Family Car Camping - Tons of Photos

Great pics once again Brian, great looking family you have !!!

Wish you'd stop posting the tempting pics of the Safari Skinner though !!!!!!!
 
Great pics! Looks like you and the family had a ton of fun. Makes me want to get out to the beach now.
 
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

I wish my wife enjoyed camping. I also wish I had half the time to do stuff like this. Hopefully I'll get myself more organized and start getting out more.

Brian,

How do you like that Tentipi? I've never seen anything like that but it looks cool. Advantages over a normal dome tent? Disadvantages?
 
awesome pics Brian...:thumbup: that looks like a gorgeous area... i bet all of the critters had a blast...:) that babay is just too cute...:D
 
Stormstaff said:
Brian,

How do you like that Tentipi? I've never seen anything like that but it looks cool. Advantages over a normal dome tent? Disadvantages?
Click to expand...

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. I will try and let you know them as I see them.

Good
- Lots of space!
- Venting - Fresh air intakes low and exhaust high. Drafts like a chimney when there is no breeze.
- Open fire. Has multiple openings up top for exhausting smoke.
- Wood stove compatible. Has opening to pass a wood stove pipe through.
- Ease of setup. You position 8 stakes on the ground, then pop the center pole up, then cinch things down. In high winds, you are not stressing out the tent because your "setup" is mostly done without the tipi (unlike a tent with poles, etc).
- Size/weight. A comparable tent is a huge cabin style tent. They are a pain to set up (if it is windy, good luck!) with multiple poles, etc, and usually have steel poles. Because of all that the pack size and weight are usually twice as much as this tipi, and it is a canvas/polyester (impregnated) material.
- Material. I love the canvas/poly blend. But, tentipi sells them in two other types.
- Construction. These things are expensive, so they make them like that too. They are constructed rather well.
- Flexibility. I have the floor for this model. You can button it up tight, unzip it a little for an entry way, or unzip it in a very large pattern to have a fire etc. Works well for closing the whole thing up, or having a very open floor plan in fall when bugs are not an issue.
- Sheds wind nicely.

Not so Good

Nothing is perfect (even though I would never give this thing up) but here are some of the downsides as I see it.

- Size. It takes a lot of space, and therefore you need space to set it up.
- Level area. I have not tried it, but I imagine it would not setup well on extremely uneven ground.
- Staking. Requires good staking to be sturdy. If you were in sand, for example, and did not have sand stakes, you could be in trouble. I used it this past winter, and made snow anchors (pics below).
- Cost. Not cheap!

When it comes right down to it, I love the thing. I have had it in some bad rains and horrible winds in the winter. However, I have never had it in flooding (underwater) conditions.....and yes, I have been there :D In that situation I would rather have a very small tent with bathtub floor. Of course, you would need another tarp or something equivalent to have the space to do the other things you can do with just the tipi. All depends on the trip.

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B
 
Great photos and a beautiful family.
Congrats and thanks for sharing your trip with us.
 
great pics, nice looking family you have there. You are a lucky guy. Nice knife too by the way:D
 
nice. looks like a great time. i have to get my little guy out camping this summer. is it hard to have such a young child with you. my son is 5months old. thanks
 
Great photos, Brian. I really enjoy seeing photos of a family enjoying the outdoors together. It's something special that not a lot of folks get to do.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
That is awesome man! Makes me want to take my daughter out. Very nice Brunton compass. One thought: consider a breakaway velcro tab in case the cord gets hung around the neck. My silva red cord nearly killed me one time. I loop onto my pack strap now, not my neck. That is a really cool spot, the lake, beach and woods all together. you are teaching your kids about life and really giving them preparation for survival- Awesome!!
 
Great pics and your kids sure had a blast in the pics. What else can you ask for in a good trip. I like your tent and i bet your cooking made the people in other sites want to come over... I need to get out for a few days....

Sasha
 
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