Alliance HQ April Event - Hard Core Warning
- Thread starter Duke Frost
- Start date
A ground cloth for any tent is a really, really good investment.
They stopped calling them 'ground cloths' at some point, or whatever, and started celling them footprints. Why? Who knows. Tents dont have feet, but whatever.
YOu can probably find one to fit whatever tent you have, and they run 30-50 bucks. They are made to keep the ground moisture out of your tent, and to keep sticks and rock from poking holes through your expensive tent floor. I have only ever replace one ground cloth because of wear, and that was after a few years. They are well worth it. Tent repair kits never make it as good as it was, and ultimately are not as good as just going the cheap rout and buying a big (bigger than the floor of your tent anyway) heavy duty tarp and using that.
The one good thing about a footprint is that they are designed to fit specific tents and often line up with the stake straps of the tent they are made for. Make sure if you use a tarp that it is tucked in just slightly under your tent, otherwise it will collect rain water and act like a nice little pool. Which is good if you are an amphibian.
A camp pad is good for smoothing out the ground a little, and insulating you from loosing all your body heat through the floor of your tent. They are about 5 buck at Walmart. More expensive options like air mattresses, are also good, and often yield better results in both comfort and heat preservation.
Reflective blankets are also not that expensive and go between you and the ground helping to keep body heat in. Personally I never noticed a difference with or without one, but I know people that swear by them, so yeah.
There are also portable heaters that run on gas canisters and batteries, that are suitable for small tents, but add the responsibility of making sure you are not a tool and don't set your tent on fire. Its not that difficult to ensure the safety of both you and your tent, and with a small tent they do a damn good job of warming the place up.
A fantastic resource for all of these items, and all sorts of other camping gear that you never knew you needed, is rei.com.
You can also look up stuff there, and then Google the name of the item to see if someone else has a better deal.
I also heard rumor of tents blowing away. usually because ground stakes are in moist or otherwise loose ground. There are alternative steaks which are actually basically little bag like objects that you put a big rock in (or a bunch of little ones) that replace stakes by just being big freaking weights that keep your tent firmly in place and on the ground. They are often used in snowy locations, where they fill them with snow and then bury them a little under the snow to keep them down.
Anyway. For people planning on staying on site, there are lots of relatively inexpensive options that can make things more comfortable for you.
A good sleeping bag however is usually the best place to start. The little flannel one you got at target is not really going to cut it.
They stopped calling them 'ground cloths' at some point, or whatever, and started celling them footprints. Why? Who knows. Tents dont have feet, but whatever.
YOu can probably find one to fit whatever tent you have, and they run 30-50 bucks. They are made to keep the ground moisture out of your tent, and to keep sticks and rock from poking holes through your expensive tent floor. I have only ever replace one ground cloth because of wear, and that was after a few years. They are well worth it. Tent repair kits never make it as good as it was, and ultimately are not as good as just going the cheap rout and buying a big (bigger than the floor of your tent anyway) heavy duty tarp and using that.
The one good thing about a footprint is that they are designed to fit specific tents and often line up with the stake straps of the tent they are made for. Make sure if you use a tarp that it is tucked in just slightly under your tent, otherwise it will collect rain water and act like a nice little pool. Which is good if you are an amphibian.
A camp pad is good for smoothing out the ground a little, and insulating you from loosing all your body heat through the floor of your tent. They are about 5 buck at Walmart. More expensive options like air mattresses, are also good, and often yield better results in both comfort and heat preservation.
Reflective blankets are also not that expensive and go between you and the ground helping to keep body heat in. Personally I never noticed a difference with or without one, but I know people that swear by them, so yeah.
There are also portable heaters that run on gas canisters and batteries, that are suitable for small tents, but add the responsibility of making sure you are not a tool and don't set your tent on fire. Its not that difficult to ensure the safety of both you and your tent, and with a small tent they do a damn good job of warming the place up.
A fantastic resource for all of these items, and all sorts of other camping gear that you never knew you needed, is rei.com.
You can also look up stuff there, and then Google the name of the item to see if someone else has a better deal.
I also heard rumor of tents blowing away. usually because ground stakes are in moist or otherwise loose ground. There are alternative steaks which are actually basically little bag like objects that you put a big rock in (or a bunch of little ones) that replace stakes by just being big freaking weights that keep your tent firmly in place and on the ground. They are often used in snowy locations, where they fill them with snow and then bury them a little under the snow to keep them down.
Anyway. For people planning on staying on site, there are lots of relatively inexpensive options that can make things more comfortable for you.
A good sleeping bag however is usually the best place to start. The little flannel one you got at target is not really going to cut it.
Duke Frost
Baron
Update on site conditions!
It was nice during the day this weekend but COLD at night. Next weekend will likely be the same but with rain.
The ground has begun drying up, but there are some extremely muddy areas where some machines came in to put up the cabins. We are hoping to have the landscaper in to fix them somewhat by the event, but this is not guaranteed. It's also supposed to rain this week.
There are plenty of non muddy sections for battles and such. But I would suggest wearing "mud boots". I personally will NOT be wearing my period boots as I don't feel like ruining expensive shoes. Combat boots would probably be best.
The good news is we have 3 PC cabins on site and ready to go. They'll sleep 8 or more if you squish. There are not beds in them yet. Two of the are already claimed. But this will also free up more room in the common room.
Showers will be up and running for the event.
Please keep in mind that this should be the worst event of the year in terms of weather, cold and site conditions. We are working hard with our landscaper to alleviate a lot of drainage issues, but the ground and weather have not been conducive to get this done yet. There is a great chance this will be all done by the first May event.
Bring lanterns if you have them, as there is only electricity and lighting in the barn. Please make sure they are battery operated and not propane for safety. Walmart sells a decent, rechargeable one (car or outlet) for $20-$30 that we've had good luck with.
So be prepared to be muddy, wet and probably cold at night. But be prepared to have a lot of fun as well.
Scott
It was nice during the day this weekend but COLD at night. Next weekend will likely be the same but with rain.
The ground has begun drying up, but there are some extremely muddy areas where some machines came in to put up the cabins. We are hoping to have the landscaper in to fix them somewhat by the event, but this is not guaranteed. It's also supposed to rain this week.
There are plenty of non muddy sections for battles and such. But I would suggest wearing "mud boots". I personally will NOT be wearing my period boots as I don't feel like ruining expensive shoes. Combat boots would probably be best.
The good news is we have 3 PC cabins on site and ready to go. They'll sleep 8 or more if you squish. There are not beds in them yet. Two of the are already claimed. But this will also free up more room in the common room.
Showers will be up and running for the event.
Please keep in mind that this should be the worst event of the year in terms of weather, cold and site conditions. We are working hard with our landscaper to alleviate a lot of drainage issues, but the ground and weather have not been conducive to get this done yet. There is a great chance this will be all done by the first May event.
Bring lanterns if you have them, as there is only electricity and lighting in the barn. Please make sure they are battery operated and not propane for safety. Walmart sells a decent, rechargeable one (car or outlet) for $20-$30 that we've had good luck with.
So be prepared to be muddy, wet and probably cold at night. But be prepared to have a lot of fun as well.
Scott
Frank Wiccan
Adept
I was there Sat and while it wasnt too bad durring the day at about 6:30 it got very cold very fast at 7pm you could see your breath and I was shivering.
The Tavern is super nice and the healers room Fantastic!
the cabins are small but they look very nice the roof is great looks like stone shingles
if they get the bunk beds in them the way they talked about they will sleep 8 but no room for anything else so meetings in them will be ruff
the site is truly great and once the landscaping is done it will be amazing with lots of room!
jsut the observations of a newbie
FW
The Tavern is super nice and the healers room Fantastic!
the cabins are small but they look very nice the roof is great looks like stone shingles
if they get the bunk beds in them the way they talked about they will sleep 8 but no room for anything else so meetings in them will be ruff
the site is truly great and once the landscaping is done it will be amazing with lots of room!
jsut the observations of a newbie
FW