Hey Skiracer, about your tent..

“Hey Ski, on the Maine trip, we were talking about tents. Is the Sierra Designs Orion 3 the one you have and recommended? I might be in the market for a roomy car/base camping tent, and that one seems to fit the bill.”

“Good god man! How many tents would you have if you bought this one? 34?”

“It's funny you should pop up now Pennsy, I was going to start a "Where in the heck is Pennsy" thread. Glad you're ok. Whatcha been up to?”

“LOL! Believe it or not, I only have 2 actual tents, plus the tarp and bivy. Both are pretty small, and I'd like something roomy.

I've been visible on a few threads Tango, but thanks for worrying about me. :o) Now that daylight savings time is here, I pretty much put away the running shoes and hit the hiking trails after work. That leaves precious little time for TT but I still manage to pop in. How the heck are you?

So, where the hell is Ski with my tent answer??”

“WTF I have more tents then Pennsy. How is that possible?”

“Pennsy saves face by giving away tents to enable himself to buy more tents.

His goal is to own one of every tent on the market at some time in his life...”

“Been recuping the back. I am good now. It's been a bad couple of weeks. Had 2 deaths to deal with one person was like a Mother to me and the other was a coworker.

But I am bouncing back. I am doing a short hike tomorrow to test out the back.

Thanks for asking.”

“Yikes, that is a tough few weeks. I'm very sorry about your friends, and I hope your back is ok. Good luck on your hike tomorrow.


See guys, I am not the ho you think I am. PLUS, I've only given away ONE tent.”

“So what exactly are you looking for in this tent?”

“Full fly with good ventilation, vestibule, and plenty of space. At least 44 square feet with around 4' of height clearance. Probably a 3 person tent, that will fit 2 very comfortable but room for a third if necessary. Weight is a major issue since it would be used for car camping, shortish backpack trips to base camps, or backpack trips where the weight would be shared. I'd like to keep it under 7lbs though. The SD Orion fits into these categories nicely, and I think that is the tent Ski was telling me about.”

“I meant weight is NOT a major issue.”

“Look at some of Coleman's tents. I have a 7'x7' dome similar to this
that I use to use all the time about 5 or 6 years ago. I had no problems with it. It slept two with gear fairly easily. The only reason I stopped using it was I wanted something smaller.”

“From what I see, it doesn't have a full fly or a vestibule, and I gotta believe it's heavier than 7lbs.”

“Missed the vestibule. The dome I have does a little bit longer fly.”

“For Car Camping I just drape a tarp over my head and lay on the ground...

Or maybe I pass out when car camping?”

“Pennsy, yes the SD Orion 3 was the tent we were talking about. I only use it for car camping and very short trips now, but it's a great tent. It's got plenty of room. I haven't set it up in quite awhile, but as I recall, the mesh folds down. I think LtHiker was talking about the mesh being in a continuos circle now so you could either unzip the top or the bottom with ease.”

“Thanks Ski! I think I'll order this tent. Campmor has the 2003 model on sale. The door is a continous circle and there's supposed to be a stuff pouch or something like that.”