# tent tip



## jjbuck (Sep 6, 2011)

read this somewhere before the season.

laughed that it never occured to us. We've been tent camping as a couple for 20yrs, I've been tent camping my whole life.

here's the amazing tip .... a rug!


got a runner from the discount store, think it's 3ft wide by 12ft long.

runs along our "hall" just off the door. We have a walk way along one side, starts at our air mattress, runs past the girls mattress and ends at the boys.

Works great for trapping any leafs, dirt, what ever on the shoes as you just step in. makes for nice dry, that stays dry, area to set the shoes inside.

20 years ... never once thought of a rug!

20 years of damp socks ...


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

You'll need one outside to wipe your shoes before entering and another one inside so you can enter and remove your shoes. We don't like to walk around in the tent in shoes. Besides keeping things cleaner it also does less damage to the tent floor.


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## jjbuck (Sep 6, 2011)

Don't over complicate my tent Art, and keep in mind it took me 20yrs to buy the first rug!

Just one is needed. Step in, remove Teva's ... Done!

And for the kids, step in, run around, climb over everything ... Then head back out without zipping door shut ... Done!

Either way, one rug works.

Exterior rug would still be wet at dinner from morning dew, no sense growing mud right outside the doorway.


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## CampsiteOutfitter (Jul 2, 2011)

Thanks for passing along this tip jjbuck. There's always something new to learn.


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

I found an outdoor exterior rug/wipe helps keep the indoor interior rug lasting a lot longer especially if it's wet outside. I didn't mean to imply the one outside is an indoor rug.

There are different types for outdoor versus indoor. I also have a shoe cleaner at the door for the tough jobs, like this:

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/clean-machine-reg-shoe-boot/27215

It is so critical to keep the tent interior free of ANY debris because the floor of some tents can be damaged so easily.


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

RV store and hardware store remnants... do you need me to fill your gas tank and drive you there, too? I have a standup tent, too, and I posted without needing a link to the Sportsman's guide website, as if that was your real intent.

My apologies if you didn't make that "Tent" link yourself, it's just that I'm getting real irritated by intentional spamming. I've been known to throw in some links on purpose and you'll know about it since it will be VERY pertinent to the topic. Somehow a tent link doesn't seem pertinent to a discussion about tent interior/exterior rugs.


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## old_guy_camping (Aug 12, 2011)

Here's a riddle - if jpfree was selling luncheon meat from sportsman guide, what would it be?


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

It would be a link to an easy open tuna fish package with crackers... and that would be the best in the world, incomparable to anything, bar none.....

geez


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## JoeS (Jun 1, 2011)

Hey Art do you leave your shoes on the outside or inside of your tent? If you leave them on th outside do you stuff your day old socks in the shoes to keep deadly crawlers from nesting inside them during the night? 

In the Army we used to do that with our boots. I was just wondering what other ppl do to keep the crawlies out of their shoes.


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## old_guy_camping (Aug 12, 2011)

artmart said:


> It would be a link to an easy open tuna fish package with crackers... and that would be the best in the world, incomparable to anything, bar none.....
> 
> geez


Oh, I was going for that Hormel product in the can, that Monty Python likes.


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## JoeS (Jun 1, 2011)

old_guy_camping said:


> Oh, I was going for that Hormel product in the can, that Monty Python likes.


Is it Wafer thin Hormel products?


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

I thought it was "Waffer" thin regarding mint flavored Hormel products.... too funny.

Anyway back to the topic... I use the external rug and scrubber to clean the footwear as best I can. Then I store them on the interior rug to prevent messing up the tent. This keeps the footwear protecting from the elements and critters.

In my backpacking tent I don't carry any rugs for weight reasons and will store my footwear under the vestibule/fly. I may stuff socks in them like what JoeS does, but mostly I will shake the heck out of the, banging them on big rocks, trees, the ground and inspect their interior quite well before putting them on.


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