Who Says You have to be a Pro to Own a Camping Tent?

When I was growing up in the 1960’s, there was a back-to-nature movement. Ecology and conservation were buzzwords, and we all wanted to show we were in touch with Mother Earth by going out to "commune" with nature. This was definitely a good thing, but gear in those days usually came from one of two "camps," and each left a lot to be desired.

The first camp was the rugged traditionalist camp of our forefathers. If you were a scout you were used to the nearly indestructible canvas haversack, the metal canteen, and the cotton sleeping bag. When it was time to pitch the camping tents, more often than not you gathered long sticks, carved some stakes, and used an array of elaborate knots and lines to find a way to drape some cloth overhead. You might literally carry some of the same gear which Grandpa had used during his days as a WWI doughboy, either handed down by the old gentleman himself or picked up at a surplus store.

Gear like that was heavy, subject to mildew, and offered limited protection against rain or insects. No wonder people romanticized "sleeping under the stars." They knew that carrying and pitching an actual camping tent was a task for an experienced tall-ship sailor aided by a pack mule.

And woe to any camper unlikely enough to get on site at dusk, as someone had to hold the one-pound lineman’s flashlight (the only one rugged enough to take camping) as someone else desperately tried to rig the canvas sheets and hemp ropes, and drive the stakes before darkness fell.

But there was another type of gear just making its way onto the scene in the late 1960’s. Space age materials and designs like nylon and aluminum and bungee shock-cords were becoming available, and the space program itself was influencing how gear designers and marketers went about their jobs. Ergonomics experts and product testers had accepted the idea that people may not want to strain their backs or get hypothermia or hernias while getting back to nature.

But good camping gear was very expensive. In those days good gear was owned by camping zealots. These people prided themselves on the status of their gear. These were often bearded men with flannel shirts and plans to conquer Everest someday, or maybe survivalists with a conviction that something was going to go wrong in civilization, and it made sense to get the best camping tents now. Hiking and camping were for people committed to these hobbies above all else, willing to spring for the best gear.

Modern camping gear is now so affordable that a suburban teenager can take a few months allowance to get a better pack and tent and sleeping bag today than my father could afford back then with two paychecks.