Scored at Walmart!

[aslostasyou]

I don't know about most of you but I'm a sucker for the mark downs.. I went to Wally World to get some 2 cycle fuel additive for my little Diesel Jeep and I couldn't ignore the camping section as usual.

:archaeolo

A lot of the stuff they have is crap but I must say Ozark Trail has some decent little nick nacks these days! But I digress....

I've been looking for a larger tent since the last time we went camping and I've been doing some research. I was totally prepared to fork over a few hundred for a nice Marmot or REI just not right now. Even with the 15% off coupon REI sent I just couldn't justify it. I have a 3 person Coleman that I was prepared to break out next time instead of the bivvy and that was just going to have to do.

I came across this:

Marked down from $95 to $56.....that's what initially caught my attention. After closer inspection I realized it was a Swiss Army tent. I've got a few pieces of SA luggage, a laptop case and some other bits and the quality is great.

The tent has lots of features you'd find in a more expensive model - stuff sack, flash light holders, cord pass-through, double stitching, flaped zippers, etc and even a nice little vestibule. The only problem I see with it right off the bat is the size of the rainfly. I don't think it will hold up to the rain storms that my REI 2 cap bivvy will with that much exposed mesh.

So my mind starts working. The Mrs. has a nice sewing machine and we've been talking about making some light weight tarps to setup as sun shades. Just hadn't researched any materials yet. I thought this would be a perfect a chance. We could fiddle with and make a new rainfly for this tent that's low and wide and keeps the vestibule area covered as well.

So naturally my next question to throw out there would be - Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of material to use? It's obviously got to be impregnated with silicon. Do tent manufactures do that in house (can it be done my me?) or, do they buy the stuff that way in roles. Any suggestions on where I might find it by the yard? I'm going to hit the local fabric store tomorrow and see what I turn up but I fear this is a little more specialized than what they will have.

At the very least - it's a great tent with lots of room for a smokin price! And hell, the freakshow at Wally Word is worth every penny....

, J

 

[goodtimes]

Watch the language.

 

[Rockcrawler]

Watch the language.

I know walmart is a dirty word but... :sport_box

 

[Spikepretorius]

Off topic:

2 cycle fuel additive for my little Diesel Jeep

Tell me more please. In a new thread if need be.

 

[goodtimes]

I know walmart is a dirty word but... :sport_box

Actually, it was the language in the 2 posts that I deleted.....

 

[aslostasyou]

I know walmart is a dirty word but... :sport_box

Too funny.... Goodtimes was right in nuking the two posts. Nothing bad but it was going "Pirate" and that's not good for anyone...

 

[Rockcrawler]

Actually, it was the language in the 2 posts that I deleted.....

Gotcha... that makes more sense... by the time I came around I didn't see anything all that terrible.

To get back on topic... good score on the tent and I'm interested to see what you come up with for your rainfly.

Jeep Liberty CRD???

 

[pcgb34]

A few weeks ago, I popped in to Wal-Mart for something and over near the garden section, far away from the camping stuff, there was a clearance aisle.
I couldn't help myself, and bought a Zodi shower for ~$40 and couple of various LED flashlights for ~$3 each. It just seemed like too good of a deal to pass up.

Today, I'm going to buy diapers....again.

for the fly material, take a look around here:
http://www.questoutfitters.com/index.html

I stumbled on that looking for replacement poles this week.

 

[TooeleCherokee]

Hey.. Make sure you waterproof the heck out of that tent.. I don't know if I just got a bum tent or whatever but I had one and threw it away in a fit of anger as the first night my family used it it rained for about an hour and within 10 minutes all of our sleeping bags were soaked and water was just coming through everywhere not just at the seams ERRG .. I vowed never to buy another Ozark trail item in my life due to that experience :smileeek:

 

[aslostasyou]

Spike - I'll start another thread but in short...a long time friend and very accredidate mechanic had the entire injection system go out on his 2500HD with less than 100k miles.

Needless to say he was staring at 10k+ repair. He did some research and found out it was due to certain petrolum parts that have been removed since late 2007. He then did much testing and further research and discovered that all the things "The Man" is now removing from Diesel can be had in those nice little .97 cent SupraTech 2cycl oil containers you get at Wally World.

His engine quieted down after mixing with 3 tanks, mileage went up 9MPG on the highway and overall things run cooler and calmer. Like I said though, I'll start another thread. It's on my list of things to do!


Rockcrawler - Yeah, Jeep Liberty CRD. I could go on for hours about...in another thread which I'm going to post up soon as well. I picked it up about 5 months ago and have just recently began setting it up for overlanding.

IMOP I don't believe there is another vehicle available in the US pound for pound that has the capability and fuel economy this little thing does. Be sure to check into my detailed build thread for all the good stuff!

To give you and idea though I've got the back fully kitted out with camping gear and supplies to last 5-7 days, dog on the back seat and my Igloo fridge. I even have room for the Mrs! On the highway our best mileage to date has been 32.3MPG fully loaded for over 600 miles round trip!! And that's before HHO, propane and now 2cycle additives.

I'm a hard-core long time Rover guy (had over 10) and even have ONE LIFE. LIVE IT. tatood on my inner forarm. You can imagine what I felt like buying a Jeep. Let alone a Liberty. (Just kidding.) I can say though that this vehicle has exceeded all my expecations! It won't take me where my Disco on 36's will but I'll be honest...I'm not all concerned about that these days. I want to be able to get to where I'm going in comfort with maximum fuel economy.

pcgb - No way! Zodi shower at Walmart? I need to keep an eye out! Thanks for the link on the Fly material! This is exactly what I'm looking for.


tooele - I think your confusing what I said about Ozark... This is a Swiss Army tent. Altough my best friend has the $49.00 Ozark your referring to and it's served him well even in the recent hurricanes here in FL. You must have had a bad one.

 

[Co-opski]

aslostasyou,
Nice find. I would also say give it a good once through with a seam sealer on the tub of the tent. This will also help with the durability. Try this website for your technical fabric needs. It looks like they have all types of nylon. It looks like they sell two types/ weights of silicone ripstop. http://www.seattlefabrics.com/nylons.html
Regards,
Co-opski

 

[blatant]

I don't know about most of you but I'm a sucker for the mark downs.. I went to Wally World to get some 2 cycle fuel additive for my little Diesel Jeep and I couldn't ignore the camping section as usual.

:archaeolo

A lot of the stuff they have is crap but I must say Ozark Trail has some decent little nick nacks these days! But I digress....

I've been looking for a larger tent since the last time we went camping and I've been doing some research. I was totally prepared to fork over a few hundred for a nice Marmot or REI just not right now. Even with the 15% off coupon REI sent I just couldn't justify it. I have a 3 person Coleman that I was prepared to break out next time instead of the bivvy and that was just going to have to do.

I came across this:

Marked down from $95 to $56.....that's what initially caught my attention. After closer inspection I realized it was a Swiss Army tent. I've got a few pieces of SA luggage, a laptop case and some other bits and the quality is great.

The tent has lots of features you'd find in a more expensive model - stuff sack, flash light holders, cord pass-through, double stitching, flaped zippers, etc and even a nice little vestibule. The only problem I see with it right off the bat is the size of the rainfly. I don't think it will hold up to the rain storms that my REI 2 cap bivvy will with that much exposed mesh.

So my mind starts working. The Mrs. has a nice sewing machine and we've been talking about making some light weight tarps to setup as sun shades. Just hadn't researched any materials yet. I thought this would be a perfect a chance. We could fiddle with and make a new rainfly for this tent that's low and wide and keeps the vestibule area covered as well.

So naturally my next question to throw out there would be - Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of material to use? It's obviously got to be impregnated with silicon. Do tent manufactures do that in house (can it be done my me?) or, do they buy the stuff that way in roles. Any suggestions on where I might find it by the yard? I'm going to hit the local fabric store tomorrow and see what I turn up but I fear this is a little more specialized than what they will have.

At the very least - it's a great tent with lots of room for a smokin price! And hell, the freakshow at Wally Word is worth every penny....

, J

Hate to be the one to give you the bad news but that tent is a piece of ...[edited].... My buddy bought the same one and it leaked like a sieve. Serious leaks in inconsequential rain. We had it pitched better than correct. He ended up in my rei tent. Fwiw, when you go make sure you have a back up ready to retreat to. He took it back on the way home to the walm, packed wet. Really you get what you pay for.........and that is the truth.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I would also suggest that tent may not be great. The SA logo is just branding. Probably half the price of the tent went to pay for the rights to that logo, instead of the quality of the tent.

Costco has some good low priced tents, at least up here in Canada.

As far as Wallyworld scores, I picked up some medium size dry bags for $10 each and they seem pretty good. Previously I had gotten some cheap ones that were nothing more than coated nylon. These Wallyworld ones are the same type of material as Sealine, just maybe a bit thinner. Not bad for $10.

I also got my Coleman camp kitchen on clearance for $50.

 

[IH8RDS]

I have a 3 dome Ozark Trail tent that I bought at walmart about 5 years ago. It dosent leak. The price is what drew me to them.

Looks like you got a smoking deal. Hope it works for you.

 

[aslostasyou]

I can't see where it would leak? With the present rainfly I could see it due to exposure but not with a full to the growd rainfly which I'm going to make for it. (I know it seams like a lot to put into a fifty dollar tent but I want to experiment with flys and tarps so I think it's a good opportunity to due so.) I lucked out and this place http://www.questoutfitters.com/ happens to be about 30 mins away and they're open on Saturdays! I'm going over there this weekend to setup the tent and look at materials, take measurements, etc...

Am I missing something though? Rain usually comes in from the top, sides, zipper, seams, etc....and if a fly is covering everything I can't see where the water would come in from. Unless of course you camp site get's turned into a river in the middle of the night....

, J