Tent poll: Two people and a dog?

June 14, 2009 1:47 PM

Great backpacking tent for two people and a large dog?

Right now, I've got the REI Half Dome... and it's awesome. Not top of the line, but pretty nice and light and for the type of 2-3 day backpacking trips I do with myself and my dog.

However, now that I'm planning on doing some overnight camping with a friend from time to time, I need to upgrade a bit to a slightly larger, but still very portable. (Think -- not car camping.)

I love how easy it is to assemble the Half Dome... so the obvious choices might be the Hoodoo 3 or the Quarter Dome from REI. Anyone have any experience with one vs the other?

I don't mind spending a reasonable amount of money given that I get a fair bit of use out of these things, but a big bonus would be something from REI, since I think I can rent tents from them as needed as part of my membership.

posted by ph00dz to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

Depending on where you're going and the bug and rain situations I'd look into one of the lightweight silnylon trekker tarp or tepee styles. A friend of mine has a tepee-style (different brand) and it is awesome, my favorite tent ever, lightweight and huge. Being able to keep the dog off your sleeping bag and away from the tent walls is great for staying dry and the fact that it's a detached floor makes it easy to clean up after a muddy dog. I particularly like that you can prop one side up a bit and look out, this seems to keep dogs from barking at stuff in the middle of the night so much.

We've used these things all over in all kinds of bad weather and had no issues but you do need to put more thought into placement and drainage than with a fully enclosed ten, especially if you're using a plain tarp as a floor.
posted by fshgrl at 2:06 PM on June 14, 2009

Response by poster: If it were just me, I like the idea of the tarp... you know, being minimalist and all... but with the dog, I kinda like having it all enclosed, so I don't have to worry about him wandering off at night without me. He's a good dog 'n' all, but not exactly the brightest of animals... so....

I may actually grab one of those, though. I spent the weekend in the Grand Canyon by myself (no dog, no friend) and brought my tent in case it rained suddenly... but, really, that was total overkill for what I needed just on my own. Given that I've got a pretty sweet sleeping bag, that'd be the perfect addition to my summer kit.
posted by ph00dz at 5:08 PM on June 14, 2009

The one I use zips closed and you stake it down so the dog can't get out unless you prop one side up.

The one place I might not use them without a bucket floor (most tarps have these as an option but REI doesn't have a great selection) is anywhere that scorpions and snakes are common because they could crawl into them.
posted by fshgrl at 5:16 PM on June 14, 2009

We (Myself 6'6", 250lbs, wife 5'8" 140lbs) and our dog (65lbs) camp in the REI Taj Mahal, a 3 person tent that has been since discontinued, I suggest renting a couple and find ones that work well for you. We generally car camp so the weight of the Taj isn't that big a deal to us, but we have backpacked with it and the dog and been pretty happy. I'd suggest going for one with an oversized rain fly you can put a tarp down underneath and give the dog some place to hang out/towel off outside of the tent itself...for this reason the next tent we get will probably be one that has zips on both sides so we can have one side for dog, and one side for gear storage.
posted by iamabot at 5:59 PM on June 14, 2009

I have the Hoodoo3 and it works for me and 2 dogs (80 lbs and 40 lbs). I've also used it for 2 people and it was fine. Two adults and a large dog plus gear will be pretty snug, especially if your pup stretches out when he sleeps. It's easy to assemble and did amazingly well in the rain--heavy downpour for 8+ hours--last time I used it.
posted by weebil at 8:25 PM on June 14, 2009