Touring Tent Talk

[GCharles]

I second the the opinion on a hammock, simply a great piece of gear and the best sleep I have ever had. 

However, there are just some trips and weather elements where I don't think a hammock works, at least for me.  For my upcoming trip I have been introduced to the Wechsel Pathfinder tent, http://www.wabisabiyourlife.com/gear-journal/2010/12/26/wechsel-pathfinder-tent.html.  This is a very spacious single person tent made in Germany.  One of the great things about anything made in Germany is it is generally bomber and it will definitely be DRY.  Germans seem to hate being wet and their gear never leaks.  This is a simple tent to set up and has a good deal of room within.  When stuffed in a compression sack I am really impressed with how small everything gets.  Definitely worth looking at. 

As one of the other posters mentioned, I always carry my hammock and tarp even when my primary shelter will be a tent.  It just opens up a whole range of sleeping options and makes those days off even more pleasurable by being able to simply hang around.  The ENO hammocks are very cheap and work well.

[bikermike]

i hike and climb a lot in the north cascades and have successfully, though not always, used the tarptent rainbow. light, big enough for two people, and super fast to set up. it's bug proof and generally pleasant (lots of leg and head room). only once did i not like it when we had 40mph gusts and rain. it does not have much lateral support, but i'm not sure you'll be in mountain-like kinds of storms while biking across the country:
http://www.tarptent.com/
they have other good ones as well, some that are more storm-worthy solo shelters.

[mucknort]

Goodness gracious, this thread has gone all over the place. My 2 cents.

To me it seems like its a great idea to not have to carry any tent poles and worry about them breaking

If you want to go pole-less in a tent, NEMO makes great tents. I used one of their pole versions (Asashi 4p) riding from coast to coast and loved it. They make a couple of pole-less tents that are very highly rated: http://www.nemoequipment.com/nemo2011-gogole-tent

What kind of sleeping mats do you tourists out there prefer?

We loved our Exped mats on our trip: warm, quick to inflate/deflate, super comfortable!
http://www.campsaver.com/camp-hike/pads/sleeping-pads?brand=58

[DebKirk]

Well, I'l  tell ya, you have some options; We saw that the REI Halfdome got rave reviews last year, so when the Halfdome 2+ came out. we gave it a try, much to our satisfaction. In Southeast Texas, we are much like a greenhouse in Panama, so abundant screens are appreciated for their "breeze value". The rainfly has a diagonal zipper which allows you to keep the sides open while keeping the top area covered. The tent only takes about 5 min. and about the same number of brain cells to put up. I suggest you look at REI's site and give it a look.

[Paul A]

i hike and climb a lot in the north cascades and have successfully, though not always, used the tarptent rainbow. light, big enough for two people, and super fast to set up. it's bug proof and generally pleasant (lots of leg and head room). only once did i not like it when we had 40mph gusts and rain. it does not have much lateral support, but i'm not sure you'll be in mountain-like kinds of storms while biking across the country:
http://www.tarptent.com/
they have other good ones as well, some that are more storm-worthy solo shelters.

Here's a second vote for the Tarptent Rainbow.  In fact, my wife and I have 2 tents from Tarptent.com
We have the Rainbow for when either of us goes out solo and the Rainshadow II for when we go out together.  Check out the website, you may find something you like.

[humunuku]

I Agree on tarptents - nice tents and very light.

[jcostanz]

I recommend a free standing tent, I have stayed a time or two where I couldn't stake down the tent due to rock hard ground,  I used a large rock and a bench to hold out the rain fly.