Reddit reviews Stansport Scout A-Frame Backpackers Tent, Green

Gotchu Fam 🔥🔥

I'm cheap so I got this pup tent. It packs small enough when you separate the poles and the tent, but you'll want a tarp if it rains. You can spray it with waterproofer, but I would avoid doing that if you ever camp below freezing (breath snow will form).

Not a great tent from what the reviews say but a tent...
Stansport Scout Backpack Tent https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006V2B2I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_6-YJybPZNZT8Y

Hey, you can also make quite a bit of your own gear if you're feeling up to the challenge. Check out /r/myog for more information about that.

Fancy, fold up cook kits can run you $20 to $70 or more, plus fuel, but you can also make your own cook kits real easily from soda cans, cat food cans, and grease pots. You can get one from Walmart for $7, and an aluminum pot handle from any outdoors store for a couple of bucks. Here's a basic one for $4, but you can find them for $2, too. You can also use a folded bit of aluminum foil as a wind break around your stove.

The best part about those is not only are they light and cheap to replace, but your can stove and your aluminum handle should fit neatly inside your grease pot. Depending on how tall you made your windbreak, you might be able to fit it inside your pot, too. If not, it's just aluminum foil; it'll fold up.

It really depends on what your budget and your conditions are. You can grab a cheap, fairly light tent for $50 or $60. (If you want to go crazy cheap, there are $20 tents that you can set up between two trees or support with trekking poles.)

I wouldn't suggest depending on a cheap tent for the long term, but use them as something you can test out, beat up, and not be too heartbroken over. They're just the basics.

Woot.com often has sales on camping gear, including backpacks, light blankets, sleeping bags, and hammocks. Decent backpacking hammocks usually run about $15 to $25 online, don't stress about getting one that's really expensive and has a lot of features. They're pretty much all parachute hammocks. Worry about investing in the expensive stuff later.

My advice, though? Don't stress about your gear at first. Get some cheap starter gear, read about it, test it, make a plan. Drop on by /r/trailmeals and find some simple recipes that you like. Find a nice state park nearby and look at their maps. Find a camp site and see what's there: Do you have trees available for hammocks? Is there a fire pit already set up? Do you have wood available for fuel? (You probably won't need much more than your cook pot and utensils if your campsite has a firepit with a grill, for example.)

Make your plan and execute it. Let people know where you're going, and what you're up to. Invite a friend if you can. Put your comfy shoes on, toss your crap in a backpack, go out for a weekend, and test your gear. Get some experience with your new stuff, see what works for you and what doesn't. Learn where you want to focus if you want to shed weight, and check your reviews. Go to places like REI: they'll often let you see or set up any tent you're interested in, in advance, so you can check out how easy or how difficult it might be on the trail, in the dark. That last part's important. You can have the fanciest tent in the world, but it doesn't mean a hill of beans if you can't set it up in the dark. (Because at some point, you will be setting up your tent in the dark, in the rain, in some sort of adverse conditions. It happens. Be prepared.)

Practice with your gear, learn your gear. Learn your limits and your preferences.
Knowledge is easy to acquire, useful to have, and doesn't weigh anything, so pack a lot of it.

You're gonna want to get that experience on your cheap stuff, so you can learn and make mistakes without ruining some high-end piece of kit that's really gonna cost you. Get your experience in and add the expensive, fancier stuff as you go. I like to focus on pack, shelter, and shoes. They're going to be your main sources of weight and your big comfort items. Bad shoes and ill-fitting packs hurt. Insufficient shelters suck. Upgrading those early on, or starting with some mid-tier gear if you can afford it, is handy.

And if you decide that maybe this isn't for you, that's okay, too. You can back out without having dropped several thousand dollars on all the latest gear. It's easy to spend hundreds on fancy gear. Try to avoid falling into that trap.

It's probably ultralight heresy, but I often bring a cheap paperback book with me. Sure, it's sort of heavy for a luxury item that I don't need, and if it falls in a creek then my book is destroyed; I get that. However, for me, you can't beat hanging out in a comfy hammock under the trees with a good book. That serenity is why I go hiking and backpacking in the first place.

I also tell myself that if things ever go incredibly sour, a cheap book or a trail journal is also a good source of tinder and toilet paper. Not that I would do such things, but if I was ever stranded somewhere and I had to, the option is there. Similarly, you can signal other hikers or other people in your party if you have a trail journal - just pull out a page and leave a note for them.

Oh, and it's also wise to bring a couple of trash bags along with you. Get the big, kitchen sized ones.

They're great for:

| | | |
|:--:|:--:|:--:|
| holding trash | separating wet clothes | good laundry bags |
| dirty shoe mat | tent hole repair | emergency ponchos |
| emergency pack covers | food bag | extra warmth |

------

Oh, and remember the simple principles:

Pack it in, pack it out. - Any gear (or people) you bring, you're responsible for getting it (or them) back out.

Leave no trace. - You have a responsibility to leave your campsite as you found it, or better than you found it. Any trash you bring, you pack it right back out with you. If someone before you has been an asshole and has left a bunch of trash all over the campsite, try to clean it up, even if you can't pack it all out.

Hike your own hike. - This means that you can have all the excellent advice in the world, but how you do your hike is up to you. No one else can tell you how to live your life, and if you want to carry a little extra weight for a luxury item, or if you prefer a bit of kit that isn't quite in vogue this season, or if you can't afford the high-end, cuben fiber this or that, don't stress about it. You're out there to enjoy yourself, focus on that.

Be prepared. - This is the Boy Scout motto. Things will happen that you're not going to expect. Don't go overboard and don't get too crazy about it, but have a plan and know how to execute it. Learn the area you'll be at and know what sorts of conditions to expect. If you get hurt, know who you can call. If you're in a state or national park, those phone numbers are always on the freebie trail maps they provide - grab one at the ranger station or the trail head and keep it with you or keep a photo of it on your phone. Are you going to need extra batteries? Is your phone going to have service? If you can, sign up for a first aid course or a trail-specific first aid course. That's information you'll want to know if you ever need it.

I think it would be interesting to throw you into the ultralighting scene immediately, but I know in my heart it would be cruel.

Tent: [$25] (http://www.amazon.com/Stansport-Backpack-Forest-6-Feet-X4-Feet/dp/B0006V2B2I/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1418161376&sr=8-26&keywords=bivy)

Nalgene water bottles: Get 2, ~$8 = $16

Sleeping bag: $50

Backpack: $35

Stove: $18

Cookset: $11

Flashlight: $6

Knife: $8

That all comes out to around $169. These are items to get you started. Everything will eventually be upgraded as you understand yourself as an outdoors(wo)man.

Cheers, SS. Eagle Scout. 800+ nights camped.

I use a modern pup tent for backpacking. Weighs about 3lbs. 'ish (can reduce by replacing the shitty tent pegs). If you get this particular one, Scotch guard the hell out of it. Oh, and it is not really a three season tent. Late spring, summer and maybe early fall. Depending on your location.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006V2B2I

Stansport Scout Backpack Tent https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0006V2B2I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Cq91Ab3N4DTZS

BESTEAM Ultra-light Warm Weather Envelope Sleeping Bag, Outdoor Camping, Backpacking & Hiking - Fit for Kids, Teens and Adults (Dark Blue) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00X63R57O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Br91Ab5E6R6C8

Used these two for solo camping trips, they worked really well. I would suggest seam sealer for the tent though.

Yeah, i got the tent for my first ever trip (superbloom 2005 in death valley) and wasn't really thinking about weight at the time. But i'm the worlds cheapest man so since then i've just sucked it up and humped it but i have been thinking about replacing it.
Was thinking about getting an A-Frame like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Stansport-Backpack-Forest-6-Feet-X4-Feet/dp/B0006V2B2I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453219793&sr=8-1&keywords=scout+tent

Any thoughts?


Ive really only done summer trips so far, but definitely want to start doing 3 season so you're definitely right about the bag. Was thinking about going the old school route for cold weather and getting a queen and twin size 100% wool instead of a bag. Not sure if anybody has any experience with that.

Thanks brother

Where in CA are you headed? What is your budget? Will you be using this tent in the future? Is it just yourself or you and a partner? Are you car camping, or are you hiking 10 miles a day?

If it's just you and you want a relatively cheap solo tent, check out the ALPS Lynx 1.

https://www.amazon.com/ALPS-Mountaineering-Lynx-1-Person-Tent/dp/B00BMKD1DU

Under 4lbs, freestanding, aluminum poles, full coverage fly, vestibule.

Cheaper and a bit lighter is the Stansport scout tent.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006V2B2I

It's pretty much a no-frills tent, but used by countless scouts over the years. It's not free standing so it does need to be staked down. Says 2-person but a bit tight for 2 adults. And getting out of the tent without knocking over the pole...

If you're car camping, with other people, have a decent budget and will use the tent regularly in the future, well there are a lot of bigger, nicer tents out there.

Another option is to rent gear. If you're going out for a few days, you'll probably need to stock up on gear like fuel canisters, so you can check with REI and see what they have for tent rentals. Might cost you more than buying a cheap tent like the Stansport, but it's an option.

A third alternative is not to get a tent at all but just sleep under the stars. Might bring a tarp to set up for protection from the sun and a stray shower.

I feel like I don't know enough information about you, what you're looking for, and what you plan to do to give you an honest impression. However, here's some thoughts. As the other poster suggested this isn't an ultralight tent. It's a quality tent that will last you many years of camping. If this is what you're thinking about camping in for years then I say go for it. If, however, you are just looking for a starter tent to get you going and are likely to want to invest in something nicer/lighter later I would suggest a different route. That Kelty tent is just shy of 4lbs. You can get something like this one for $26 shipped and it claims to be 3.8lbs. I'm confident you could swap out the stakes lose the carry bag and get it even lower. If you were really feeling spunky replace the ropes with something like this (I like hi-vis cordage, but they have camo or whatever).

Alternatively I bought my first tents at yard sales. Got some great $200+ tents for like $40. Of course that's hit or miss. Just spray them with sealer first.