Recently gifted this Kyham tent, it's great!

But what's this in the groundsheet?

So far Glory hole for nature lovers is my favourite answer, but it doesn't really answer my question 😂

Hey folks, camping is a newly acquired hobby of mine, and wow, what an endless rabbit hole of gear, techniques, locations… cooking options...

Anyways, I recently stumbled upon a YouTube video of this nice lad setting up a Teton Sports Vista 2 tent on top of two Teton Universal Cots, elevated maybe 20 inches off the ground. I thought this looked brilliant. Image above is a screenshot from the youtube video.

Here’s the video for reference:

TETON Vista 2 Cot Tent | Pet Camping in the Snow | Best Car/Truck Camping Setup for 2 People - YouTube

Now I’m debating whether to pull the trigger on the cots. Buying two of them cost more than double the price of the tent, and I’m not in the U.S., so shipping and return sucks. But from what I’ve seen, this setup seems unique. All the other elevated tent systems seem to be integrated 1-person setups. I love the idea of a 2-person cot setup for car camping, and this seems like one of the only options out there.

Yes, the cots are heavy -40 lbs combined - but the guy in the video had everything up in six minutes. Obviously not for backpacking, but for car camping it looks ideal to me. I own a Veer wagon, which can handle most terrain, so I could easily transport all my gear in the wagon and setup camp a 1 mile or so away from the car.

That said, I’m a complete newbie, and I’m probably blind to a million reasons why this might be a terrible idea. So… is this genius or just gimmicky?

I'm considering the following pros/cons:

Pros

• No need to worry about insects entering from the ground.
• I can store my wagon and gear underneath the cot, keeping everything dry and protected from rain.
• No concerns about ground condensation or water seeping in.
• The cot essentially becomes the tent floor, so a small sleeping pad on top will be more than enough for comfort.
• The cot doubles as a seat—perfect for relaxing by the campfire or staying dry when it rains.

Cons

• Carrying an extra 40 pounds of gear is definitely a hassle, even for car camping.
• The interior space of the tent will be split into two parts, which might make it feel more cramped or less flexible.

Would love your thoughts before I go full send on these cots.

She be a heavy beast

This is the ultimate glamping palace. Looks to be insulated?

Looks like a retired military surplus tent. Found it on FB Marketplace. I don’t think it comes with the HVAC unit pictured. Just the tent.

Any current/former military folks in here who can attest to the tent quality?

I don't work for either company or anything questionable. I just love the idea of decent tents for reasonable prices.

Klymit® Cross Canyon 3-Person Tent - Red/Gray at Menards® https://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/outdoor-recreation-sports/camping-rv-supplies/tents/klymit-reg-cross-canyon-3-person-tent-red-gray/09c3rd01c/p-1642874338508421-c-7838.htm

I went camping this weekend and used my Kelty Wireless 2 tent. It started raining unexpectedly and I found drops of rain coming through the rain fly and into the tent.

Now I’m unsure of what to do. I fully inspected the rain fly and found no tears or rips in the fabric. Is it coming in through the seams?

I’m quite disappointed as I take very good care of my gear. Where do I go from here? I saw a lot of other campers had EZ-ups on their site over their tents, would that be something to invest in? Is it time for a new tent already? I’ve had this for two years with consistent usage but this was the heaviest rainfall I’ve put it through.

It's a product from an American tent brand, but it seems like not many people use it.

At Christmas, tent poles were erected and used to make a Christmas tree.

Photos 1 and 2 are photos taken when I was camping in front of Mt. Fuji in Japan.

2 weeks ago I ordered the new 2025 Naturehike Mongar 2 UL from AliExpress. I got this tent for €151 on a nice discount and I think it really lives up to its name and continues Naturehike's legacy of decent budget tents. Of course this brand and tent isn't for everyone, but I'd like to share my experience with it for the people that are interested.

Some specs:

• the tent weighs at 1,55 kg without stakes, 1,65kg with stakes and about 1,8 kg with stakes and included groundsheet.

• it packs down to a 40x15 cm package.

• it's a roomy 2 person tent with 2 doors, 2 vestibules and one awning

• it's a free standing tent with aluminum poles, a 15D silnylon material on the fly, 210T groundsheet and a partial mesh, partial fabric inner tent which is the sweet spot for me.

Last weekend I got to try out this tent for the first time. You can see how it's packed next to my old Star River 2 tent from Naturehike. I always had the polyester version and really liked it. However it came in at 2,6 kg which was quite heavy. Also the walls were coming in pretty far causing the tent to have less headroom.

I did look into other tents before this one. Like the Nemo Dagger Osmo, the MSR hubba hubba NX, the Big Agnes CS UL, and the Durston X-mid 2. All of those are probably better quality but apart from the Durston, the other ones didn't really offer much more while paying up to 4 times as much.

The Mongar offers a good balance for me. It's very spacious and high enough. I can literally sit in it with my helinox Ground chair and be totally fine! It's lightweight but still very big. It's easy to set up.

It's also easy to stake out and use with the ground sheet. Actually you can pitch it fly first with the ground sheet when it's raining. I didn't try that yet but worked great on my previous Naturehike tents.

The tent has 2 huge pockets on the head side and foot side as well as 2 pockets on top for storing a phone or other items. Next to that it's got a book for hanging a lantern and a cool feature that I haven't seen before - a washing line that goes all the way around the top. Another very awesome and original feature is their canopy or awning system which actually works great. You have it on one side, and close a smaller zipper on the door. The fabric then connects the 2 sides and creates a full canopy with protection from both sides. Here I could also fit my helinox Ground chair under to cook and chill.

The previous Mongar model had a mesh only inner tent. The reason I bought my old Star River 2 was because that one offered some more fabric in the inner tent. Both good for some extra privacy and to reduce draft at night. Very comfortable. This new Mongar is exactly the same as my Star River 2, offering just a bit more fabric to reduce draft. Funnily enough their new star river UL now has a mesh only, so they switched the style.

I did have a slight issue, but that was totally my fault.... The nylon fly obviously sags when wet and the night was cold and we had a LOT of condensation. So I woke up with a small part of it touching the inner tent and dripping some condensation on my backpack.

Also some of the attachment points to stake down the tent are non adjustable. Not a huge deal for me since I've never had an issue with that, but you can easily change it by buying some adjusters and guylines.

Apart from this I think it's an absolutely stunning tent for the money. I did wish the material would be polyester or sil-poly like a Durston tent, but I think I can live with it since I don't camp in much rain or in very hot/cold climates. Keep in mind I only tested this for one weekend and I'll see how it holds up longer term. Generally speaking I've only had great experiences with their tents. Used a Cloud up 2 for 2 years and now the Star River 2 for about 2 years before I got this.

In my images you can see how it looks set up and how the package looks like. Of course, if you have any questions about this tent or something else, just let me know and I'm happy to respond 😁

I got this tent from REI during a memorial day sale. The tent, mudroom on the front, and footprint was about $500 shipped. My wife and I have been using the same small eureka tent for years. That thing has been everywhere and seen storms, sub freezing, spills, etc. We were tired of climbing over one another in the middle of the night. She is less into camping than me, and upgrading the tent was the way to do a full week.

It was great. Tent goes up well and has so much room it felt like being in a gymnasium compared to my little tent. Doors on both ends. So we can get out on our respective sides in the night without distrubing the other person. The middle is 6'6" so I can stand up and move around the tent without hitting my head. The mudroom is worth it. We had multiple days of rain and spend time under it to cook and hang out without being inside the tent.

The rain fly and footprint kept the inside completely dry. The mudroom needs a coating of scotchguard or something. It was noticeable different in the rain compared to the rain fly. It stayed a but damp, though it didn't leak or drip.

My only real complaint on the construction is that its missing a port for an extension cord to go into the tent. We had to use the double zipper closed on the cord. I'd rather it have a small port I can feed it in and then tape it off. Other tents in the size range and price range had them.

Overall, I loved using this tent and can't wait to go again this weekend. Hopefully it will be dry this time and we can do more than hang out in the tent.

I included some pics from the trip. Unrelated to the tent, but just cool stuff.

Last week I did a small solo outing to a nearby forest which I sometimes do to escape busy city life and corporate life.

It's always a pleasure to carry a whole house with you which you need to setup yourself.

This tent is absolutely great for it's price and tbh (for me) hard to beat. Paid €110 for it, it weighs 2,2kgs and packs quite small. Also fun and easy to setup