Posts Tagged ‘tentsmiths’

Why I do not even bother looking at canvas tents.

January 29, 2010

One of the golly-gee fun things about getting ready for burning man is asking what you should do. And then trying to figure out, out of the 200 different, often conflicting answers, what you should do.

In every discussion on tents, there is the canvas crew. Nothing else will do.

“The best investment you’ll ever make is a Springbar or Kodiak tent. Trust me.”

They do look cool – esp. if you pick up one made for SCAdians.

Great for camping in rainy weather (not applicable on the playa, as far as I know) and the heavy walls are known for holding up in the wind.

Here is why I don’t want one:

In every post I make about tents, I talk about suffocating. There’s no windows for air flow.

They’re too heavy and big. I know people that camp in one (on the playa and other regionals). It’s a bear to fold up and takes up a lot of space. And is heavy. Too heavy for me.

On the playa, to keep dust out as much as possible you have to keep the doors closed. So it’s a little dark and claustrophic for me. The walls are great, keeps dust and wind out like a charm, but not any more so that the nylon walls on my dome.

…that’s about it. Plus, they’re expensive and I couldn’t set it up by myself. I need something lightweight, easily transported and easy for me (short and mechanically uninclined) to set up by myself.

IE, my EZ Up!

Fits great in the backseat for stacking, super easy to carry and pack up. Stores easily in a closet (just stand it up in the back corner). It looks bigger in that picture than it is.

This seems to fit my needs (except for the windowlessness – I stand corrected, 4 Unzip-able windows complete with integrated mosquito nets).

but another thing I don’t like is a bunch of guy lines poking out everywhere. 

I could just make my own…now, where did I put the number for that blacksmith??