I received some money for my birthday and decided to spend some of it on a new Tent. My current tent, nicknamed the Taj Mahal because if it's size, is a monster. At 10 feet wide by 15 feet long and standing over 7 feet tall it is difficult to set up by yourself. It is also heavy weighing in at over 50lbs! My current tent is the Cougar Flats Tent made by Columbia. I posted the manufacturer's picture for you. A frustrating downside to this tent design is the partial fly. Notice how the windows and doors are not covered by the fly? Rain never falls straight down, it always comes in from the side. Many times when you are camping the only dry place you have is your tent. If you have inadequate rain protection in your tent you end up with no dry place to stay. I like to do a lot of camping during the fall and spring so rain protection is of the utmost importance for me. Determining my needs was pretty easy, finding a decent tent that fit those needs for a decent price wasn't. I want a tent that:

• I can stand up in
• Is big enough for my sizable cot
• Has a rain fly that comes down to the ground on all sides
• Is easy for one person to set up
• Is light enough that I can carry it for some distance without effort

The Taj Mahal Cougar Flats Tent is so heavy the case for it has wheels like you find on large rolling luggage! After much searching I found a couple of options from Cabela's and REI, most over $500.oo. I ended up choosing the REI Basecamp 6 tent because REI offers a good tent and it was on sale this month to members at 20% off. I just placed the order in fact. Here is a random picture of an REI Basecamp 6 (not ours) I picked up off the web. Notice how the fly comes down all the way to the ground! It also has a nice vestibule area where you can leave your dirty shoes out of the tent but still keep them dry. I actualy set up this tent at a local store. It was easy to set up by myself due to the free standing dome design. I also checked out the carry bag which has nice wide straps for carrying. With the fly this tent weighs in around 25lbs, half the weight of the Taj Mahal. I can't wait to try it out! :-) Note: This is my heavy camping gear for when Jenn comes along. When I go by my self I use only the Hennessy Hammock for shelter. If you haven't checked out the Hennessy Hammock Website you should. it is the best piece of camping equipment I have ever purchased! ;-) So, who out there likes to camp? What kind of tent do you use? - Sean