The Phil-list May_2007: [philmont] tents

From: Kevin Mineart <kjmineart@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue May 08 2007 - 09:19:51 CDT

I can attest to the same on these tents as Mike. My troop has 4 of these Peak 1 Aries tents and I personally own the Coleman version of the same tent (different fabric colors and no compression straps on the stuff sack.) These are the 5 tents our crew will use on our 2007 trek. We used the 4 Aries tents in 2003 and with the exception of a small floor punture which was easily reparable with some tent repair cloth, we have had nothing but fantastic luck with these. They pack down small, they are quite light for their size (5x7 floor) and are fairly stable (low height 2 pole dome with attached full length rainfly.) Single doors were never a problem for us either although on my tent, I'm looking at something with 2 now. I am a bit over 6' tall so I have problems with tents under 7' long and I carried a cheaper Trek tent that I had only used immediately prior to our trek in 2003 but have used quite a bit on 1 nighters since then due to it's size and weight convenience. It is
quite a bit heavier than the Aries tents as it has a PE tub floor and fiberglass poles (my fellow advisor and I saved a little weight by not using a ground sheet under the PE floor.) I'm considering replacing it with one of the Alps tents recommended as I'm starting to worry a little about it's longevity. I have taken immaculate care of it but I'm also thinking about weight and convenience now (and never pass up the chance to own another bit of gear!)

I do have 1 minor correction on what Mike said about the Aries tents, they take 6 stakes, 4 for the tent and 2 for the fly.

I really swear by training with what we're taking and because everything that we take easily fits in everyone's backpacks for the trip to Philmont (train for us) there isn't an issue with the extra bulk as luggage. I have a bit of a problem seeing this as an issue even for those flying as if it fits in the pack then it shouldn't be a baggage problem and if it doesn't fit in the pack, it probably isn't going on the trail. We also took all of our own cooking gear and the only thing we didn't have that we had to check out at quartermaster was a 6 quart pot (we had to check out the entire trail chef kit and then only took the big pot from it.)

I actually bought all of the Aries tents and the Coleman version of the same tent on ebay in 2002 and I think I paid between $50 and $70 each for them (various prices due to them being auction items.)

Kevin Mineart
2003 802-B3
2007 618-E2

----- Original Message ----
From: "Michael_J_Conkey@nbc.gov" <Michael_J_Conkey@nbc.gov>
To: philmont List Member <philmont@troop47.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2007 8:44:48 AM
Subject: [philmont] tents

I have to wade in with my 2 cents on tents <g>.

We brought our own tents in 2002 and 2004 (the same tents, actually <g>).
We will bring these exact same tents again in 2007. Our reasoning:

1. The youth were already familiar with their setup and capabilities
as we trained with them.

2. We knew they were in good shape and were confident they wouldn't
leak because we had used them the previous month.

3. They were 25% lighter (but smaller) that Philtents (ours 5.5 lbs,
theirs 7.5 lbs, I think)

4. We didn't have to dink around with checking the Philtents in and
out before and after (especially after) our trek.

We used 2-person Coleman Peak 1 Aries tents that we got at the Coleman
factory outlet, on sale, using our 20% BSA discount. The model we use is
no longer made, it has been replaced by the Coleman Exponent Oryx (I
think). Our tents cost us less than $80 apiece. They are free-standing,
have aluminum poles and only take 4 stakes to setup. They are going on 6
years old, and we've had ZERO problems with them. We have just seam-sealed
them a couple of times. The only minor drawback is that they only have one
door, but this was never really a significant issue for us (and the extra
zipper, etc, for a second door does add some ounces). The new model may
have 2 doors, I'm not sure. We do religiously use them with a ground tarp.
Our Aries tents have been to Philmont twice, Northern Tier once and on
innumerable other Scout weekend camping and backpacks. Plus they have been
borrowed by Scout families for their personal use. Based on the
performance we have had (including withstanding two magnificent hail storms
at Philmont in 2004), I don't know that I could honestly recommend anything
else.....

Also, it bears mentioning that since we are less than 4 hours from Philmont
by car, we could more easily get more gear down to Philmont than those who
have to plane, bus or train down to Philmont... YIS. Mike Conkey ('76,
'02, '04 and '07).

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Received on Tue May 8 09:25:25 2007

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