What tents are you guys using?

[Danneaux]

...its not unusual for small manufacturers to reduce costs by not seam sealing in the factory.

Yes, Zero, and sometimes a sloppy or incomplete job if it is done by the Big manufacturers as well, meaning some of the smaller or less accessible seams are left to the new owner to complete. I've found this is definitely an Outdoor Task, as the fumes are usually pretty strong.

...like to see a video on it...

Very similar if not the same, jags -- Luxe Outdoor - Mini Peak II - First look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjR4XOrZQrk&playnext=1&list=PLM3LT8bMuPsb33Q9IUT35S0-SPG7AtR58&feature=results_video Very nice to be able to work in the dry to erect the inner tent/nest...or simply go lighter and use the flysheet outer alone if not in bug country. That generous side-entry vestibule looks like a joy in use.

Best,

Dan.

[jags]

Thanks Dan looks a great tent except for one thing that would bug me. it's open at the bottom  way to much cold air getting in  i want to be completly sealed from all the elements.
if there was a way to  keep the skirt of the tent dead level with the ground it would be runner for me.

[Danneaux]

jags,

I think the open bottom is to allow and actually promote ventilation, thus reducing condensation. Such tents are drafty, however, but sometimes ultimately warmer because of less dampness inside.

That said, I surely do notice the difference in warmth of my 1-person Early Winters Pocket Hotel compared to my Coleman Dakota 1. The PH is a three-layer Gore-Tex nexus laminate and completely closed except for the front door (the foot is a free bivy sack; the middle and front have hoops that allow for a little room to lean on one elbow). Condensation has never been a problem for me, but on warm nights I've often felt like the slice of bread in a toaster -- there's no cross-ventilation. When I last used it earlier this Fall, outside air temp was 30°F/-1C, while inside the tent, it was 45°F/7C. In contrast, the Coleman was only 35°F/1.6C with the same outside temp. Much nicer on warm nights, though, and the mesh inner can be pitched alone for use as a Bug Tent on dry nights. Agreed, the flysheet-and-mesh inner Coleman is a cold, cold tent when the frigid winds are a-blowing, but at least it stays dry inside with no dripping condensation.

Tents touch my Inner Child and make me smile, bringing me back to the fun days of a bed sheet draped over a card table in the living room when the weather was too nasty to play outside.

All the best,

Dan. (...who thinks tents might be almost as much fun as bikes to chew over and discuss at length)

[jags]

Remember i spent the night in my akto in the mourn mountains northern ireland.
there was a gale force freezing wind coming into my inner tent all night i thought i was gonna die with cold it was getting in from underneath the outer tent .i know the story on keeping tings vented but man give me a break i would have been just as warm under a bloody tree.

[bikepacker]

Dan. (...who thinks tents might be almost as much fun as bikes to chew over and discuss at length)

You should get along to the Backpackers AGM at Ulverston UK in April. You will see every conceivable current backpacking and lightweight tent among the hundred or so members gathered there.

[ZeroBike]

You should get along to the Backpackers AGM at Ulverston UK in April. You will see every conceivable current backpacking and lightweight tent among the hundred or so members gathered there.

I might go to that.

Is it like a campervan show where everyone pitches their tents in a field and then let others go around to have a look?

[jags]

Ah i would never make that mores the pity a fella could spend a lotta money in a place like that.

but the Teepee tents make a lot of sense  seem easy enough to pitch,/ loads of room /good weight/look fantastic i will wait for bikepackers report on his new tent i know if he likes it, it will most certainly tick all the boxes.all i need to then is sell my 2 tents a but the TP.

[John Saxby]

Echoing/confirming Dan's guess that gearheads really like talking about tents, there's a long, full, and generally useful thread on crazyguy, which started with reflections on the MSR Hubba Hubba, and goes just about everywhere:  https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/reviews/board/message/?o=1&thread_id=163137&page=1&nested=0&v=1A

Cooking in a tent??  No, please don't; don't even think about it...  No need to stand/crouch in the rain & wind either -- rig a tarp.  An upturned canoe works really well, especially as a windbreak, but has limited cycle-touring applications.

For many of his treks, Colin Fletcher didn't even use a tent--seemed to manage just fine with a heavy-duty sheet of translucent plastic, rigged in various ways.  But, he seemed not to take that into buggy country.

J.

[jags]

john i'm still relitively new to camping still loads to learn, as for cooking in the tent i know everyone says its a big no no and so far i havent done it .
i've done to short tours with bikepacker he's a very experience cycle tourist and great teacher in all things camping but it taks years to get this down to a fine art.
so i'm just gonna wait until i hear what he thinks about his new tent and anyone that in the market for a new tent would be well advised to wait and see what his review will be.

[Danneaux]

For many of his treks, Colin Fletcher didn't even use a tent--seemed to manage just fine with a heavy-duty sheet of translucent plastic, rigged in various ways.  But, he seemed not to take that into buggy country.

Oh! another Colin Fletcher reader...! I still have several editions of the Complete Walker. Visqueen was the name of his transluscent plastic tarp material...and unfortunately, the little rubber ball-and-pear-shaped ring gadgets he used to secure it are no more (or have so far eluded my searches). Small wedge-shaped plastic clamps have replaced them, but not in a great way. Tyvek holds promise as a replacement for Visqueen, as does cuben fiber (synthetic, high-tech sailcloth).

The tarp-over-tent is a great idea, John, and looks to offer great versatility. Tent alone, tarp alone, or tarp-over-tent. Nail one end down with pegs and -- yes, indeed! -- a dandy windbreak that would keep the icy winds from going beneath the bottom edges of jags' tent, or the creation of a nice vestibule for *not* cooking. No worries about food spills if eating under the tarp!

I've often thought about rigging an aluminized-mylar "space blanket" as a sunshade during rest breaks while in the treeless, shadeless portions of the desert. With my Ti needle-stakes and the bike propped securely on a Click-Stand (on pavement), it is tempting when afternoon air temps approach 120F/49C without a tree in sight. So far the afternoon winds have stymied me; I don't think the lot would stay upright in the 39-45mph//63-72kph "steadies" I've encountered as there'd be a lot of wind-loading.

I may instead go for an aluminized head umbrella and see if the smaller surface area will still be workable for portable shade when at rest, off the bike. There are models vented for use in substantial winds, and they have chin straps. Very popular, I understand, with Thai and Vietnamese fishermen (most of the ones I've seen are sourced from China and secondarily marketed in Thailand and Vietnam). I've got my little Alite Monarch Butterfly chair ( http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4331.0 ) to keep me up off the scalding pavement (it hurts, burns, and blisters when the heat-melted tar sticks to one's bare legs without the chair), so all I need is my sunshade. The head umbrellas fold up very nicely and make a compact, lightweight package.

After reading about the canoe-as-windbreak, I headed out to the garage for another look at the 17ft Ouachita hanging from the rafters, wondering if...nah, you're right; limited cycle-touring applications. It would surely have some pannier-equivalent cargo capacity, though!

i'm still relitively new to camping still loads to learn

No worries, jags...I think we all find something to change or improve from trip to trip; it's an evergreen learning process, and that's half the fun!

Best,

Dan. (...who doesn't ever want to know it "all"; where's the fun in that?)

[John Saxby]

Dan, your idea of using the space-blanket as a temporary sun-shade seems a good one -- with bike + Click-stand and a few pegs, one can rig a good shelter.  I have a few of those ball-and-clip devices--got them a few years back at Canadian Tire.  The camping-supply firm Coghlans still sells them, I believe--will check in the spring & advise.  They're so handy because you can put them anywhere on a tarp.

Jags, Fletcher's books are a terrific source of examples of experience and lateral thinking, and are so well written.  His last book (I think), "The Complete Walker IV", was written with Chip Rawlins & published a decade ago. There's been some technological change since then--especially with super-light fabrics--but the basic principles & approaches they follow still seem valid to me. And, I love their sheer enthusiasm for & eloquence about life lived out-of-doors. Somewhat in the same vein are the books on canoeing by Bill Mason, "Song of the Paddle" and "Path of the Paddle". (He was a fine painter as well.)

J.