Family Camping Help

[kristen77]

Hi,

I'm working on an article about family camping tents. I'm interested in talking to some family campers (new or experienced) about the type of tents they use, as well as what they look for (and try to avoid) when shopping for a tent.

Please contact me if you would like more information or to set up a time to talk.

Thanks for your help.
Kristen
kbellstrom@hearst.com

[Hiker Boy]

I don't use those big family circus tents when I'm backpacking or car camping with my wife and two kids. I have done that route but found that most large tents are heavy, drafty, cold, and leak. The quality is just not in them. We use two decent two person backpacking tents, one for the adults and one for the kids. This works best because the adults can stay up later and enter or leave the adult tent without disturbing any sleeping kids. We keep the tents close together for security and sometimes will link the two with an overhead tarp.

[KeithEA]

Ditto to everything that Hiker Boy stated above. Most of us here are way above the family "circus" tents. They are designed mainly for privacy and protection from the sum. Not weather. I myself , when we have the granbabies with us, use a four season expedition tent and a smaller backpacking tent. Ma and the monsters use the main tent and I because I snore (so they tell), have my ace run off to the bushes. Why I don't know cause in the hi country at night you can hear an ant burp at half a mile. Maybe I smell? As they get older and more experienced they will be regulated, as there father was, to the smaller tent and Ma will let be back in. Maybe! I have sat there parents up during thunderstorms at their age to watch the free "light" show that nature was providing. As a result, none of my children are afraid of lightning and like many of us here, enjoy a little ruff weather every now and then, and maybe even relish a harsh night safe dry and warm in our weatherproof tents.
The average man is looking for something cheap that he will use but maybe one time a year of maybe just once. That is not us here. Keith

[bearpaw]

We do the same, that is, two tents. We do have a good sized kelty but it never gets used. If I were looking for a new 4 or 5 person tent I'd look for the same things I look for in smaller tents. Relative weight, quality, features-such as inside pockets (kids love these and if they are made of mesh they don't weigh hardly anything), a canopy, a full rain fly that covers all the way to the ground (or almost), good ventilation, 2 doors, a good vestibule. I like aluminum poles, Easton are nice. Free standing is nice too but not absolutely necessary.
It's good to compare a walmart $99.00 7 man tent with a higher end 2-3 man tent... You see the difference in the details.
D