/). I can't say enough good things about them, other than they're single-occupancy and you need a site with two correctly-spaced trees. It is fully enclosed with a rainfly, just like a tent, and you enter through a velcro closure on the bottom. They handle wind well, and obviously there's not too much to be concerned about in the rain since you're off the ground. They're great for people who have trouble sleeping in tents because of back issues, since you don't need to crouch to enter and the hammock supports your back. They also pack down to almost nothing and have negligible weight.

[rwanttaja]

I absolutely abhor camping. I had to do it as a CAP cadet, but since then, the closest I've come to camping is six hours in a beer tent.

Ron Wanttaja

[Kyle Boatright]

I absolutely abhor camping. I had to do it as a CAP cadet, but since then, the closest I've come to camping is six hours in a beer tent.

Ron Wanttaja

Sleeping in a tent at Oshkosh ain't exactly hard core camping. ;-)

[Auburntsts]

Sleeping in a tent at Oshkosh ain't exactly hard core camping. ;-)

you just won the internet with that observation!