3 Season or 4 Season Tent

[kylemorgan]

What's the real difference? If my 3 season has it's rain fly on it, isn't it pretty much a 4 season?

[big_load]

A four season tent is designed to withstand a heavy snow load. I'm among the many who consider it a misnomer, since most people would use a 4-season tent only in winter, since they tend to weigh more. Usually they have more poles and clips than a 3-season tent, and have more fabric than mesh. A lot of people get by with a 3-season tent in winter, especially in places where heavy snowfall is rare, or by risking the times when it is not expected.

[kylemorgan]

That is pretty much what I expected. Thanks for the info.

[Nighthiker]

Poles are also metal and mesh panels (if equiped) will have a panel that you can zip close.

[te_wa]

just getcher self one of these here:

tent

btw, hows that kid doin?

[freeride21a]

There are "convertable" tents out there too, you can take or leave panels that regulate ventilation.

[azbackpackr]

For ordinary winter camping in AZ (little snow, but could be quite chilly) I'd prefer a tent that isn't 80% mosquito mesh! My old Eureka Timberline (that finally rotted and blew apart in a windstorm in Moab--RIP good ol' tent!) had cloth instead of mesh. So that cold ground wind didn't blow up from underneath the rainfly. Brrr! It wasn't considered a 4 season tent, but it just had more fabric, so held the heat in a lot better. I wouldn't mind owning another one just like it.

I now own, courtesy of the US Marine Corps, a slightly used, non-Iraq veteran, Eureka 2 person dome combat tent, which is all nylon cloth. Haven't tried it yet. The danged thing weighs about 8 or 10 lbs. though, so it would have to be for car camping.

Oh, but I LOVE free gear! Maybe I should start a new thread about free gear. Anyone else get free gear sometimes?

Oh, and by the way, up here on the mountain we hicks have never even HEARD of any movie called "Tron," let alone seen it. Why is it with a thread about tents? Inquiring rednecks want to know!

[Hoffmaster]

Tron is a classic computer security film....I think. I was "single digits" years old when it came out in the early eighties, so I can't quite remember the premise. I just remember that even though I was too young to understand the plot, it was visually stimulating. I have no idea what the Tron poll has to do with 4 season tents though.

Azbackpacker, I doubt that you were a mountain "hick" at the time this movie came out. It also was not an obscure movie. Somtimes I am amazed at the things you claim to know nothing about. I wonder if the hiking websites are your only media sources? And before the internet...?

[azbackpackr]

Well, I do seem to know a lot of about a lot of unrelated (and mostly trivial) things. However, I can truly claim ignorance on the topic of "Tron." From '78 to '86 I lived off the grid near Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. I did not watch TV at all, and went to the movies only very occasionally--in fact there were months when I never went to town at all. I listened to Hawaiian music on a battery radio. I remember only a few movies from that era, including E.T., Willie Nelson's Honeysuckle Rose (my husband took me to it on our first date), Alien (scared me half to death), and La Cage des Foilles (spelling?) (The original French language version of The Bird Cage--very, very funny--if you haven't seen it, rent it--it has English subtitles.)

You can't imagine what such isolation does to you until you return to civilization. When we moved to Tucson, for example, I recall being very puzzled with a popular style I saw women wearing--tights, big thick sox, high top tennies, and long t-shirts. I wondered why I had never seen this style before. Nobody in Hawaii was wearing that! Driving was also strange. I was not used to traffic or freeways. I felt very odd and out of place for quite awhile. I got a job at Luby's Cafeteria in the Tucson Mall. I mentioned to co-workers about my life in Hawaii. I later learned they thought I was making it up!

Nowadays I try to watch the news daily, and read a weekly news magazine. I watch an occasional movie. I also read Backpacker, Outside, Arizona Highways, Smithsonian, and others of that type, on a regular basis. I still don't keep up with movie stars, pop stars and other celebrities--I can't keep any of them straight.

And I only just this week learned the meaning of "Bling."

[Hoffmaster]

In response to azbackpackr's reply:

Fair enough. I'm sure you know infinitely more about everything than I do. I'm just curious about people who don't know about pop culture. I have a friend who is the same as you were in Hawaii; no TV or anything. It's his choice, but sometimes it's frustrating to have a conversation with him because he doesn't have a clue about anything.

Your lifestyle sounds pretty intrigueing; I'm not knocking it at all. I'm just different, I love news, reading magazines and non-fiction books. I like TV sort-of. I'd rather watch mtn biking and climbing videos than a TV show. I didn't grow up watching much TV. My parents were health nuts when I was a kid and they didn't want me rotting my brain in front of the TV. As a result, I know nothing about popular TV shows in the eighties and early nineties. I have heard of, and know a little about most of the shows though. My girlfriend thinks I'm weird.

By the way, you should always be "puzzled" by women wearing "tights, big thick sox, high top tennies, and long t-shirts" no matter what decade it is.

[azbackpackr]

Hey, I never grew up with TV either! In fact, the first one I ever owned, my father-in-law brought it down from Nebraska when we were first there in Tucson. I was 35 at the time. My husband had told me about Jackie Gleason's old show from the 50's. I had never seen it. Now I have seen it, many times. To the moon, Alice!

I still collect music from the Haight-Ashbury period, too. (Yes, I was there, but that's another story!) I have been buying CDs of all the LPs I used to own. Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, the Dead, Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, etc., etc. I do like some of the "alternative music" my daughter has played for me, such as the Shins. I haven't purchased any yet, should have her burn some CDs for me. My kids also burned CDs for me of Sublime, Third Eye Blind & Alanis Morisette--probably "old hat" to you but definitely new to me! (My kids are ages 21, 23 and 25.) They will also listen to some of my music, especially the Dead! One of my sons also loves Hendrix. (I saw him in concert in '68.)

Anyway, my knowledge of the popular culture is a bit spotty at best, but I do try to know a little bit. The thing is, most of it is so trashy and uncreative it doesn't hold my interest. On the other hand, the high-brow classical stuff doesn't grab me, either.

Meanwhile, about those tents. Remember, this is a thread about tents? I'm going to Tucson today. I'm planning on doing some hiking tomorrow and Sat.--will put on websites afterward. I am going to try to get a space at Catalina State Park, so I'm going to take that USMC Eureka combat tent to try it out. The campground may be full, though. Fingers crossed!

[Hoffmaster]

In response to azbackpackr's reply:

I won't harrass you again...I swear! Cool music you're into by the way.

Have fun in Tuscon. I'll be exploring South Canyon for the 2nd time this year. I love it there!

[scorpion scus]

In response to Matt Hoffman's reply: ugh! wish i was going to s. c.

[kylemorgan]

A: Mike, my kid is doing great. Thanks for asking. He is growing like a (insert funny joke here implying that he is growing very quickly).

B: To all concerned: The poll has nothing to do with the rest of the post. It's a joke.

C: My tent has a rainfly that covers all of the mesh. Of course, if I have to pack it all, I'm pretty sure it weighs around 185 lbs. I usually leave the rainfly in my jeep.

D: I am awesome.

E: azbackpacker, I grew up in middle-of-nowhere Washington. While we did have a TV, it only got Canadian channels. I don't have cable, my only access to the internet is my computor at work, I just bought a cell phone 3 months ago, and my Jeep has the choices of AM or FM radio. Would you like to play a cassette? That's too bad. You are not alone!

[azbackpackr]

Hey, good old CBC? I watched Nixon resign on CBC. I was staying at my aunt's house in Lillooet, B.C. Anyway, it was strange enough watching your president resign on TV, let alone I was in a foreign country, (yes, Canada is a foreign country, last time I checked) so they were all talking about it from their perspective. Very odd, I'll never forget it!

When I heard that "Tron" was a really old movie, then of course (duh) I realized it was a joke. But look what a nice conversation you started!

And about those tents. I did go to Tucson. There was an enormous bike race (El Tour) so no campsites, so I stayed at my brother's instead. So I didn't try out the combat tent.

Yes, the rainfly does cover all the mesh on my tents, too, or the rain would get in! But if the tent is fabric instead of mostly mesh it can serve well as a 4 season tent in AZ--the fabric serves better to hold in your body heat. That was my only point. The Timberline worked well for this purpose. You can still get them from Campmor--they're very reasonably priced. I'm only saying this because a real 4 season tent is pretty pricey, usually. And you usually don't need all those bells and whistles to camp in a little snow on Mt. Lemmon.