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RE: Hammock Tents - tent hammocks
2 trees and a frame (or your own property) as here out west you can't attach anything to a tree, bush, etc. Ain't it grand?!?
Yes there are places where trees are not available or you can't attach anything to them. Then unless you have something else to hang from you may be grounded.
Some people use a pad for bottom insulation, so if worse comes to worse they have the pad when they go to the ground. The tarp still works for rain cover if needed. Some of the hammocks can be rigged for ground service to help keep the critters at bay.
I primarily use the hammock for backpacking, and usually hike in areas that have trees available. I plan my hikes with that in mind.
But some great places to hike like the Grand Canyon, will limit the use of trees because they are not available or it is not permitted.
However, where hammocks can be used they provide a great nights sleep.
If you are car or truck camping with a family with young children, then the tent provides some advantages that may be necessary.
I have even hung my hammock between fifth wheel campers when space was limited. Here in California they warn you the first time and take your stuff down. The second time they cite you with a ticket. You cannot attach anything (lanterns, hammocks, tarps, nails, ropes etc.) to a tree or a bush. You would have to bring your own frame. :(
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tplife
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01/27/12 12:30pm |
Tent Camping
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RE: Hammock Tents - tent hammocks
2 trees and a frame (or your own property) as here out west you can't attach anything to a tree, bush, etc. Ain't it grand?!?
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tplife
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01/26/12 05:16pm |
Tent Camping
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RE: Hammock Tents - tent hammocks
Quality tents are waterproof - welded seams with high "bathtub" fooors. why you would ever worry about surface water is mind-boggling. I have several models from $100 to $550 and none of them have allowed water to enter and we camp year 'round. I think I might invest down the road in a thicker sleeping pad, not that I need one but you have to spend your money somewhere. We have four ThermaRest models, expensive but comfortable and will outlast our lifetimes. Still, there's something pretty cool about chillin' off Jacks Beach in St. Croix, just lounging around the grapetrees in a hammock sleeping off the rum punch!
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tplife
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01/25/12 06:33pm |
Tent Camping
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RE: Tent that looks like a VW microbus!!
We need more novelty stuff like this in camp!!!
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tplife
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01/24/12 04:52pm |
Tent Camping
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RE: Camping Storage Units?
Large soft duffels by companies like Jansport and many others. They are as big as the plastic bins, but don't scratch the inside of your vehicle and fold flat when not in use. Oh yeah, and some like the Jansport brand carry lifetime guarantees.
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tplife
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01/19/12 01:52pm |
Tent Camping
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RE: Light weight tents
Campmoor is not a bad place to start your search, but consider that due to large production volumes, you can buy tents by Sierra Designs, Northface, REI, (some) Eureka!, Mountain HardWear, Big Agnes,MSR, Marmot (possibly in that order) from Ebay for 60% off MSRP. I've bought three, so it can be done. This is high-end gear with lifetime manufacturer's warranties honored with fairness (in my experience anyway). Go quality or go disposeable, that's my motto!
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tplife
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01/16/12 10:19pm |
Tent Camping
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RE: Hammock Tents - tent hammocks
Perhaps if I were camping in a swamp...
I saw a program (Discovery Channel, I think) about two dudes who spent a week in the bayous of La. They went from pirout to hammock to pirout. Meals cooked on a board laid between the two boats. So, yes, a hammock was a must-have.
Teach
Well yeah, in the bayous it's totally cool as they're doing summer camping in 100 degree/100% humidity (I know the drill as I was raised in a similar cedar-swamp forest). But when summer's over you ditch the hammocks and cots unless you break out the big canvas tents, 20# propane bottle and gas heaters. Otherwise it's fat synthetic bags (or a fine goose-down bag) over self-inflating sleeping pads
with lights out! :)
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tplife
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01/13/12 12:18am |
Tent Camping
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RE: Tent that looks like a VW microbus!!
If it makes you laugh, isn't it worth the cost of admission???
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tplife
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01/13/12 12:11am |
Tent Camping
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RE: Hammock Tents - tent hammocks
Did winter camping training last year for Scouts. -10 and a guy did just fine in a hammock. He did have a fancy thermarest inflatable pad that actually had goose down insulation in it. You had to inflate it with bellows that came with it, if you blew into it the moisture from your breath would clump the insulation. That alleviated the radiated heat lose through the bottom.
Not for me though...
If he's a friend, say nothing about the laws of thermodynamics and heat loss. He might not appreciate knowing that while he's a bit more comfortable underneath, his thermarest really does nothing to stop heat loss unless it's laying on the ground.:)
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tplife
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12/20/11 11:34am |
Tent Camping
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RE: Hammock Tents - tent hammocks
Only the electric blanket (or sleeping inside a heated enclosure) solves the problem of hammocks (or air mattresses or cots) in cold weather. Sleeping over hollow tubes or empty air space means giving up your body heat to the air. You'll not stop the effect until the outside air is the same temperaure as the inside of your sleeping gear. Buy a quality sleeping pad and leave the cots at home for summer camping. Emergency blankets under your sleeping bag won't do anything either. They are designed to retain body heat when used as an enclosure or cover, not as a pad underneath.
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tplife
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12/13/11 02:50pm |
Tent Camping
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RE: Freeze dried food
Incredibly expensive, but it has it's place for calories/weight...
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tplife
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12/06/11 07:16pm |
Tent Camping
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RE: Too Much ?
As the owner of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, I know exactly where you're coming from...
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tplife
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09/02/11 12:05pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Car camping questions ? whats needed to make it work ?
"Been there, tried that. I have much better things to do with my time when I'm camping than returning to my ice chest every few hours to drain it." You're right, you'll be going out to buy more ice because you didn't drain the water off! :B We do our desert camping trips in the winter, so these things become very clear very quickly...and we don't like warm beer! ;) We do however support the sale of ice as an honest living, and are with you all the way...
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tplife
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09/02/11 09:57am |
Tent Camping
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RE: Campground Archeology/Anthropology...
Chuggs, I suggest packing your own "RANGER CHUGGS" khakis and hat along with patches and a badge. When the mood strikes, you can stroll around the park writing citations for various infractions. I'm sure there would be a special sense of satisfaction in educating the public, and as an appreciative fan of your work I'd be willing to throw in a six-pack now and then as a thank-you! Funny how the BHSP rangers miss the trash and littering in their own park...but just pop open a cold beer and see how quickly they're all over you! :R
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tplife
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08/31/11 03:44pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Need idea for kid games
We loved Jarts as kids, you can still buy the parts and assemble them through links on the internet...
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tplife
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08/31/11 03:38pm |
Family Camping
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RE: BIG GREEN EGG
Yes, a very overpriced Kimodo grill - but somebody has to pay for all that advertising! If I had a lot of money to throw away, I would definitely buy one, as I have seen and admired them before. An interesting grill to be sure, but then my Meco (electric model) Water Smoker does what it does for a fraction of the cost and I can also leave it alone for 6 hours with a full pan of water and return to fork-tender pork shoulder or brisket. For grilling, my big Sunbeam gas grill doesn't have a problem with cooking in inclement weather, it also costs a fraction of the Egg and is over 14 years old and going strong on its 3rd burner. For camping we use a Weber Go Anywhere gas grill. At home we do have a heavy charcoal grill, it's imported from asia and is called a Lao Bucket Stove. It's great for searing meats like kebabs or thick steaks (we use a Weber Smokey Joe round grill on top)that require charring. I'd love The BGE as a gift, but I likely wouldn't spring for it through an "authorized dealer" under the idea that there's some magic in cooking inside a big heavy ceramic shell. If I added the cost of all my grills together, they'd still be hundreds of $ away from the cost of a BGE and stand. Lao Bucket Stove, $17.00:
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb296/firetender69/LaoBucketStove.jpg
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tplife
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08/31/11 03:23pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Car camping questions ? whats needed to make it work ?
Ice chest tech I have had trouble keeping things from getting waterlogged inside my ice chest as the ice melted. You can try keeping the melt water separate by keeping your ice inside a leak proof container. Or, you can use snap-and-lock containers, the kind with the gasket and multiple snaps on the lids. These will float around in melt water & won't leak.
No need for that, simply drain off the melted water. Your ice will last longer in the cooler if you remove the water periodically using the drain. Ice melts faster in water than in air! :B
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tplife
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08/31/11 09:53am |
Tent Camping
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RE: Kamp-Rite Oversize TentCot
Avoid it at all costs. They're a gimmic sold and recommended with the intent of emptying your wallet! This is not suitable for any camping other than summer when temperatures won't go below 50-degrees F. Below that you'll discover why the US military and the Boy Scouts recommend against using cots or air mattresses - the empty air space and hollow tubes inside become heat sinks that in keeping equilibrium with the cold air basically suck the heat right out of you while you sleep. You reduce the experience of a good nights' sleep at best and risk hypothermia at worst. Adding extra insulation reduces the problem, but as long as you're laying on the surface of a cot or air mattress you and your insulation are being drained of heat to achieve equal temperatures. A self-inflating sleeping pad and a tent are a far better option. ;)
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tplife
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08/30/11 11:27am |
Tent Camping
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RE: age related tenting question
Another trick with air mattresses -- Get a couple of the Mylar "space blankets". Lay those down between the mattress and the tent floor. Then lay a set between the mattress and your bedding. This helps significantly in keeping warm, even when the ambient temperature was in the low 20s.
Of course, a good tent heater like a Mr. Buddy was a big help. Just make sure to get an adapter and a large propane bottle for it unless you like waking up every 3-4 hours to change the little bottles.
I think it might have been your layered bedding that kept you warm, vs the space "blankets".
Space Blankets are conductors, not insulators. While the bedding kept you warm, you were continuously giving up calories while sleeping due to the hollow tubes of the air mattress. They will get colder and colder until they are the exact same temp as the outside air, this is called "equilibrium". While you sleep on them, they are sucking the heat out of you and your blankets to achieve equilibrium. In effect, when you use a cot or an air mattress, you are sleeping on a block of ice. Great on those hot summer nights when you want to crank up the AC, foolish when temps drop below 50-degrees F. Your only route to prevent this is by running a heater like the Buddy all night long which prevents that by warming the surrounding air above 50-degrees F. A cot has the exact same effect, like the air mattress tubes the empty air space underneath will get colder and colder until it's the same as the outside air, if you're sleeping on it you're transferring your body heat through your sleeping bag into the empty air underneath. Buy a self-inflating sleeping pad and get much more restful sleep. This is old-school knowledge that's difficult to get because the camping outlets make so much money selling equipment that if not properly used is downright dangerous. Anything for a sale!
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tplife
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08/29/11 10:30am |
Tent Camping
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RE: Car camping questions ? whats needed to make it work ?
Avoid inverters wherever possible, you want a CONVERTER. Inverters suck 5-20W of power as long as they're plugged in, whether they're charging anything or not and are an unnecessary power draw. DO NOT buy an air mattress or a cot. You will be camping in temps below 50-degrees C, and risk hypothermia at worst or a poor sleep at best from sleeping on something that sucks the heat out of your body while you sleep. Buy a sleeping pad, they also take up so much less room in your tent, in your car, and don't require an air pump. Avoid electric lanterns, they provide so little lumens of light, yet take up the same amount of space as a propane or white gas lantern, and as suggested above, won't give off the heat that you can use to warm up the tent on cold mornings or evenings before bed. Goose down is the best insulator on the planet, compresses to a very small size and lasts a lifetime with minimal care. A good tent also lasts decades, it typically will have a lot of vertical shape, plenty of mesh, a full vestibule, continuous zippers on the doors, anodized aluminum poles, and a name like Sierra Designs, Marmot, Mountain HardWear, REI, Big Agnes or EMS. I camp out of an Acura Integra so I understand what gear takes up the least amount of space, and what is really necessary on a trip. If a cooler takes up too much space, as suggested above, you can buy a collapsible cooler if need be and buy ice when you really need it.
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tplife
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08/29/11 10:24am |
Tent Camping
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