I have been reading a number of threads lately that somewhere in the thread the poster mentions that they bring a tent because their wife, GF, partner, other prefers or won’t go without a tent. This concept has been around for a long time.
I personally would rather sleep without a tent or tarp if I can and only use a tarp if conditions merit its use. I try and not camp by anyone else so privacy isn’t a real issue.
I need to understand this (am I missing something?)

Bugs bugs bugs....

A bug bivy solves that problem?

Bugs didn't seem to be an issue on the last thread- I think it is a bigger issue then that.

Just my 2 cents which is all its worth. Lizzie prefers to cowboy camp and will take a tarp over a tent. When It gets buggy we move our site. Ali

I don't think it's so much that 'women prefer a tent.' I bet it's more accurate to say that 'people who don't backpack much' prefer tents because camping=tents in most people's minds until they find BPL and are shown the light. It woudn't surprise me if most of the members of these forums started out tent camping and were semi-resistant to the idea of a tarp until the read up and saw the benefits.

Women?

Half the manly-men of this country won't step into the great outdoors unless they're in a locked down motorhome (complete with queen-sized bed, air conditioning, and of course, a generator + television).

Also throw in a good deal of weaponry and plenty of bright lights to fend off the dark.

I'd been a tent camper for years and was only a tent camper for a little over a year when I picked up backpacking. I had slept in a bivy and a floorless tent a couple times in bootcamp years ago, but after I started reading on the lightweight gear I wanted to try a tarp and bivy combo for backpacking. I started out with the tent with Heather, and this year I moved her to my myog tarptent which I was sleeping in last year, by the end of the year I'll sew her a bivy and she'll more than likely be under a tarp with me. For me it was about breaking her into the idea slowly and still is. She would have told me no way in hell when we started dating years ago if the first backpacking trip was under a tarp. My goal is to slowly make her comfortable with less, and eventually we might be able to be side by side in bivies without the tarp on a nice stary night. I think it was mainly the openness and exposure that initially kept her back, and honestly it had me nervous the first time I was solo by myself sleeping under a more open shelter.

Edited by rooinater on 06/01/2009 15:16:00 MDT.

one night, arriving late at night and exhausted near the trailhead in King's Canyon, I threw down tarp, pad, and bag, climbed in and quickly fell asleep.

i was having a strange alien abduction/experimentation dream as i gradually woke up, the alien ear probe gradually resolving into a more waking state reality of something itchy in my ear. reaching to my ear, my hand was confronted with a large exoskeletonal creature completely filing the void where my ear canal should be. calmly, due entirely to my temporal proximity to near comatose sleep rather than a paricularly steely nervous system, i tapped the butt end of the ear borne stowaway - to may wakening surprise, the creature complied and crept out onto my cupped hand.

i tossed the trespasser to my right and prepared to return to my restful slumbering, then, slightly more alert and awake, i thought "wait a minute," grabbed my light and had to have a look at my intimate intruder. it was a big ass black beetle.

then i went back to sleep.

Tad,

I don't know that it is a fair statement that women prefer a tent. Especially if that person is fairly new to BPing.

Also, is seems that a majority of men on BPL prefer a tent too.

I think James and Craig have got it. All during my growing up years, camping meant a tent. I've used a Contrail for several years, and this last weekend I tried my Gatewood that I've had a few months. I absolutely loved it! Not exactly a tarp, but I'm getting closer. Here's a picture of what I call the 2 grandmas.

i'm happy to pitch a tent for her ...

Hey Kathleen, I use a Gatewood Cape too. What are you going to use for bugproofing?

I won't be using my bug tent. I just sold it! My plan is to use the Gatewood in the winter, because it's floorless, and I can dig down a foot for insulation. Plus, with snow there's no bugs to deal with. I'll use my Contrail during snowless, bug season because it's already all-in-one protection and so easy to set up.

My vote would be bugs. And I'm not fond of them myself.

For me, it'a all about the bugs, possums, rats, weka, kea and other cheeky creatures.

At the low end of tents, it's 1 pound (either Refuge-X or
"The One" or Tyvek Sublite (17 oz)). What's the big deal
discussing one's preference at this weight? Thare are
plenty of tarps whose weight approaches this amount.

I prefer a tent to keep not only bugs but marmots, squirrels, etc., away from my gear. I'm with Lynn on this issue.

it's probably more just that the less experienced person that we are dragging out into the woods (friend, wife, cousin, husband, kid, co-worker) might just not be as "far along the evolutionary curve" (or insanity curve) as we are.

unless we were in the army, we probably all started camping in a tent. probably a big, heavy tent.

it took me a while to get comfortable sleeping in the woods with no tent! it's mostly a psychological boundary i think (besides keeping the crawlies out), but the tent still provides that boundary to folks. i still love sleeping in one when car camping (along with an inflatable mattress...)

Face it: Tents are fun. We start playing in them from a very young age, and the enjoyment of playing in a tent hasn't worn off for me. I like BIG tents when car-camping, and I would prefer BIG tents when backpacking if I didn't have to carry the weight. I think it is more evolved to seek good shelter than less eveolved. Finding the right balance is the most evloved of all ;)

Gee, this is an easy one.

My GF likes to stay clean, warm, dry, cosy and out of the wind. She doesn't want wet grass next to her sleeping bag, or wind coming in through the end of the tarp. It's very much a psychological thing. Yes, she could stay warm and dry under a tarp with a bivy but she *likes* having a larger refuge that is away from the wet and the wind and the bugs.

In short, a tent is much more like a warm cosy bedroom than a tarp is.

> I won't be using my bug tent. I just sold it!

I know. I just bought it! ;-)