Folding Kayaks Forum

Since my two car-camping-with-kayak trips this year, I've been looking for a more suitable tent so I can return the borrowed Camel Outdoor Gear pop-tent I've been using to its owner. In order to justify the purchase to my wife, it had to be cheap compared to standard retail price.

I'd planned to buy the slightly larger Decathlon Quechua 3-second tossup tent, but Decathlon has closed its four stores in Mass., and its products are not available here for convenient Internet purchase. Goofy, I know.

These guys closed down for awhile in summer after their facility was flooded, but are open for online business again - http://www.eurekacampingctr.com/eureka/default.asp I'd made a couple of hassle-free purchases of better-than-Coleman flannel-lined sleeping bags from them, seen and heard good things about a couple of Eureka! tents at the canoe and kayak school I attended.

I sort of wanted the single-walled Zeus Exo2, but all reviews indicated interior moisture was a chronic and predictable problem. So I went ahead and got the Timberline 4 XT for about $140.00, added a footprint. Shipping, on this item, seemed absurdly high, at about $20.00.

If I hate it, I'll have ten days to send it back.

Those are very good tents for the money. The 4 will be huge for one person.

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Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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Folbot Kodiak, Cooper, and Edisto; three hardshells; Mothership: Surf Scoter the Bartender; dinghy Little Blue Duck.

I know. I measured the area on the storage room floor at work, this morning. Huge. My wife wants us to have a large sized tent in case we have a blessed event that doesn't involve FedEx delivering a new boat.

I will probably spend some Christmas money on either a sail rig or one of those "two person" tents that're more suitable for one.

Glad to hear the Timberline is a good tent for the money. I'll make an album of pictures to document my first attempt to set it up.

Chris

You're lucky to have a wife who goes camping-- and who is committed enough to it that the hoped-for event is factored into it.

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Chris T.
~'91 Klepper A2 w/ BSD schooner rig.
'64 Klepper Passat/Tradewind and T12 restoration projects.
Non-folding: Early '90s Old Town Canoe.
Previously owned '04 Pakboat Puffin II and '05 Swift (prototype), as well as an '84 Hobie 16.

Single-wall tents aren't popular - the condensation is apparently a problem. Any sales clerk mentioned this (for other tents too), when saw that the customer was kind of picky. Similar reports from users as well. Eurekas aren't expensive - Campmor has Timberline 4Xt for $150, I think. Good thing it is a free-standing.

Campmor lost me as a customer last year. I ordered some variety of Outdoor Research or similar sounding brand sombrero hat for Hades-like summers here in SMT. Ordered the item, paid for it, and then about three and a half weeks later I get an email saying they've cancelled my order because they don't have it in stock. I telephoned the company and basically got told I was manifesting some sort of impairment for not having just accepted the annoyance of their inability to manage online inventory, ordering, and payment.

I read some pretty good reviews on the 4XT.

I am better than lucky to have a wife willing to camp sometimes with me and who wants bring a child should we ever have one to parent. Now if I can just get her to accept the idea of a job that requires me to do some travelling.

C.

Too bad about that crummy interaction with Campmor. Never had a problem with them, myself.

Alex, what does "single wall" have to do with the Timberline tents?

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Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
--
Folbot Kodiak, Cooper, and Edisto; three hardshells; Mothership: Surf Scoter the Bartender; dinghy Little Blue Duck.

Nothing. With earlier mentioned Zeus it does, though.

PS: the problem with larger tents (than you really need) is that you don't always have enough of good ground surface - flat and free of rocks, shrubs etc. This isn't a problem if you camp on designated campgrounds, but in a wilderness large tent sometimes can be a pain. (This time it has something to do with the 4-person Timberline).

Ah, I missed that on the Zeus. Thanks for bringing it up -- I agree single wall tents don't work well in cool, wet climates

Good point on the larger footprint of larger tents, also.

I use a very small one-person tent (MSR Hubba), having a small vestibule, mainly as a sleeping place, when paddling-camping as a single, and supplement that with a 10 x 10 tarp, which gives me an out-of-the-weather lounging/cooking/gear sorting area and the ability to separate the cooking area from my sleeping area, in case there are critters around (e.g., bears). The tarp does not demand level, flat ground, so my Hubba solves the sleeping problem with a minimal footprint.

Where I paddle, rain or mist is a frequent companion, so on reaching a new campspot, the tarp goes up first, and all my gear goes directly from the kayak to out-of-the-rain space under the tarp. Then I can erect the tent at my leisure, while drying out. Sometimes, the tarp is a useful sun break, too.

If I lived where Christov does, I don't know if the tarp would be as useful, but it works well out here.

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Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
--
Folbot Kodiak, Cooper, and Edisto; three hardshells; Mothership: Surf Scoter the Bartender; dinghy Little Blue Duck.

Yes, I've had good experiences with Campmor also. They're very good on returns and exchanges, even for their clearance items.

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Chris T.
~'91 Klepper A2 w/ BSD schooner rig.
'64 Klepper Passat/Tradewind and T12 restoration projects.
Non-folding: Early '90s Old Town Canoe.
Previously owned '04 Pakboat Puffin II and '05 Swift (prototype), as well as an '84 Hobie 16.

The tent arrived Friday, and I had a chance to set it up yesterday, took it down and put it away this afternoon. Some photos are here.

Assembly was straightforward using the provided instruction sheet. It's really green in there. Disassembly and repacking was equally simple.

I'm not sure how functional the vestibule will be as the actual "floor space" under it is pretty small. Still probably a good place to keep stuff you don't want in the tent with you , but want out of the weather. And the tent does have a door on either end. I may buy a tarplike awning designed for this tent to attach at the rear door.

Chris

just bought my new tent. It is a museum piece, 45 years old, still as new, made from extremely heavy weight cotton in times of Deutsche Wertarbeit, has a thick rubber floor http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250093621309&indexURL=5&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting Tent was used just one time in nearly 50 years. You can still find some talcum from the factory on some rubber rings. The quality is amazing, can't compare with nowadays stuff. What a bargain grip, i am very happy to have it.
From now on this tent will get used!

Cheers, Knownknight

there was an error, thought is was from 1963, but 53 is the correct dating!

Knownknight

Looks lke one of those with 2 poles and ropes, or, as they call it, a Pup-tent. My last commercially purchased tent of this kind was made in East Germany of medium-weight canvas with rubber floor in the mid-70s. East Europe was probalby the last place where you could still buy them in regular sport equipment stores, rather than in army surplus warehouses. Heavy, bulky, little or no windows (don't remember), and difficult to pitch. Durability was good, but hikers were not happy with this weight. Was much relieved to switch to free-standing synthetic tents later.

I prefer my 35 year old vango force 8 made in cotton with a fly sheet which goes close to the ground right round the tent , zip at the entrance, I,ve been told these are still available to special order but I,ve never checked. But they do need pegs to hold them up, so for georgian bay where there is little to no soil a free standing tent is required, for this I purchased a eureka moutain pass 2 xtc which is for two but it,s great for one, I,m not saying it,s the best, I like it. It,s free standing but you have to secure it to rocks or whatever is available to ensure the wind dos,nt take it away.