Well, it's time to upgrade to a larger tent. I have a Eureka! Timberlite 2XT that has seen more than a few years of use. It's been a great tent, but a little too small for 2 adults. I like the A-frame setup and after checking out a few "family" tents at an outdoor store recently, I wasn't impressed with the quality.

So I've been eyeballing the Timberline 4 series. Apparently there is a Timberline 4 (the regular model), Timberline 4XT (included vestibule) and the Timberline 4 Outfitter (model that many Boy Scout troops use with heavy-duty construction).

Just curious if anyone here has any experience with any of the above, especially if the Timberline 4 Outfitter is worth the jump in price. Thanks in advance!

I have not had a Timberline, but I did have a Timberline Alpine Meadows 6 (no longer made), which was pretty much the same tent as the Timberline 6, except that it had a center hoop that pulled out the sides of the tent. It was a great tent, with a heavy oxford cloth floor, great volume, stand up room for me (6'2"), easy setup and move once set up if necessary, completely water/weather-tight that saw many one and two week-long family (wife, two kids and a dog that had to sleep in the tent) camping trips. Finally, I had to give it up as the zipper for the door would constantly fail to zip the door closed in a couple of places. I even sent it back for repair to no avail. I have no idea as to what caused the zipper to fail as there were no apparent signs such as bent teeth or anything else. If my kids weren't grown, my second wife didn't hate camping and the tent were still available, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

The Timberlines and their relatives are GREAT tents that have succesfully housed folks for decades ...

... and therein lies the only real issue. They are VERY old technology and have poor volume to weight, since they are triangular. Dome tents are much more "semi-circular" which means that they have excellent space for the weight of the tent.

I recently read a book that said A-frames were fine if you're attending a civil war reenactment, but otherwise to avoid them.

By the way, one of the reasons Scout troops use the Timberlines is that Eureka makes individual spare parts available - or at least they used to. That is useful to troops when boys tend to leave parts - especially the small awning poles behind.

The earlier dome tents were somewhat limited by the technologies of the poles, but today's aluminum-poled dome tents are VERY strong and VERY easy to setup. One of the keys on all tents is to use storm guys if wind is anticipated - or even if it isn't. Storm guys GREATLY strengthen tents in high wind.

My advice would be to buy a more modern dome tent. Look for:

-aluminum poles
-clips to attach poles to tent body
-full nearly-to-the-ground rain fly
-vestibules over each door
-two doors (makes exiting easier, reaching gear inside easier, and provides a spare if one of the zippers jams)
-nylon or polyester floors - none of that plastic tarp material

Some recommended tents:

-REI Half Dome or Quarter Dome
-Alps Mountaineering Taurus (w/ aluminum poles) or Vertex
-Eureka makes nice tents, but some of the designs are overly fancy or odd (to me)

I would agree with KenK that the Timberline series other than the smaller extra-lights are not good backpacking tents because of the size to weight issue, but you didn't say you were looking for a backpacking tent. My Alpine Meadows model was great for car camping though, lasted through twenty years of summer camping, and had the best ventilation of any tent I have ever owned. That includes dome tents, single wall ultra-lights and semi-A frames (elongated coffin-shaped floors, higher in the front than in the rear and so forth) that are mostly netting sides/tops with a fly. So, if you're looking for a roomy two person backpacking tent, you're better off looking at ultra-light three man tents or perhaps a good siltarp with a floored and netted nest.

Much depends upon what you are using the tent for such as car camping verus backpacking versus a canoe trip excetera. Many years ago I bought a 4 person Alpine Meadows and liked it so much I've since bought the 2 person and 6 person versions via ebay. Eureka still makes the Alpine Meadows in a 4 and 6 person version in Canada.
http://www.eurekatentscanada.com/product...=1&prod=124

You can find a Canadian web dealer who will ship to the US. The Alpine Meadows is a great tent.

I didn't say anything about backpacking. Dome tents give more head and shoulder room than A-frames regardless of the height, floor area, headcount, or phase of the moon.

Eureka's A-frames were great in their day.

You'd be much better off with a high quality dome tent, or if it doesn't need to be self-standing, the tunnel tents (not sure if that's the right term) that are so popular now in Europe have great space and are very easy to put up. These are the ones where you stake out the front and back, and the frame creates a sort of tunnel. They're not so popular in the US yet - cabin tents seem to be making some kind of comeback, but Eureka Canada sells some of these.

I find most 'family' tents are anything but rugged though they are good tents.

When my wife and I are looking for a laid back car camping trip we use a Columbia Bugaboo II tent. We put a queen size air matress and sleeping bag in and there's still room for all our gear and room to stand up as it's over 70" tall in the center. Most people forget that a tent can be tall but if it's a dome tent it's only that tall in the center. You might have to stand on your tent-mates to enjoy that height. It's the only family tent I could find with a full rain fly and proper vents at ground level which was still affordable. You can get them on Amazon.com for under $140.

When weather is a concern or we're backpacking or just want super easy set up and tear down we use the Nemo Morpho AR. No living space inside but it's one hell of a well built tent.

The Alpine Meadows is a bit of a hybrid design. The basic tent is an A-Frame Timberline, but the added center hoop makes it more like a tunnel tent. However, unlike a tunnel tent the Alpine Meadows is self supporting as with a dome tent. If weight is not an over-riding consideration (such as a canoe trip) the Alpine Meadows is a great design.

The ongoing popularity of the Timberline with scout troops is also economic. Timberlines are cheap, easy to set up and durable.

When I was in college I owned a modified Timberline that had the fiberglass hoop over the middle, but it also had fiberglass poles on each side going from corner to corner - then the middle hoop attached to the center of each of the side hoops.

It might have been called the Aurora? It was the best!!

About 10 years ago the fly got very sticky and it became unusable. I called Eureka and they said the coating had degraded and there wasn't really anything I could do. It almost hurt to finally throw it out.

I think the Aurora was the correct model name. If I found one of these on ebay I'd buy it as I also like the design. I am speculating that sticky tent flies come from being stored in hot conditions, say a garage or an attic. I've gone to storing my gear in the basement for that reason.

Hi Cedfire,

I have never owned a Eureka tent but I have spent a few nights in them as my hunting partner has one (a 2XT?) and we had a Timberline Outfitter 4 at work.

The Outfitter was bought about 15 years ago for use while doing remote Forest Management Inventory (timber cruising), I remember it as a tough tent with lots of room as we only slept 2 in it and it was ment for 4.

I have not checked out the new tents on the market, but I was OK with the Timberlines in the past.

Mike

I asked Eureka about that. They said some of the earlier materials just tended to degrade over time. They had a limited lifespan under even the best of conditions. They assured me that the newer materials are MUCH better. Hope so.

My tents were (are) always stored in air conditioned places - either a bedroom or a dry (air conditioned & dehumidifier) cool basement. It didn't even see the light of day as much as I'd have liked it to (I was in graduate school for far too long).

When I was a teenager I sewed a Frostline kit tent (the 2-person Kodiak if anyone remembers Frostline kits), and the coating on that tent got sticky too. That was even sadder for me since I sewed it myself.

The newest tent care tip I picked up this year is to never fold your tent the same twice. Many new tents recommend you just jam the tent into the bag without folding or rolling at all.

The instructions for my Nemo are just that way. Jam it into the included waterproof sack foot first, close the waterproof roll top and you're done.

Over time folds weaken the nylon and promote leaks and/or tearing along the fold. Same goes for tarps though depending on how stiff the material is that could be easier said than done.

[quote=Hacksaw]The newest tent care tip I picked up this year is to never fold your tent the same twice. quote]

Huh ... that's one benefit of feeble old brain. Everytime I go to fold my tents I find it harder and harder to remember how I folded them last time, so I just do whatever seems to work at the time.

You know, that reminds me of a story about the ... eh ... the ... eh ... What were we talking about??



(No flaming about Alzheimer's ... my father had it. In the end he couldn't remember exactly who I was - he was pretty sure I was his younger brother, but he died a very happy man with lots of new friends.)

Frostline kits were great. http://www.oregonphotos.com/Frostline1.html

I've been helping Bruce with content for his site for some time. His books on Gerry and Frostline are great trips down memory lane.

Thanks for all the responses! Was planning to use this as a car camping tent first and foremost, so if it's a little heavy or bulky that's okay.

Eureka made an expedition version of the Alpine Meadows, called the Sentinel. I noticed one on ebay recently - I'm not the seller and I'm not going to bid. You might wish to watch this auction as this tent is a bargain for the opening bid. I wish I could justify buying this tent.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270257757889&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=017