Ever done all the preparation to enjoy the great outdoors, and not have the great outdoors return the favour? What’s worse, ever wondered why someone would pay $100 for a similar tent that you’ve only paid $20 for? Here’s why……enjoy
A letter from Martin Jellinek
A Fantastic Tent Hello,
it is not my usual practice to email companies to praise their products but in this case I just had to give you some feedback. I’m sure people mainly find the time to write when they have something to complain about so hopefully this is a welcome change. I just wanted to say thanks for producing such quality equipment.
I am an experienced camper, having trekked all over the world in my Sierra Designs lightweight tent. When my wife convinced me that whilst car camping there was no need to squeeze in to a tiny tent, I was skeptical about the quality of the more ‘commercial’ designs, being more of a hard core outdoorsman myself. We ended up choosing a Coleman Overlander 4, and I am so incredibly pleased that we did.
Recently we attended the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland and received an unprecedented amount of rain. With all of my vast outdoors experience I picked the absolute worst campsite possible. We were one of 1000s of tents on a sloping grassy area criss-crossed by many dirt tracks. It just so happened that three of these tracks converged just above our tent. When the torrential rains started, not only did we have the huge amount falling from the sky but it seemed that all the water hitting the ground in the whole campsite (of 22,000 people) was draining directly to our tent. I didn’t want to move it as once flattened everything would have got wet, also despite the elements we were completely dry!
Imagine a torrent of water rushing against the rear of the tent, hitting the fly and re-circulating into a huge pool and then slowly draining out to the side of the tent and then flowing underneath it. Even when the rains momentarily abated, the torrent of water hitting the tent never ceased. There was so much water flowing under the tent that we felt like we were on a water bed, we were literally suspended above the ground. All the while, not a single drop came inside!!! Nobody could believe that whilst their tent was half full of water sitting on dry land, we could stay dry in the middle of a river.
I will not be surprised if you receive an inexplicable surge in business as every person who passed by stopped to observe and marvel at the phenomenon. There was a shuttle bus transporting people from the outer reaches of the campsite to the festival ground every hour and on every single round the driver stopped to point out the amazing submarine tent and explain that rumour had it that the inhabitants were completely dry. This is in fact not even a slight embellishment of the facts. Fortunately, your branding is quite prominent on the tent so everyone was able to see who is the producer of such a fantastic bit of equipment.
I have included a couple of photos taken when the torrent was at half flow. It will give you some idea of what we experienced, although I really wish I photographed it while it was at its worst. Thanks again and keep up the good work.
You can check out our range of Coleman Tents and Camping Gear at Always on Sale
November 25th, 2009 at 4:59 am
That's an absolutely fantastic story – is it possible to see the pictures somewhere? I remember a camping trip in the Smoky Mountains, waking up in the freezing cold to a tent with about 3 inches of water in it – no fun! I wish I'd had this tent at that time!
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
If your tent comes with a ground cloth, use it. These footprint tarps are made slightly smaller than the base of your tent. Their purpose is to help protect the tent floor from sticks, stones, and rough spots. They also help to keep ground water from seeping into the tent. You can use a regular tarp, but be sure to tuck the edges under the tent so that rain doesn't run down the tent walls onto the tarp and consequently collects under the tent.
January 25th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Done Gerard,
cheers
Jason