4-person and 6-person tents for car camping canoeing

[Odyssey]

Ever since the square sterners entered this site my interest has been piqued. How would the world look if I backed my road vehicle up to my water vehicle, dumped and loaded the camping contents therein, and paddled/motored off to find a portage-free base camp Shangri-la?
I didn't quite do that this summer but approximated it, in a provincial park. All the parts were there, just not quite to perfection. Didn't think to snap pics, especially given there were so many family kiddos and dogs roaring about the place; but I did find quiet time to snooze and read, paddle with my eldest son, bead with the girls (there are definitely no photos of that). My wife and I are driving further north next week to investigate this base camp with largess idea. Our dome tent complete with cots, w vestibule, and a 14x14 2-door bug dining shelter (snugged up over the tent vestibule) provides a sheltered living space. However space is the key word. We want to find a Crown Land site big enough for this oversized set-up. We'll trip with diminutive Hubba Hubba and tarps whilst searching for a sizeable slouch site for the future. Interesting thread.

DISCOVERY 6 Tent - Hotcore Products Canada

The Discovery 6 is a roomy 6 person family tent with all the features you need. It has a full-length rainfly, durable polyester floor, and extended storage area.

www.hotcoreproducts.com

General PDP Template

www.canadiantire.ca

 

[eckilson]

Not ready to give up my small tripping tent yet, but now that I am retired I’ll also be able to do more base-camping trips. I had been using an old Eureka Mountain Pass 3XTE, but I dug it out a few weeks ago and found that the plastic windows in the fly had degraded and cracked. It's nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a little duck tape, but it wasn’t quite as big as I wanted, so I also decided to look for a new base-camping tent.

I wanted a tent with plenty of interior room for a cot or large air mattress, a full fly and a large vestibule to get out of the rain. I ended up with the Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium. Since it was a discontinued model the price was right. It’s listed as a 4-person, 3-season tent. Spec’s are:

• Fly including Vestibule: 16.6' x 9.2’
• Sleeping Tent: 8.8’ x 8.8’
• Peak Height: 4.9’

The packed size is 29" x 9.8" x 8.7" in its carrying case with a total weight of 19.6 lbs. It’s a big tent that takes up a lot of room in the canoe or the campsite, but I could bring it along if the plan was to paddle out and spend a couple of nights at the same site.

It is not full stand up height, but that’s OK with me. The front vestibule extends the length of the fly by 7.8 ft so there is plenty of room to get in and out. It can be opened from a large front flap or zippered side panel. The front flap can also be set up with poles to become an awning.

I’ll be trying it out in a couple of weeks. I’ll be heading to the Adirondacks for 3-nights on the Oswegatchie River (tripping tent for that), then 5-nights base camping at Eaton Lake State Park.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I wonder about slanting the vestibule door upward when using it as a canopy with poles. @eckilson's setup shows this . . .



. . . as does one of REI's photos of their Westward tent.



I can also do this with my REI Base Camp 6, which I haven't yet set up for practice in my yard. (I have to mow again first.)

What I wonder about is rain sluicing back down onto the tent. Maybe it will just run off the rain fly, but maybe it will drip into the vestibule area. AI tells me to slope the canopy downward away from the tent, and also to set the canopy poles at two different heights (slightly) so the water will also slant off the front side of the canopy instead of pooling or puddling.

Does anyone have any actual experience with configuring a vestibule door as a canopy for rain, or even any anti-AI theories?

 

[Alan Gage]

My CCS Lean has a similar overhang that can be set at any pitch. In nice weather I'll set it high just for extra shade and head room. At night, or if I'm expecting rain, I always lower it and I agree with AI about pitching one side higher than the other, otherwise rain will tend to pool up in the belly. Mine has a middle tie out location so rather than offsetting it left to right I'll often just add a short piece of cord and stake to pull the center down so it's a V shape.

Alan

 

[eckilson]

On my tent I see staking up the end vestibule door as a canopy/awning more for convenient access and shade rather than for protection from the rain. My tent isn't that tall to begin with, so sloping it down isn't practical. In the rain I'll close the end door and use the door on the side of vestibule for access.

Long term forecast is for rain when I am in the ADK, so I'll probably get to test it for real in a couple of weeks.