john1691
New member
I started out by getting back into camping with a backpacking tent, light weight, packs small, inexpensive. I wasn't sure how much camping I would do, as we had tent camped as a family, moved to a pop up camper and then stopped camping all together. I didn't want to invest a large sum in case it was a passing fancy, so got the hiking/biking tent from Soports Authority. Good little 3 season tent for what it is, but the tent was not tall enough to be able to sit upright to get dressed, and not wide enough for a real air mattress, and the 1" thick self inflating pads just don't cut it for me. I ended up buying a 3 person tent that also packs small, is 3 season, and has done well in rainy weather. The issue I have with this tent is that the poles are inserted into "sleeves", which make it very sturdy in the wind, but a pain in the butt to set up/take down. Not like hours, but twice as long as my buddie's tent with pole "clips". My next tent will be the clip design, but we have since bought 2 more family tents (a 3 man for the boys and a 5 man for when my wife joins me), so I have a hard time justifying buying another one just to shave 5 minutes off my set up/tear down time.
I guess the main point is to research, invest a little more up front, and if you don't use it, sell it, as a good quality tent will sell on ebay or here on the Flea Market. Buying cheap will leave you disappointed and you will probably end up buying a better one later anyway, and the cheap one will just sit on the shelf forever. At least that's what mine is doing.......
I guess the main point is to research, invest a little more up front, and if you don't use it, sell it, as a good quality tent will sell on ebay or here on the Flea Market. Buying cheap will leave you disappointed and you will probably end up buying a better one later anyway, and the cheap one will just sit on the shelf forever. At least that's what mine is doing.......