Coleman tent/stove on sale (and other things)

That appears to be a Crestline tent. I use Sundome.

According to the Coleman site, the Crestline costs more than Sundome (MSRP, etc). I can only assume then that the Crestline is a little better than what I provide with my service.

If the picture on that box is accurate, I like how far the rain fly goes down.

The Sundome rain fly varies from year to year, was so short one year I didn't buy any replacement tents until the following year.

SherpaMayberry said:

That appears to be a Crestline tent. I use Sundome.

According to the Coleman site, the Crestline costs more than Sundome (MSRP, etc). I can only assume then that the Crestline is a little better than what I provide with my service.

If the picture on that box is accurate, I like how far the rain fly goes down.

The Sundome rain fly varies from year to year, was so short one year I didn't buy any replacement tents until the following year.

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It indeed is the Crestline. They are a bit bigger than the sundome. It's sort of a sundome with two trapezoidal areas on two of the sides. It adds two poles. As I said, I used my old one in a number of storms (including the '06 rally) and never got a drop on me. The photo is indeed correct regarding the rainfly. They did change the design a little since my old one. The "old" version had one straight pole running front to back that you basically tied to the two main pulls. This newer "u" shaped design looks better, actually.

It's a steal for $30.

jdmetzger said:

It's a steal for $30.

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Indeed.

I think that's a better price than I get for the 9x7 direct from Coleman (when I buy quantity, which is usually $5k-$10k per purchase).

I have a 7x5 two man version of the sundome. It kept me dry in Lima, Essex Junction and Gillette. Definitely a good value. I was saying my prayers in Gillette I confess. The cloth tubes that enclose the crossed poles are getting a bit ragged most likely due to my carelessness, but have a long way to go as far as I can tell.

I was thinking that the Ortleib waterproof bag might not be the best to carry a tent such as this' My thinking is that the tent getting/being wet is to be expected so why fight it. a porous stuff bag would not permit a rolled up wet tent to properly dry out, but would help. I would think that the ortleib would keep water in just as well as it normally keeps it out.

Use the ortleib to keep things like your sleeping bag & clothing dry, don't put a wet tent in with them when breaking camp early in the morning (and plan on your tent being wet in the morning). Mine has ridden quite well in the green bag on the bike.

Here is a link to the HTW PDF Perhaps the concepts of dry vs wet packing shown will be some food for thought.
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/downloads/HelenTwowheels.pdf

Seems to me the biggest problem packing these tents on a bike is the length of the poles. They still take a bit of room even when all folded down.

I think I've heard of someone making custom fiberglass poles that come in shorter sections so they pack away easier. I didn't come across such a site that provides custom length poles with short sections, but I did come across this site:

http://www.questoutfitters.com/tent_poles.htm

If you scroll down a bit, you'll see directions on how to make your own. With a little time on your hands to build your own, you could end up with a set of poles that pack much easier, and I believe would only be a very minor hassle to deal with during eventual tent construction.

If I thought there was a big demand for such a product, I'd do this myself and offer them up for sale.

ground cloth

I just ordered one of these (I need more room), but forgot about a ground cloth. The people who use this, do you not use a ground cloth? If not, any problems?

theLuz said:

I just ordered one of these (I need more room), but forgot about a ground cloth. The people who use this, do you not use a ground cloth? If not, any problems?

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I never use ground cloth. Never for years of personal use or for the Sherpa camp.

I've always found the ground dry under the tent when packing up wet tents. I've seen ground cloths that extend beyond the footprint of the tent, and water stays on top of the cloth (usually vinyl, etc) and thus ends up being trapped between the cloth and the tent. I've just never seen a need for ground cloths with today's tents.

I've also had mild flooding (Georgia Mountain Rally, it usually rains during that rally) where my tents were situated in several inches of water. The tents remained dry inside, a testimony to the Coleman bathtub bottom.

There will be others that have a different opinion, but you got my $0.02.

When I used mine, I never used a ground sheet. This tent has a pretty tough bottom. If you REALLY wanted to make it last forever you could use one, but I would say unless you frequently camp on rocks, you won't need it.

Received my Crestline today. A very nice tent especially considering the price. I wondered about a footprint/ground cloth but will try the tent without one for the time being. I like the size of the tent as it will accommodate a twin size air mattress leaving a generous space for bags and incidentals. I will use this tent for the Winter Rally at Camp Blanding in February. Ride Safe

Thanks for the link on this sale. I've used a Eureka Wind River Geo dome 2-3 man since 1989 with excellent service. It's still working fine but I'm sure it'll wear out sometime and I've been looking at the MSR Mutha Hubba as a high quality replacement.

After reading all of the great comments about these tents combined with the $30 price tag, how could I not take a flyer and try this tent out? I'm aware that this isn't a backpacking tent but I either motorcycle or car camp anyway. As long as I stay dry and the tent can withstand a thunderstorm I'm going to be pretty happy. I suspect this tent will last more than a season or two but even if it doesn't I will have received a good value.

Can't wait to try it out but it's -7F at 1:00pm here today.

Rebgen said:

Can't wait to try it out but it's -7F at 1:00pm here today.

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-7 isn't a temperature! It's going to be 85 deg here today. Riding tomorrow.

I hate to admit stupidity, but...........

just got the tent. Cool size and looks like it'll be great. I had a bugger of a time figuring out the poles for the rain fly.

If you haven't gotten yours yet, the fly poles are threaded through the pockets on either end of the rain fly. I couldn't find what the instruction was describing and couldn't understand the front and back of the fly.

Probably just me, but I'll never get back that 30 minutes..............