Thats what Dakota fire holes are for ; Seriously though I don't frequent Park lands much, but I would gladly pay a fine to the oligarchs, than be deprived of such a nessesity. Not promoting an illegal activity, just stating a point of fact. Everyone has to draw the line somewhere.


PS (Doug feel free to censor me, lol)

How's this for a compromise:

I just bought a small, cheap, extremely basic Ozarks Trails 6X5 2 man tent from Walmart. It's our second of this model and the first one has held up pretty well to some pretty heavy abuse by my son, niece and nephew over the past few years: (we've also got the 3 man version, which comes with a half sized fly. Not not great but OK and at an easy price point.)

Ozarks Trail 6X5 Scout Jr. Dome Tent

The rain fly is more of a napkin than anything but when you couple the tent with a tarp, you get a pretty nice little bug-free set-up, provided the weather isn't too terrible.

EDIT: Regular price in Canada is $19.99

I have to admit, having to rig up a tarp over a tent is a huge pet peeve of mine; for some reason I just can't accept the idea of doing that. I see it all the time in the car accessible camping sites but as far as I'm concerned my tent is there to protect me from all of the elements. In my mind, if it can't do that then it doesn't belong in my camping gear.

We have, on many occasion set up a fly over our tent, especially during periods of wet weather.

For our family’s trip to Disney World many years ago, we stayed in a tent at the campground. Knowing that afternoon and evening rains were probable; we set up a tarp over our tent. The almost daily rain never touched our tent, where as a neighboring tent using just the tent fly was obviously soaked.

On another occasion, our Girl Scout troop went on a rafting trip; we knew that potential severe weather was possibility due to an approaching storm front, so my wife and I set up a tarp over our tent. During the night we were hit with a major storm dumping between 3 and 4 inches in the area. Most of the girls ending up spending the night in the vehicles, our co-leader’s tent became soaked and they ended up having to abandon that tent. Our tent stayed dry throughout the night. When we awoke in the morning and walked through the camp, most of the tents were flooded and abandoned.

By having a tarp that extends out over the front of the tent by a few feet, it gives us a relatively dry area to transition from wet ground into the tent. Granted we were car camping and bringing extra gear was not an issue, but the tarp took up almost no extra room and only takes a few minutes to erect over the tent. If it is raining when setting up, we set up the tarp first giving us an opportunity to get the tent set up without getting soaked in the process. The tent also stays dryer, so packing up is made much easier.

Just a different approach-
Pete

I agree. I love my Eureka Apex 4XTC, with it's excellent rain fly, but it's just way too big and heavy to carry for anything longer than a short hike to camp. It's definitely not going portaging with me. It's basically been relegated to car camping. I'm on the hunt for a better lightweight, small backpacking tent. Money's tight though, so I need something that won't break the bank. A tarp set-up, or tarp/cheap tent combo, fits that bill nicely.

we see the tarp over tent set-up at bwca.com quite a bit.it seems to provide a big sheltered work area in camp sites that don't have much open space so you use what you have to the max.rain issue too,the only time i did that was when i wanted lots of shelter after a close hypothermia scare.

Yes, a good tent with fly should keep you dry, in normal rainy conditions. Obviously some tents aren't so good, and sometimes rain can be severe and long lasting, and have a lot of wind with it. In these cases, a tarp over the tent can be useful.

I own a really good tent (a older North Face VE 24). It is a bit heavy for backpacking but provides excellent shelter. I use it a lot on sea kayak trips. With the VE 24 I rarely if ever have put a tarp over the main part of the tent. However, I often rig a tarp up over the entrance to the tent. This provides a sort of front porch, where one can take off wet rain gear and boots before entering the tent. In sustained wet weather I have found that works really well in keeping the inside dry.

I have to agree with Pete and AKSAR. Having a tarp to be used in tandem with a tent makes a lot of sense in wet inclement weather and provides the outdoors person with many options no matter if they are car camping, back country hiking etc,

Also in hot weather, a light weight tarp can be improvised (use your hiking/trekking poles) to provide some midday shade relief in very hot and sunny weather when hiking in open or alpine terrain where there is no shade tree coverage.

At times, depending on hiking trip, expected weather and terrain, I will pack a sil tarp. These sil tarps are much better then the common blue tarps that so many people use as they can weigh as little as 1 lb and pack down to a size of around 9"x7" for a 7.5' x 10' sized tarp.

Don't get me wrong, I know that the tarp-tent combination will work, but it's just not the way I like to set up camp. There is definitely a place for tarps when setting up camp, but to provide a dry area in addition to the tent (like the "kitchen"), not as a way to keep the tent dry. In my brain a tarp over a tent is like wearing a poncho over top of rain jacket & pants. Again, this is just my preference, I'd never say that someone shouldn't do it; it's just not how I do things.

Since my preference is to have a tent that can handle the rain on its own, I've selected my gear appropriately (full fly, good material, vestibules, etc). I am confident in my tents' ability to keep me dry when they are set up and guyed out properly and they've proven themselves capable so far.

My wife and I have become very interested in 'prairie walking' over the last couple of years. We travel down to prairie country and set up a big tent, then take our hiking poles, small packs, and the dog out for the day.

The biggest issue we have had is finding a shady resting place, so we bought this lightweight tarp pretty cheap from SG (no affiliation) over the winter to use for exactly the purpose you describe. I'll post a review after we get a chance to try it on the prairie.

This ramps up my spring fever a notch.