# Screen tent advice?



## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I want to buy a screen tent for camping. It's basically a tent which is just made of bug screening - you can set it up and have an "outdoor" place which is free from bugs. Good place to put your picnic table in.

I'm going to check out Canadian Tire, but does anyone have any suggestions on size? Cost? Are they worth it?


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

The camping gear we've bought from Canadian Tire has never lasted long, the quality is pretty much bottom-of-the-barrel.

You might want to check out this screen shelter from MEC:

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_...4374302885211&PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524442625603

Still "made in China," but most of MEC's products are made to last. This one's about $230 but I think it would be worth it. You have to join MEC in order to be able to buy anything from them, but membership is cheap.


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## steve41 (Apr 18, 2009)

I have a sure fire solution for having a bug-free outdoor experience.... the cost? it's free (except for the air fare to Vancouver) I haven't seen a mosquito, black fly, no-see-um anywhere on the coast for eons. There is a short lived wasp season, but that's it.

Riots, yes. Mossies, no.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

My brother moved to Seattle about 20 years ago, and when I first went to visit him I was shocked that they had no screens in their windows. It still throws me whenever I go to visit them. The downside of having no screens is that occasionally they get larger things coming in through the open windows, like birds, bats, and slugs. But no mosquitoes. Ever.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Interesting - I had no idea the west coast was bug-free.

No wonder they are so out-doorsy there!


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

I second not buying a canadian tire one. MEC or Costco has some nice ones as well, we've bought one from Costco a few years ago and we're quite happy with it.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

OK, I'll be off to MEC today.

I also need some sort of air mattress - any advice there? Needs to be big enough to fit 2 adults and 2 little ones.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

If you want any sleep I'd suggest getting at least two air mattresses rather than one big one -- if you're all in the same bed it's going to get bouncy as the young ones wriggle around in their sleep.

I like Thermarest but that's really more for backpacking where you want something light and insulating; the Coleman air mattresses are good for car-camping and you can plug the pump into your car's cigarette lighter to power it.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Ha! Ideally they would be in a different tent altogether, but that ain't happening now. 

I'll see what MEC has.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

MEC might have some comfortable mattresses, but most of their stuff is for serious backpacking -- still I know they sell cheaper sleeping bags etc. so they might have mattresses for car-camping.

Another reason to consider two mattresses is that at some point your kids will not want to sleep with their parents anymore, plus having separate mattresses gives you more flexibility in general for dealing with unexpected house guests etc.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Ok, I'll check out Canadian Tire as well for the mattresses.

Good point about buying 2 mattresses - more flexibility.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

Four Pillars said:


> Ha! Ideally they would be in a different tent altogether.


Isn't that what the vestibule is for? I'm sure brad will say its for packs and other gear while backpacking... but we all know what we want to keep there


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## sprocket1200 (Aug 21, 2009)

don't come to the island. there are tons of bugs here, slugs, snakes, etc. it is terrible. stay where u are...


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I thought I would update this thread.

I didn't end up buying the screen tent - when I went to MEC, it was out of stock. I will probably wait until next year and try again.

We ended up going camping for one night (which is what we planned). It was ok. We went to Glen Rouge which is right in Toronto. Just off Kingston Rd on the Scarborough, Pickering border. 

It's a nice place - down in a very green valley, so you can't tell that you are right in a big city. The sites are so-so - no privacy at all and our spot didn't have a picnic table which was a bit of a problem.

It was only 30 minutes from our house, but I think in the future we will just go another 20 minutes and make it to Darlington. We went there last year and it is a very nice park. Glen Rouge is on the TTC which is a plus for some.

Initially we were thinking of camping more frequently this year, but the realities of camping ( a lot of work ) with a 3 & 4 year old (much more work) have made us decide to back off a bit. We're doing a 2 day trip in August and depending on how that goes, might consider another weekend in September.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I'm camping at Bruce Park in September. It's a long drive, but the park there is very nice.


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