Here here noodle, good advice (wet drawers, hahaha!)...

Anywhoo. Bout the Coleman lantern thing, I urge you to use their electric model. Solves the tent flap/CO2 issue altogether. Plus that waterproofing they use on the tent fabric is basically congealed rocket fuel and the fire will cause the veteran campers to snicker and point at you. And an open roof tent is really the same as sleeping on the ground but more smelly. Ok? Good. No fire in tent.

If you come back to your brand new first time out tent that you pitched on a side hill because that was the only site left and find there is a small stream running through it that’s draining a large parking lot and the tent floor was blackened with a water soluble dye and you have to rescue your gear and clothing that you’ll be wearing/using for the next three weeks minus one day from the black dye creek and it’s pitch black with no moon don’t hang your Coleman lantern from the inside peak of the tent with clothesline rope that you think is plastic coated but is actually solid plastic.

Nevermind...just don't, OK. :blush:

Ummm thanks, I'll try to remember all that.

I pulled the trigger on one of these. I'll post the horror story after we try it out weekend after this one.

Since we're getting into things which can happen to your tent, lets' say never pitch the thing after dark, when you can't really get a good idea of where you are, or in a place where nobody else has gotten there first although the campground seems full and you can't believe you were so lucky.

I set up camp on a stream bank in Rocky Mountain National Park, my very first camping trip ever back in the '60s, and did not notice in the dark that the tree beside the tent was dead. There was a lot of wind that night, and with the most incredibly loud cracking and a boom it fell squarely on the tent early the next morning. Fortunately, at the time it happened, I was outside trying to start the fire. We had to dig the tent out from under the tree because it was too heavy to lift. Another time, at Yosemite during a bumper-to-bumper July 4th trip, I pitched a tent outside the campground area where the rangers couldn't see it because they said we couldn't stay. We woke up the next morning in the middle of a couple dozen tourists on horseback and discovered we were camped on the trail to one of the falls. A lot of our stuff got walked on, and then the rangers came and threw us out anyway :(

Hey SD,

Look, I been thinkin bout it... you should really just stay home. Rent Incredible Journey for the kids, you can light real candles, throw a couple of shovelfuls of dirt on the floor in front of the tv, sleeping bags on the floor, etc... I'd feel a lot better, y'know.


*snicker*

That's fine for me, V, but I think I owe everybody the story of how I changed the mantles on my Coleman propane lantern inside the tent, without bothering to turn off the propane valve.

Awesome looking tent. I'm given to understand that you will be truly grateful for the ability to stand upright in the middle.

If you find youself camping in northern Italy, and your brother has had a lot of Chianti red wine before you call it a night, make sure you let him sleep closest to the door. Trust me on this one. Maybe even suggest to him that he sleep outside.

Well, I set it up in the yard this afternoon. Looks pretty good--although Mrs. Dallas couldn't believe it when we were inside looking it over and I casually mentioned that Coleman rates it as sleeping 8 people. ("8 people or 8 sardines???" she said.) Now I just have to find a ground cover to go under it (a bit awkward because it's not square) and we should be set. (Don't worry, I can practically guarantee I'll do something anecdote-worthy to amuse you all, like forgetting to bring anything to wash dishes with. Wait, dishes... hmmm.. no sink... can we get away with all paper stuff? Hmmmm.)

:lol:

Contact Coleman. They may make a groundsheet that's sized to your tent.

We have a one room coleman family tent we have used for 3 or 4 years. Kids sleep on one side, we sleep on the other with the dog in the midddle. Only downside is you cannot stand up in it unless you are 8 or younger. It has one small tear which was easily fixed with duct take.