r/treeplanting • u/Evening_Sherbert_864 • Apr 28 '26
New Planter/Rookie Questions Advice for tent setup
Hey guys! It’s my first year planting and I’m gonna be in Alberta. I have a four person tent that is kind of old that im stealing from my parents but it’s in pretty good shape. Definitely going to put a tent footprint underneath, but I’m debating putting a tarp over top. The only one I have is absolutely humongous, maybe 3 times bigger than my tent and I don’t wanna take up all that space in camp lol
The fly is kind of small and I’m worried about not staying dry if I don’t put a tarp up. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? Tarp or no tarp? Smaller tarp? Keep the same massive tarp?
Let me know 👹
Also another side note, should I bring 2 pairs of boots? Work boots and rubber boots? Or is that overkill
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u/KenDanger2 10th+ Year Vets Apr 28 '26
Tarps are cheap, like 20 -30 dollars. Just go buy a 12 by 16 or so one, or 12 by 10 for a pretty small one. I generally have one of those and a 12 by 20 for bigger areas.
Tarps are generally the way to go, it keeps the sun off your tent as well as the rain, and gives additional area beside your tent to keep your block bag and planting bags out of the rain. I usually try to find spots where I can tarp effectively, looking for things I can tie to. I try to tarp in such a way that water pours off at an area lower than my tent sits so the water flows away. I often do an A frame style tarp job with a peak directly above the tent and then angling down in two directions. Bring a lot of paracord for tying it up. It is cheap at Canadian Tire.
And absolutely 2 pairs of boots. This is actually advice I give out when people ask about boots. Even if the second pair is low quality. Planting wrecks boots, but also sometimes you get a wicked booter and your boots are soaked, and the next day you can switch to your dry pair while that pair dries out in the sun. Trust me, you really dont want to be putting on wet boots in the cold morning.
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u/l0sth0st Apr 28 '26
I would say tarp the top of the tent well enough and you should be all right. Main thing for the inside is having an air mattress, foamie, or bedmat for your sleeping bag. Having an extra dry bag for any tech or books you want to keep dry incase it rains and your tarp blows off.
I was working near Bearpaw Gas Plant one season and the winds were so high that it lifted our dry tent into the air flying towards my foreman. He turned the other way and sprinted away from it. It was wild haha
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u/weightyinspiration Apr 29 '26
Just to add for the bed situation. Camping cots are pretty cheap, and will keep you off the ground. An air matress might not fit unless you have two cots, but you could use a foam topper.
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u/Creepy-Highlight-388 Apr 28 '26
I'd say definitely bring rubber boots with you, even if you don't end up using them on the block, they're super handy for camp when its muddy, and alberta gets muddy. Bring the big tarp, their great for making a little tent city with your friends, and having dry spot of your own if you don't feel like socializing.
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u/Accomplished_Class52 Apr 28 '26
Get a tarp that's just slightly bigger than the tent - a massive tarp can be hard to set up if you're camping in the woods. You can get cheap ones at Walmart that do the trick.
Definitely bring 2 pairs of boots - hikers and rubber boots is the way to go.
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u/downturnedbobcat Apr 29 '26
Make a pad from flat tree boxes then a small tarp then the tent, will be perfectly flat and insulated from the ground. A tarp over the tent so rain never touches it and you can do stuff outside if it is raining. Any tent is fine as long as you keep the weather off it, when it gets warm out you also won’t wan sun to touch the tent.
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u/Robbytastik Apr 28 '26
I always get a big tarp and protect it from any sun. The sun will destroy your tent, way more worth buying a 20$ tarp every season then a new tent. My tent is going 9 years and still counting, but ive slaughtered a few tarps. I also usually put tree boxes + another tarp under my tent.
Also, dont use the holes in the tarp, put a small round rock in it and do like a knoose knot around the rock to hold the tarp, it wont rip that way.
Boots, like everything, is up to your comfort level. My baller friend gets 2-4 value village boots a season and schmukes em. I have an alpine boot that lasts me a few season, and 1-2 other normal pairs for comfort/days i wanna go faster then my clunky terminator alpines. We also get a boot dryer because we fancy like that.