Advantages of ground tents over camping in your vehicle.

dbhost

Well-known member
Not gonna lie. I REALLY want to finish up my camper shell build, but due to my wife I have to have a king bed, so I have to build a custom wide shell...

What, other than budget, is keeping me from going full tilt into the build is my ground tent / camping gear.

My requirements for camping are pretty straightforward, and honestly based somewhat on limitations imposed on me by some spinal issues. Thus...

#1. Standing height when out of bed is required. I am not as tall as I used to be, but a minimum of 6' is needed.
#2. As limited stooping as possible. So permanent setup, or instant setup / pop up without stoooping and threading poles through sleeves etc...
#3. Suitable to a variety of weather situations. So anything prone to blowing away for example MUST be anchored down. More on that later.
#4. Good internal temp control by being able to fit an AC, and open / close vents off.

This lead me to oddly enough, an Ozark Trail tent. I have avoided them like the plague for years but found the Dark Rest 10 person checks most, but not all of my absolute must haves. Honestly NO tent met all of my requirements out of the box.

#1. Minima stooping. Check.
#2. Standing height. Check.
#3. Suitable guy out points, secure points. Check.
#4. Good internal temp control options. Check.
#5. Weather resistant. Not entirely. Some modding needed.

Simply put, there wasn't even a token attempt at seam sealing / waterproofing this thing.

Out of the box, the first thing done was fully inspect the tent, seam seal it, and coat it with silicone waterproofer.

The big issues I have with it are higher winds, however securely anchoring it down seems to make the tent tolerate at least 35mph gusts in a fairly nasty rainstorm so I am comfortable with it.

I can set it up with the exception of staking it down and guying it out without stooping. Simply unfold, pop the legs out and extend.

Footprint is bigger than I was wanting, but I REALLY wanted the blackout interior, and did NOT like the Coleman versions, the 6 person 10x10 did not have enough interior height, so I was kind of forced into the 10x14 size. Not a bad thing, but big...

Anyway, point being, you don't HAVE to build a fancy basically tiny off road motorhome to get out there. And honestly, depending on where, and how you go, you may end up with a better setup for your needs.
 

SBSYNCRO

Well-known member
I really like my Gazelle T4 for solo camping but I don’t think it has enough space for you. lol

It checks all the other boxes though


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dbhost

Well-known member
I really like my Gazelle T4 for solo camping but I don’t think it has enough space for you. lol

It checks all the other boxes though


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Honestly, if there were higher quality standing room instant set tents, with a 10x10-ish footprint, I would be all over that. The Coleman Darkroom 6 is a 10x10 instant set but the sides and ceiling slope so bad that standing room is only in the center, and honestly quality on those specific models is spotty at best. And this coming from a guy that has used, and seriously loved various Coleman tents over the years.

And yeah, the biggest advantage even without my limitations is room, the ability to have dry space you can move around in while you are socked in for several days...
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
Honestly, if there were higher quality standing room instant set tents, with a 10x10-ish footprint, I would be all over that. The Coleman Darkroom 6 is a 10x10 instant set but the sides and ceiling slope so bad that standing room is only in the center, and honestly quality on those specific models is spotty at best. And this coming from a guy that has used, and seriously loved various Coleman tents over the years.

And yeah, the biggest advantage even without my limitations is room, the ability to have dry space you can move around in while you are socked in for several days...
I have a 10x12 family Tent. Pretty cool tent. Only have used it 3 times in 5 yrs.
Turns out you need to carry a bobcat to scrape off a big enough flat spot to use it, pretty much everywhere we go. So it got shelved.
 

dbhost

Well-known member
I have a 10x12 family Tent. Pretty cool tent. Only have used it 3 times in 5 yrs.
Turns out you need to carry a bobcat to scrape off a big enough flat spot to use it, pretty much everywhere we go. So it got shelved.

Interesting. I have a 10x20 3 room modified dome tent that my wife loves, she digs LOTS of interior space. I have never had any issues with finding a large enough space for even that monstrosity. Generally speaking, I have the 10x14, a 13x13 EZ Up, and a Joolca Ensuite double. That makes a big campsite. But I also tend toward beach, or forest camping, I don't do deserts often... Used to but that was a long time ago...
 

Happy Joe

Apprentice Geezer
Honestly, if there were higher quality standing room instant set tents, with a 10x10-ish footprint, I would be all over that. The Coleman Darkroom 6 is a 10x10 instant set but the sides and ceiling slope so bad that standing room is only in the center, and honestly quality on those specific models is spotty at best. And this coming from a guy that has used, and seriously loved various Coleman tents over the years.

And yeah, the biggest advantage even without my limitations is room, the ability to have dry space you can move around in while you are socked in for several days...

I use a standing room tent, it works well; mine is the 4 door model. I only encountered one quality issues, (one tent peg loop/ tie down was not completely sewn).
9 10 21 tent 50 DSCF0336.jpg

Room to stand up straight and wave your arms if you want....
...setup is getting harder as I age... (needs 2 people or tie one leg to a tree, for the canopy).
...running the electric for the ceiling light is about the most complex part...

Enjoy!
 

Titan_Bow

Member
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My setup is a 10 person Turbo Tent. I’m not sure if they are still selling them in the US, but I love this thing. It’s easy to setup by just me, has a little over 6 feet of standing room in the middle section, is well made and stands up to weather way way better than a Coleman or Ozark Trail family tent. It’s huge too, with a 10 ft by 20 ft footprint.
I remember a few years ago, my son and I were out in eastern Colorado doing some deer hunting on public land. There was one campground nearby and a handful of RVs and Coleman type family tents set up there. While we were out hunting, a really big storm blew through with 35-40 mph winds or more. The whole time I was stressing thinking we were going to return to a destroyed camp! When we finally rolled back into camp, you could see the destroyed tents and aftermath of the storm, but our turbotent was still standing and didn’t look like anything had even bothered it. It was the only tent still standing after that storm.
Anyways, if they are still available to purchase in the US, definitely something to look at! They are more expensive than an Ozark Trail or Coleman, but I am convinced I would have been through 2 or 3 cheaper tents since I’ve owned this one.


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