A few noob camp questions.

[VampireKitten]

I have been reading the crap out of these forums, I have a few questions about some camp related things before I make some purchases.

So I am thinking of this tent:
Coleman Hooligan 4-Person Easy Set-Up Tent, 9' x 7'
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-Hool ... 7/16677071
I saw it on another thread and it looks like the right fit for two people with a queen size air mattress. I am wondering if I would need to cover the mesh since it's almost completely covered in the first place.

I am also wondering if I put the car and the tent parallel to one another with space in between, would I be able to tuck a shade tarp into the car door on one side and realistically pull it over the roof of the car to the tent to make the middle part of both a shaded area for relaxing and cooking and whatnot. Also would this be a good tarp to use for that http://www.mytarp.com/silver-tarps.aspx

Thank you in advance.

[MoonSplash]

My friend brought this exact tent in 2010. It was just her in the tent. With two people, it would be a tight squeeze with gear in there with you. She did not cover the mesh, just had the rainfly over it and it got dusty. Remember the mantra - playa dust gets in everywhere. I'd make the effort to cover the mesh to alleviate the dust issue, which will sneak in under the rain fly. I remember helping her set up the rain fly. It was a pain, lots of string (?) but it was sturdy and did not collapse, unlike my tent.

In 2008 and 2010, We had a huge silver tarp that I drove my car over the left tires, then flipped over my car roof and attached to several poles to create our shade canopy. It worked pretty well but note the following:

The sound of the tarp flapping relentlessly in the wind for hours on end, day after day, nearly drove me fucking insane.
We cut holes in the tarp which helped somewhat later.
We used 7 foot PVC pipes (we drilled holes on the top of the PVC to attach the tarps easily with bungees and zip ties via tarp grommets) to prop up the tarp on the other end, which we guyed to death. It sagged in the middle, so we luckily had another pole to prop up the saggy middle.
I have a Honda CRV - we stored cardboard boxes and bottled water on the roof to give the tarp a bit more height. It was fine for me since I'm short, but anybody close to 6 ft tall would probably get tired of ducking. Next time I'd bump up the PVC to 8 ft. Maybe.

Overall, it wasn't bad and worked fine. We were constantly checking our guy lines though (so much damn rebar) and it certainly kept us happily shaded but dear god, the relentless tarp flapping...... Hope that helps.

[captain mcguiver]

Not to be a pessimist, but here's what I see happening:

That tent is tiny. The amount of air in it is miniscule, and that air will get super hot super quick. There isn't enough room for one person in it, let alone two really, plus a tiny amount of personal gear or space to empty your pockets when you turn in for the night. Without any kind of shade structure, it will be a human oven. (Check out the keeping cool thread for a solution to this).

"But I have shade" you say... Yes but- Last year was super mellow year. This year will most likely be hot, dusty, and have considerable wind gusts that weren't seen the last two years. Sticking a tarp in your door will accomplish 3 things. #1, it will allow more Playa dust to get into your car. #2 It will scratch your door to bits. #3 The flapping sound will drive you insane, as well as anyone in the near vicinity.

Fortunately the flapping will stop when the tarp rips into shreds and flies across the playa.

It's easy to assume a tarp is the savior for anything. The problem is with the right angle it's also a sail. High wind + sail can destroy things. The amount of pressure smashing that tarp around could be insane. The key in shade structures is the ability to cut through the wind or let an amount of wind pass by. Cutting most tarps will usually cause the tarp to disintegrate after a while when battered by the wind.

I would look into Monkey Huts, a low cost PVC pipe shade structure for your tent, and I would get a bigger tent. In the past I've used a 6 man tent with a Costco 10x20 carport as a shade, and it still wasn't enough space for me.

[Eric]

Not to be a pessimist, but here's what I see happening:

You were much more optimistic than I; one look at that huge wall of open mesh and you can bet that you and everything you put in that tent will be covered in dust. Buried in it. The dust will go under, over & around that loose rainflap and make the inside of your tent look like the sahara (do you get where I'm going with this?)

You want a tent where you can seal the mesh as much as possible whenever you are out of it, and probably when you're in it. The less mesh the better (I recommend the solid walls of an RV, but that's just me...)

[SnowBlind]

Personally I don't cover the mesh on my tent, because that will make it hotter in the morning. I want all the airflow I can get. That makes it colder at night, but you can fix that with an extra blanket. It also makes it dustier, but I find that manageable. I throw an extra sheet over the bed so that it catches the dust, and at night I only remove that sheet to get a clean bed.

I would second the concern on the size though. I guess that's highly personal. My camp mate sleeps in a super tiny tent and is happy with it. I upgraded from a big tent to a huge tent, cause I like extra space to move around and store stuff.

[lemur]

that tent probably is too small for 2 people... especially for more than a few nights

my tent is a "two person" tent.. 7.5 feet by 4.5 .. its about the minimum amount of space i think i could take

one 'person' worth is taken up by my gear/clothes/food/etc...

my water/canned beverages/canned food is stored in the 'vestibule' area outside of the tent.. some stuff outside next to my tent


i might like that kinda tent for a bit more space for myself.. it would add 1.5 for the length and 2.5 feet wider..

but i wouldnt expect to fit in another person..

[AntiM]

A rainfly does nothing to keep out dust, in fact, it can be a scoop to collect MORE Dust.

Screw Malwart, a $40 or less tent at a big box sports store will do. We have a couple as loaners, we seal the mesh and they do just fine. As long as you get some type of shade overhead, you don't need airflow.

[VampireKitten]

Alright so I am rethinking my camp a bit, I will be looking into a monkey hut option as it seems super easy to do and great option for the low cost of it. As far as tents go, I looked around a bit and I am thinking that this one will do a bit better http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W7 ... B001TS6U2O

I was thinking of sealing the mesh with a space blanket and some tape as I don't want to make it a permanent seal.

Has anyone had any experience with something like this tarp wise? http://www.backcountry.com/alps-mountai ... tri-awning or could recommend a more inexpensive out of the box option rather than a several hundred dollar car port? I was also thinking of getting a canvas tarp for a shade trying to same method to reduce noise and I can paint it cool colors and stuff

[AntiM]

We use an old blanket and some spring clamps. Tape gets funky in the heat.

[Savannah]

Those options seem a lot better, VampireKitten. At least in terms of space. (I cannot speak to the wind-hardiness of that specific brand.) An 8-person tent sounds just right for 2 people for a week, seriously. When they declare the number of people that can sleep in a tent they usually forget to end the sentence with "if they're stacked like cordwood".

A monkeyhut is not as hard as you might think; seriously, and they're good in the wind. Do a trial run in your backyard or a park. Whichever one of you is more engineering-minded might actually do the layout, purchasing & planning, the other can pound rebar. A good friend and I did this in 2009. She was the engineering mind, I just measured and pounded rebar and attached the tarp with bungee balls, and it probably took us an hour to set it up. Maybe 90 minutes. That's a guess. We did have to guy line the hut and used ratchet straps at the end. Then the guy lines need to be flagged and lit and the exposed rebar topped to keep us and others from impaling themselves. If you do decide to go with a monkey hut, and transport poles outside of a vehicle (as opposed to inside a van) wrap and contain the ends, not just several spots down the middle, so the poles don't slide out on the highway.

I have seen people use those tripod shades, though the shade "footprint" is not wildly generous. I don't know anything about which brands are better.

We use an old blanket and some spring clamps. Tape gets funky in the heat.

It does! Duct tape will fall right off a tent in the heat.