Tents, Tents,Tent!!!

I have a small 2 person backpacing Eureka tent. A little pricey but great quality and extremely light! My queen size air mattress just barely fits in it but it makes it. I was able to sleep every morning till around 10-1030 with a large 2 speed battery powered fan i bought at wal mart last year. I think it takes 8 D batteries but it lasted the whole time.....it has a handle and hook on it so we just hung it from the top of the tent, turned it on high and tapped it to make it sway back and forth (mock oscillation i guees but it worked!). I slept great compared to my 1st year when I came running out of my tent at 7am because I thought I was going to melt. hope it helps

I'm not much of a camper anymore, but I was trained well at a young age up in the redwoods, so I remember all the do's and dont's. It's been quite a long time, but that education has been coming back to me as I have been shopping for a new tent for Bonnaroo. So, some of this stuff might be a bit dated and some who are more seasoned campers might have better advice, but here is what I was taught about buying and preparing a tent:

For brands, I suggest staying away from Ozark Trail. I have heard horrible things about them. Coleman looks to be good for its price range. Some of the Wenzel ones look ok. A really good tent is crazy expensive compared to Coleman and Wenzel and the like, so it's hard to justify that $300+ just for Bonnaroo. For 4-6 person tent, I like 100 or down should be a good target price. Coleman.com is ok, but also check out campmor.com for a wide variety and decent prices or rei.com for higher quality (and more expensive) stuff.

The biggest concerns for Bonnarroo are probably 1. ventilation, 2. rain, and 3. wind. For the first, be sure it has some decent windows/vents/etc. that you can open to get some cross-breeze. A lot of tents today have a screened top to help vent the tent, but if so be sure the rainfly really covers it well. For the second, look for a rainfly that looks like it will keep rain off of any windows / screens / vents (even if they fully zip up those zippers and screens are key trouble spots in rain). For example, the 2 colemans above, the 1st one is probably less likely to leak than the second. See how the orange rainfly on that second larger tent will have rain rolling down onto those two smaller side screens? The first smaller tent has the blue rainfly arched over the screen and the rainfly comes down lower to the ground, this will keep more rain off the potential leak spots. Also, the arch over the door on the orange one is higher and flatter, so I would want to look at how the roof is vented to be sure a little breeze wont blow rain under the rainfly and onto any screening on the roof. On the other hand, that larger orange tent might have better ventilation when it is dry with those extra screens. If you see those huge cabin-style tents where nothing covers the windows and the rainfly only covers the top -- expect those to have problems in the rain. As for wind, don't be afraid to buy and bring some extra stakes and rope to secure the tent and especially the rainfly. Good stakes and an extra line can help. Look at spots that seem likely to catch wind (those /\ arches on the rainfly over the door) and be sure you secure those well. Also, just be intuitive about the aerodynamics of the tent. What is most likely to catch wind resistant and what will have less wind resistance? Dome/rounded style tents can (in general) withstand more wind than square/cabin style tents. Spheres are incredibly aerodynamic. Cubes are not. Taught / tight surfaces withstand wind better than loose or flapping ones, because the whip-effect of the flapping increases yank / pull on the cords and stakes. Also, and this should be obvious, for both rain and wind, don't leave the windows/screens open on your tent when you are away.

Whatever you buy, no matter how good it is and no matter what the box says, seal the seams and use a waterproof spray on the whole tent and the rainfly. Even if it says "factory-taped" or you spend $600 on a tent, seal it yourself. Seam-sealer is just like a big glue stick and the waterproofing spray you can get at any of the sporting goods / camping stores or even at the big box stores that sell camping equipment (target, walmart, etc.). Seal the seams 1st, let that dry, then a coat of the waterproofing, let that dry, another coat, and let that dry, then you should be good. Gets you familiar with the tent and practice setting it up, too. Most of the complaints about even the best tents seem to be that they leaked in the rain and sealing your tent makes a huge difference.

Also, get a tarp to put under your tent. If it's larger than the floor area of your tent you will want to fold it so that it doesn't stick out. The point of that is to keep moisture from seeping through the tent floor if the ground gets real wet, but if it sticks out the sides it will pool water between the floor and the tarp, so you want none of that tarp to show (all of it to be under the tent). The tent should completely cover the tarp after it is folded. Some tent-makers provide such tarps specifically cut to the size and shape of the tent floor, but that is usually only for significantly more expensive tents.

Oh, and for stakes, if your tent comes with cheap plastic stakes get some decent metal ones. They make all the difference if the wind picks up and are really inexpensive.

That's all I can think of. If any more seasoned campers have corrections I would much appreciate them.

Just make sure your tent can handle some heavy rain.....I think mine is like a Columbia (I'll have to check) I got it on sale at Dick's Sports for like $120....its a 6-8 person and has all kinds of little cooling vents and a huge raingaurd. They also have these pop-up shade tents for like $60 that work really well and are SUPER EASY to set up.

As a side note, definitely set up your tent in your backyard before you leave for 'Roo. First off, you want to make sure it has all the parts and none of them are damaged. Second, you never know, it might be crazy windy or raining or something (or dark) when you get to the site, and taking half an hour to set up your tent in that because it's new to you and you have to read the instructions is not fun. Practice makes perfect and all that.

First and foremost, make sure the rainfly covers over 80% of the footprint of the tent. I've bought a crappy tent with a tiny fly (25%) and I paid for that.
If you want good air movement, which is important in the Tennessee Summer, screened windows on all 4 sides. Under the rain fly is fine.
I suggest one of the Wenger (Swiss Army) tents. That's what I have now for non-backpacking camping. I've had it for about three years now and haven't had a problem with it, except it is HEAVY. Would never back-pack with it. Cheap on eBay also.

Yea, what they said, set it up before you go... Also throw your cooler in it before setting off for the day. You don't want any of those whirl-winds to take and make it onto YouTube.

I got really lucky in '05 and found a great local deal on ebay, didn't even have to have it shipped.

It was a lightly used two room tent with a high ceiling just like I wanted, the second room being a floorless screen room. I think it is Eureka or Hillary or some other major brand, I'll have to look at the tag when I get home, I can't remember. I got it for less than $100, and I think the tent retail was at least twice that.

So think about what you want the tent to do for you, I for one wanted to be able to stand up to change.

I can't wait to set it up and do some weatherproofing to it this may. Gotta get it all ready

Thanks for the tips about the tarp being completely under the tent. That explains my little puddles in '05.

I mpretty sure I got the same fan cause it seems liek everybody else on here who talks about tent fans bought name brand ones and were quite dissappointed with them. And yes that fan was my best friend last year at roo so its defintiely worth the ten-fifteen bucks.

Sierra Design's Electron is a nice 2 man tent that'll run you about $150, depending on where you look. It's roomy, built well, has good ventilation, packs fairly small and light, and comes with a footprint, attic, and 2 coffee slings. It was on my short list of tents (before I finally settled on a Eureka Apex 2).

Check Ebay and Campmore.com for prices.

has anyone seen one of these shade tents? I wonder how well it works....

www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=38994499&memberId=12500226

spookymonster..that thing looks like a pain to put up

ha ha...no i wasnt the one that was asking ( i do need one though).....i just looked at the pic and to me it looks like a pain...but on tents....i bought mine last night ...Sierra Designs Meteor Light...

Yeah....plus I'd think it's kind of rude/dangerous to your neighbors and anyone else who randomly walks through your site to have guywires sticking out a few feet. Someone could very easily trip over those in the middle of the night and both injure themselves and take down the shade. The Bonnaroo camping situation just seems to me too crowded to set up anything (sunshade, flagpole, whatever) that needs guywires.

$180...yikes! Most people do that by attaching their tent to the back of their car using a tarp. It's cheap and easy. ::

Can somebody help me out finding a tent? I want one like dozer said with minimal rope ties to secure it and one that won't take too long to set up that sleeps 2 and will hold up against rain and wind.