The Accommodations

On the first and last night, we stayed at a room in a small motel in Ely, Mn. The motel was named the Canoe On Inn. It was a quaint, motel in a resort town. Very overpriced considering what was offered, but it was convenient, it had beds, and there was enough hot water for four grubby guys to shower before and after the trip. And considering that we didn't take deodorant or toothpaste on the trip (bears seem to like these toiletries, so we left them at home), we were pretty ripe at the end of our journey.

The rest of the time, as you should imagine, we slept in tents. Greg and I purchased new tents for the trip... they were el cheapo $35 tents that we bought from Scheels. We bought these tents because we wanted something compact and lightweight, and because we figured it would be easier to find two small tent-pitching spots, rather than a place for a single, large tent. We were correct.

The tents we bought were very similar. I bought the Wenzel Ridgeline, and Greg purchased the Wenzel Pinon. I chose my tent with the expectation that it would last a week. Anything past the week was a bonus in my opinion. I wanted something that would allow enough room for Bill and me to sleep comfortably, and to stay relatively dry. But just in case, I brought a bivvy sack for extra insurance. And, oh yeah, I DID take the time to waterproof the tent before our trip.

For $35 I had relatively low expectations. Furthermore, during my research, I ran across one consistent complaint -- that the door zipper was a pain to work. I figured that as long as it didn't blow out, I could live with that. The tent did meet my expectations. It kept me relatively dry, and it survived the week. I figure that it will make a good little tent for the kids to use in the back yard.

With that said, I'd probably choose a different tent if I had it all to do over again. There were two major defects in this tent. First and foremost, the tent is technically sized 7'X7', but as far as usable room goes, it's more accurate to say it's just shy of 6'X6'. I have a cot that sits about five inches off of the floor and is six feet long. The cot was pushing on the tent at the head and feet.

And the door's zipper system is not well designed. There is no rain flap over the zipper, so consequently quite a bit of rain got in to the tent. Again, I had a bivvy sack and a cot, so fared well. Bill, on the other hand, woke up with a wet sleeping bag. Fortunately, the corners are not well sealed, which meant that the water flowed on out the corner, rather than puddling up in the tent. (Yes, I'm saying that rather tongue-in-cheek.)

Greg's tent, the Pinon, did have the rain flaps on the door. But his tent didn't have any clips to connect the fiberglass poles to the tent body, which meant that his tent was a bit flimsier in the wind. He lucked out though... there was rain, but no wind-driven rainstorm.

In both cases, the stress on the door's zipper is caused by the poles that support the rain fly. The fly support system is poorly designed.

At the end of the day, what I purchased met my needs, but I wouldn't do it again. If you're looking for a cheap, fair-weather tent, this may fit the bill... just remember to go easy on the door.