Tents, what do you have?

[jednp]

ok, I'm doing some research into tents.. as I want to buy one for camping this summer. I want a 3 season tent, and I want a 2 man tent. I'm not looking for walmart tents.. I've had them, and have had horrible experiencce with them holding up in strong winds and they tend to leak water too.. even when you seal the seams.

I'm intersted in Mountain Hardwear, Sierra Designs, Marmot, Kelty, possibly MSR. Also there are some Eureka tents I'm looking at, and Cabela's brand tents as well.

My budget is anywhere from $99 to $250 approximately. The tent MUST be durable, stand up in strong winds, have a rain fly with at least 1 vestibule and it can't be a tent that gets too stuffy inside.. it needs to be able to get decent air flow through it.. no condensation problems either.

So what do you have? anything in those brands? anything else? I don't need the ultimate quality tent.. but I've had it with lesser tents.

[Loves2Shoot]

I've had a few tents as I used to spend a lot of time in them and I agree with above post.

http://www.mountainhardware.com/Prod...&viewAll=False

I settled up on this one a few years back for summer camping and have really enjoyed it.

[jednp]

I've been doing some research into tents since last summer.. I opted not to purchase one back then because things came up and we never did go camping.

I know that all tents have their limits as far as wind.. But I've seen some tents fold from a 25 mph wind. I have read reviews and have found some tents where people say they were in 50 mph gusts and the tent held up fine.

One I've been looking at is the Mountain Hardwear hammerhead 2. from all the reviews I've read, it appears to hold up well under worse weather.

The biggest factor in how a tent will hold up in wind, is how many lines you can tie to it for stability, and how you setup those lines. And then the number of poles a tent has matters too.

All I need is something that will stand up to probably 50 mph gusts.. I won't purposely go camping when I know it's gonna be crappy.. but I want something that will hold up to the usual high winds that can come about sometimes.

Weight isn't so much of an issue, though I certainly don't want it over 8 lbs. Any camping will be with 2 people, so if we did hike any at all.. and there's only 1 spot around where I am that you can hike to camp that I know of.. the tent would be split between two people to lessen the weight you carry.

[Loves2Shoot]

The Hammerhead II handles the wind well. We've done many trip on the river where it gets windy enough to break tents and send them flying away and we were fine. It is realively light and super fast to set up. It has a nice footprint to go with it also.

[jednp]

glad to hear you have the hammerhead 2. I just about bought it last year.. and it's still the front runner as of now. I can get it for $195 free shipping, no tax. Locally it'll cost me $255 + tax.

It really seems like it meets all the criteria I'm looking for. I have read up on it, and nobody reports problems with leaking, bad condensation problems, and they say it holds up well in wind.

One thing I like about this tent, is it has the potential to be a light 4 season tent.. I've read several stories of the tent doing just fine in 2-3 inches of snow.. plus, the fact that the windows in it can open and close like they do.. it can help cut down on some of the chill even more than other tents.

I haven't made my mind up yet.. but I really think in the end, I will probably decide on this tent.. it is the one I have been coming back to time and time again, and the one, that all the reviews I read on it.. reassure me that it meets all the criteria I have.

[Loves2Shoot]

The windows are awesome, the fly folds up nice so you can keep it open and close it quickly if needed. It will hold up to quite a bit of snow.

[Plinkomatic]

Troll http://www.steepandcheap.com/
They have awesome 3-season tents once in a while.
Dangerous site, enjoy.....

[jednp]

Originally Posted by Plinkomatic

Troll http://www.steepandcheap.com/
They have awesome 3-season tents once in a while.
Dangerous site, enjoy.....

so.. how do you find anything on there? i can't figure it out.. all I see is what is brought up when I enter the page.. can't figure out how to go to anything else.

[Plinkomatic]

Originally Posted by jednp

so.. how do you find anything on there? i can't figure it out.. all I see is what is brought up when I enter the page.. can't figure out how to go to anything else.

It's one item at a time at absurd discount.
You can get a $140 tent for $30.
It is part of http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/
You just have to check it once in a while.

[HALFWATT]

Check out REI web site and look at there REI tents....I have a two man tent from them , pretty nice.

http://www.rei.com/camping/TOC/Tents+Shop