What's the cheapest tent you would camp in?

The cheapest I HAVE camped in cost $1.95, currently more like $9.95.

www.campmor.com/c/coghlans-emergency-tube-tent-23006

Depends entriely on the circumstances. Sometimes you don't need a tent.

That's really not a valid question because there are so many other free options that can be better than the most expensive tent.
Bivied out in the open.
Under a fallen tree.
Inside a hollow log.
Under a leaning rock.
Inside a cave.
Snowcave.
Igloo.
Snow-trench.
Etc....

It really depends on the weather. I'd camp in the cheapest tent out there in mid-summer or use a cheap tarp with some paracord and a couple sticks.

I paid $125 for my Hennessy Hammock and it's the most comfortable "tent" I own in the right conditions. However, you stick me out in the Cascades mid-winter or the Arctic and I won't camp in anything but the most steadfast shelters available and they come at a price.

I've used that tube tarp HSF links to. And when I first started, I had an old Sears tent (which was surprisingly light, given it was a 3-man tent). But now...I'm pretty sold on paying for the right balance of weight and features.

For several years I used a Sierra Designs Light Year that cost less than $100. It was very well constructed and performed admirably in bad weather. I didn't like the weight, though. My current tent is a little bigger and weighs half as much.

Gotta agree with Lonewolf on that one. With enough skills and knowledge (and at times, effort), you can be every bit as comfortable and often more so with the options he listed. It just takes sound experience, an ability to use it, and a willingness to look beyond the notion that a nylon sarcophagus is the only option.

I've spent many a night sleeping on a pad rolled out under the stars, from Louisiana to Alaska and many places in between. I've also tarp-camped with cheap blue poly-tarps (6.99 at your local hardware store) and stayed plenty dry in torrential rains, with triple the usable floor space of that Eureka in the OP. Smart placement and setup go a long way. It's not my long-term favorite option, but it fully answers the "what's the cheapest tent you'd consider" question, and it's a serious answer, borne out by experience. In harsh winter storms and deep snow, a snow cave is one of the warmest and safest shelters on the planet; it just takes a lot of digging to construct, and experience to do it right. But it costs $0 (or rather, the cost of your avy shovel, which isn't much).

My favorite "cheap" shelter is a small (14 oz) shaped silnylon tarp. Cost about $150, and it's been my goto shelter for alpine trips in Colorado, and numerous extended trips bushwhacking across rainforests in Alaska and British Columbia. Trips like this one: www.juneauempire.com/neighbors/2011-08-13/good-memories-keep-solo-hiker-going-strong



Honestly, pithy responses of "oh well, that'd NEVER work where I camp" generally denote a noticeable lack of experience by the speaker, or (sometimes) a learned closed-mindedness. I wouldn't automatically brush aside the decades of experience behind Lonewolf's answer. He's been at this a long time, and wasn't speaking hypothetically. There are far more options than you might realize, dirthurts .

- Mike