[Ansteorra] Opinions about tent

[Chris Zakes]

At 10:10 AM 3/3/2007, you wrote:
>We are finally preparing for my husband's first ever event and my 
>first event in a very long time.  Now, we need to buy a tent.  Have 
>any of you ever used, or know anyone who has used, this tent?
>http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod.jsp;jsessionid=RL2NJOMVBRO30CWQNWSSCOQK0BW0MIWE?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20075-cat602107-cat602107&rid=&indexId=cat602107&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=11&parentType=index&parentId=cat602107&id=0003770&_requestid=17942
>
>If the link doesn't work just go to www.cabelas.com and look at the 
>Outback Lodge tent.  The reviews all look good, but I'm hoping 
>someone in the SCA has some personal experience with it.


I've not worked with that particular tent, but I *can* give you some 
general guidelines to work with.

First, when a tent is listed as "sleeps four" or "sleeps six" or 
whatever, that's based on enough floor space for one mummy-style 
sleeping bag and *maybe* a small backpack. It does not take into 
account things like ice chests, SCA clothes, armor bags, feast gear, 
etc. An 8x8 tent is *barely* big enough for one SCA person; a 10x10 
might hold two, as long as they're *very* friendly and only one of 
them is a fighter, but looking at that particular design, I'd say 
you'd want the 12x12. Before spending any money, I'd recommend 
marking out a 12x12 square and putting all the gear you're planning 
to take with you into it, to see how well it actually fits.

Second, there are a couple of significant flaws with that tent 
design. Most of the tent's surface is roof, rather than walls. That 
means that if you're sitting on a cot like the fellow in the picture, 
you'll need to be leaning forward (like he is) or else you're going 
to be hitting your head on the roof. That's neither convenient nor 
comfortable. The fact that it's got a centerpole means that in the 
one place where you've actually got enough room to stand up straight 
to get dressed, you'll constantly be bumping into a pole. Again, 
neither convenient nor comfortable.

Third, that's a lot of money for a rather small tent. Taking a look 
at Academy's, or Coleman's website, they have much bigger tents for 
much lower prices: 
http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=content&target=products/outdoors/camping/tents
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/subcategory.asp?CategoryID=11020
If you're not wanting a period-style tent, one of these is probably a 
better bargain.

         -Tivar Moondragon