question about tents at Gillette rally

Does anyone remember the name of the tent for 2,3,or 4 persons size? The designer had the tents their for people to try out. They were going to be manufactured by another company, I think. Does anyone know the web site for them. I know they go up really quickly and are of top quality. .

Catoma www.catomaoutdoor.com Looks like good stuff.

Catoma

I saw their tents at Falling Leaf. Does anyone have practical exprerience with them? Thanks.

The tents listed under the Motorcycle section seem a tad bit heavy for what they offer. The other tents on this site look really nice, especially the twist one. I know weight really isn't an issue when you are able to haul it but to me heavy means cumbersome. I guess I would have to try one.

MLS2GO said:

I saw their tents at Falling Leaf. Does anyone have practical exprerience with them? Thanks.

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Reviewed in the last ON.

Bandman said:

Does anyone remember the name of the tent for 2,3,or 4 persons size? The designer had the tents their for people to try out. They were going to be manufactured by another company, I think. Does anyone know the web site for them. I know they go up really quickly and are of top quality. .

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I've not tried them myself, only seen the demo at the national and Falling Leaf, but from what I hear people like them. I don't like the color, but that's a personal preference. The only complaint I've heard about the designs with the integrated frame is that they pack down too long - 24" if I recall correctly, making it awkward to pack.

tents

These tents got a workout at Gillette. They held up in the heavy wind and storms well. I'm thiking about getting one. I know they are somewhat larger than the others when they are folded up but they are strong and CAN hold up. Thanks to all that replied. I love this forum.

Haven't used or even seen the Catoma products other than the review and website but an integral pole system wouldn't be a selling point for me. The overall packed size may or may not be a problem, plenty of "traditional" type tents that may pack larger, problem is with an integral pole system you are stuck with whatever the packed size is. With a traditional seperate pole system you can pack the poles apart from the tent, which is nice if you need to split up the load.

As for quality tents, there are plenty of them around. My experience (mostly with long distance hiking) is that you get what you pay for. I've still got two tents, one of which is over 20yrs old, the other is at least 15yrs, that have never had a problem, even with hard use. The oldest is a North Face "Tadpole" that I used for hiking the Virginia portion of the AT years ago. Very light, very well made, and very small. It's rated as "two man" but you would have to be VERY close. Reason I used it was it was the lightest full tent made at the time and could be set up in a minute or so, perfect if you have to carry the thing. For any use that doesn't involve carry I use a Mountain Hardware "Mountain Yurt", a four season expedition tent that isn't even made anymore. I like it because it has plenty of room, think it's rated at 4 person with expedition gear, and expedition expensive. Basically overkill but I like it. Wouldn't want to carry it but for bike camping it would be fine. Even with it's size and expedition complexity (6 poles, internal guy system for high winds/snow) I can set it up in a couple of minutes. Like a lot of tents now it uses a clip system for the poles so you just lay out the tent, lay the poles over it, and clip them to the fabric. Even though it's a big tent I can pack the tent in one bag and the poles and cover in another, which is nice.

Look around at some of the offerings by the established makers and look for "clip" systems for the poles, much easier to set up than the old "sleave" systems. Stick with aluminum poles, you will be glad you did. JMO, YMMV.