Philip, a begenning tent recommendation is somewhat like someone asking for a begenning bike recommendation. Sardonic grin.
First, borrow one from someone if you can. You’ll learn a lot about what you like and don’t like and why. Of course the risk is you break it you buy it and you may not want it. If you just want protection from dew/frost and light rain, a tarp is all you need. Go uber elite with the tarp and add a trekking pole to one corner and three stakes to the others and it’ll do well even in a moderate downpoor. Cheep and light, but also airy (problimatic in colder weather) and buggy (both crawlies and airborn). This is likely the least expensive way to go for a test tent system and any quality ripstop medium weight nylon tarp will work from your local surplus store. Or just bring the fly from you big tent. Grin. Hammock camping is well worth trying, but set ups vary and if the temp drops below 40 you need insulative layers under/outside the hammock. Not all sites allow hammocks or have the trees they require, but they are wonderful in treed, sloped areas that are uncampable by tent. Tents: Until you know you are wanting to do this often in varying conditions regardless of weather forecast, you will learn a lot with a Walmart equivilant or el-cheepo Campmore or REI bargain 1-2 person tent. Avoid the ultralight tents untill you know you want to spend a lot for a tent that any real weather will shred around you when it matters. No need to buy a pricy tent yet. Most work just as well/poorly as the el-cheepos. Once you know you are dumb enough to go camping regardless of the weather and since you are biking a 3.5 pound tent that sets up easily (you pitch the fly and the tent is already pitched inside. Brilliant.) and dry inside even if you packed it wet and stands up to any weather, any season, any continent, buy a Hilliberg Akto. Need shade on a hot day? Push the inner tent to the side and you have a covered and breezy porch. A bit like my raingear quest leading to the ultimate answer in ventile, I tried way too many tents before I caved and tried Hilleberg the Tentmaker and on the first trip wished I’d bought the right tent from the start. With abandon, Patrick -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
