Re: [Paddlewise] Free Standing?

Free standing tents require no pegs in the ground to hold the structure apart 
for erecting purposes. A non freestanding tent requires firm staking with the 
ground to spread the structure apart, keeping the tent geometry erect. 

If you are on a florida chickee a free standing is required as no nails or 
modification to the platform can be made to the chickee. This is a bit of a 
misnomer as the non free standing tents can be (painstakingly) tied down on 
the chickee in case the tent isn't free standing.

It is said that freestanding tents are better. I don't believe that to be 
true. The lightest tents, other than teepee styles, are usually non 
freestanding. If weight and packability are a priority (inevitably they will 
become one) non freestanding are the way to go. 

Freestanding tents are great because you can lift them up and empty them out 
to clean them of the dirt and stuff that gets tracked in. Beaches and 
chickees for the average person usually make a freestanding tent a better 
choice, because sand is hard to keep a tent tight and not flapping in the 
wind or drooping inward. 4 handkerchiefs each tied to an 18" length of 
parachute cord make great sand anchors for either tent style. It has been 
observed by many that those on the windy beach with freestanding tents run 
more than those with non freestanding. Reason: either they don't tie them 
down and the wind takes them; or, they use their water bags to weight the 
corners down to which every island critter in the neighborhood wants a drink 
out of. Randall Washburne once wrote, "Cuteness is the sole virtue of the 
ubiquitous racoon." How true.

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