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One-person tent for carrying in a plane, and cooking

The traditional solution is a large sheet or blanket over the wing, hanging to the ground with rocks on the corners. It doesn’t keep the insects out but it is easy to obtain and pack.

I bought a tent to put in the plane for trips this summer, but haven’t had a chance to use it yet sadly.

For a year or two though I’ve always had in the back a bivvy bag, lightweight small pack blanket, slightweight sleeping matt and usually a small tarp just in case I need to divert or get stuck somewhere, I think probably weigh maybe a couple of kg tops and probably are about a shoe box in total space needed.

I have a Coleman 3-man tent which I bought last autumn. About £80 on Amazon.

It is one of those pop-up ones – literally up in less than a minute after you get it out of the bag.

We had two of us and our dog in it, and ‘3-man’ is probably a generous description.

It does what it’s mean to do and you could easily carry it in the aeroplane. If I was buying again I’d perhaps go for one with an inner lining and a ‘porch’ area – but these aren’t usually ‘pop up’ and are bigger/heavier when packed up.

EGLM & EGTN

It does indeed look as if some national borders will be closed or subject to quarantine for several months.

Meanwhile, if looking for somewhere to test your new aero-camping kit, Glenswinton remains open (and free) for light GA. Especially welcome are visitors who do as they would be done by and leave little trace of their presence.

Glenswinton, SW Scotland, United Kingdom

The ‘key’ to camping is to have exactly what you need with little or no compromise on your personal requirements. You just need to figure out what those are. It’s different for everyone.
The wife and I have camped from the aircraft at least once a year for almost 20 years.
Always add +1 to accommodation numbers unless you’re intending to backpack.
If flying and camping from the aircraft (at the field) or getting a taxi to a camp then you can take quite a lot of stuff.
We have 3 tents for different occasions, but the general go-to is a std 3-man dome with a porch,
no standing height. Its design is that you erect the tent, as seen from the outside, then climb inside and internally hang a liner/inner tent. It does have 3 flexed poles but can be erected alone in about 6-7 minutes without fuss and gives enough room for the essential double airbed a few personal belongings and a cool box of gadgets. The newer self erecting tents are getting better and better but the ones I’ve seen can be a bit fiddly to put away. I’m sure it’s just needs a bit if knack.
Ours is around 9" dia x 24" long and weighs 7kg
I know you said no poles but it really isn’t a big deal.

This is similar to what I’m refering to. £89 on ebay. Ours has a slightly larger ‘porch’

Last Edited by GA_Pete at 26 Apr 23:26
United Kingdom

Grumman AA-5 with the back seats folded is a one-person tent if you aren’t too tall. Will fit two in a pinch as well.

For prolonged camping, I am 100% happy with my 25-year-old Kelty Ridgeway (I think it’s a 2/3 person model). It does need the flexible rods inserted and bent, but it’s totally trivial to pitch alone and perfectly functional without strings or pegs.

LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

It does indeed look as if some national borders will be closed or subject to quarantine for several months.

There are loads of bizjet flights all over Europe. Many of these may be repatriating people to their own country (they fly straight back the same day) but the key aspect is that the crew is presumably able to do the paperwork, use the toilet, etc. So an “overnight” in a tent should work, provided you get a permission from the police down there.

Has anyone used something like this? Not cheap

There are much cheaper ones – example

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

My wife and I will walk across Norway this summer (literally). Can’t go to any sunny places, so rain and cold it is I think we have 2 or 3 tents laying around somewhere, used by the kids. They could be OK I guess, but old and heavy(ish). With all these outdoor gear stuff, quality is a what you need. There simply is no good reason to not get the “good” stuff. If you look around a bit, it’s not that expensive either (certainly more expensive than cheap stuff, but still. 50-70% discount is not unusual, no reason to buy at full price).

The best way is to figure out what you need, then get the best you can “allow”, preferably through a bargain.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

Silvaire wrote:

The traditional solution is a large sheet or blanket over the wing

Like this one:

It`s even easier with a low-wing aircraft.

Berlin, Germany

Hi Peter,

I’ve done a reasonable bit of hiking and camping in the last few years. Very much an occasional camper, not an avid enthusiast by any means, but enough to know that you shouldn’t buy the tent listed in your post 10! It’s way to expensive for the task you intend for it.

Tent, like most things, follow a 2 or of 3 rule. They can be durable, light and cheap. Choose any 2 out of the 3. The really expensive ones attempt to be durable and light by using expensive materials. The one you linked to is at an extreme end. But even then, you will not be happy with the size.

First though a bit about the things you brought up yourself.

Sharing a tent. You are right. Don’t share with anyone other than your other half. Tents are cheap and light enough that there is no need to. Get your own tent and pitch far enough away from someone else that you don’t have to endure their night time habits

You mention not wanting to mess around with rods/poles. The tents without them are called popup tents. Don’t go there. They are really for giving some privacy to drunk/stoned festival goers who are too out of it to experience discomfort! They really will give you no great protection if the wind picks up during the night and are likely to leak if it rains anyway heavily. Not what you want.

They are also what is known as single wall tents which come with their own problems of condensation, which again makes your stay uncomfortable. No point in being sheltered from the rain if your own condensation starts to drip on you! Single wall tents seek to make the tent lighter but come at the cost of condensation.

But things have moved on a lot since you last camped. Poles are not really an issue anymore. All the poles are now usually connected by an elastic running through the middle, meaning that there is no guessing which pole goes where. They are trivial to put together, even in the dark. Do it ones in your garden and you’ll have zero problems doing it again in only a few minutes. Poles is not a compromise worth making. They simply aren’t an issue anymore and provide much needed rigidity against wind.

Not requiring the strings to stretch it, refers to the tent being “free standing”. A freestanding tent can but put up without needing to stake it out with strings. They are common enough. However even a freestanding tent will require to be staked out with strings if it’s windy. But again on modern tents, they usually only require 3 or 4 strings, not so much for structure but for rigidity in the wind.

Then the other think you mention is 1 man. I think you’ll really regret going down this road. A one man tent has room just for your sleeping bag and nothing else. You might fit a torch in a pocket and maybe a water bottle by your side, but nothing else. Even most hikers, who are paranoid about weight, as they have to carry it long distances on their backs, up mountains, usually opt for a 2 man tent even when staying alone. The extra space allows you room to turn around during the night, bring your other gear inside etc. It allows you to sit up and read if it’s raining outside etc. In your case you might want to sit up and read/write on the forum or check the weather/notams etc for your flight the next day. You won’t have room to do that in a 1 man tent. A 2 man tent is little compromise in terms of weight/cost and well worth it for the extra comfort.

So that’s the issues that you brought up.

Then you should give some come consideration to the three compromises I mentioned. Where will you be camping? By the side of the aircraft or do you plan to travel well away from the aircraft. If by the side of the aircraft, then weight is not going to be an issue for you. 4-5Kg is a very heavy tent. Hikers will want a tent no heavier than 1.75kg and for this the cost is not much. Ultralight hikers will pay a fortune to get the weight down to 0.5kg. But if you’re camping close to the aircraft then weight isn’t an issue for you at all. If you plan to travel a fair distance on foot, then you’ll want something lighter.

If staying close to your aircraft then something like GA_Pete pointed to is a good compromise. The shape is called geodesic. They are very wind resistant but a little heaver. They are easy to put up and offer good room inside for headspace if sitting up (eg for doing flight planning). There should be good choices around €100. The compromise you make with this is them being a little heavier, and taking maybe 2-3 minutes more to setup (if even that). It does require pegs and strings but only to stretch it out to make it resident to the wind/rain.

If you are hiking away from the aircraft then weight might be more of an issue. Then something like this is a good compromise
Cloud Up2

Again it’s around the €100 mark (it’s actually a slightly more modern version of the one I use for hiking). It’s semi freestanding in that it will stay upright without being staked out, but you really should stake it out to keep it rain and wind proof. It’s lighter than the geodesic tents at about €1.7kg so much easier for carrying and packs smaller. It will be a bit more delicate and less wind resistant but not that should cause you a problem. Both will be up in less than 10 minutes without any real practice.

If you are camping beside the aircraft and plan on spending any time in your tent other than sleeping, then you could even consider a 3 man tent. The extra room is luxurious and the extra weight won’t be an issue. One slight issue is that the extra room might make it a little colder at night.

You mentioned a good sleeping bag. You are right this is really important, especially if sleeping in cold weather. But the one thing you didn’t mention, which is probably more important than the tent or sleeping back is the sleeping mat! Most of your heat is lost to the ground not the air, and a tin mattress will give you a miserable nights sleep.
The Thermarest neoair xtherm max is really good. It’s what I use. It’s very light, packs really small and is incredibly warm. You’ll lose little heat to the ground. It’s a bit noisy when you roll around, in case that bothers you (doesn’t bother me!)
Thermrest Neoair Xtherm Max
Having said that the Amazon price looks a little high! It’s about twice what I paid for mine! If buying it note the wide mouthed inflation hole on this version. That’s the new version and make inflating much easier and quicker than the older version with the narrow plastic inflation hole.

I hope that helps. Don’t spend a fortune on a tent. It’s not needed for what you want and isn’t the compromise you need. Most likely you are camping close to the aircraft and weight is something that won’t cause you a passing thought.

EIWT Weston, Ireland
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