I was going to ask if your tent needed stake sauce on windy days.

Get well. I hope the hand issues do not impair your riding.

funny story, buddy and I ride through some God awful flooded muddy roads to get back to this very scenic but secluded campsite. He doesn't bother to stake his tent down figuring the weight of his sleeping bag will keep it in place, as at the time, the winds weren't bad (as evidenced by the photo of my tent below). But later, along comes a stiff wind and tosses his tent into the lake. What a mess that was !

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8d3be47f95.jpg

Big Agnes doesn’t describe them as semi-freestanding. Looking at what some people call semi-freestanding tents,

If vestibules are included that would cover nearly every tent made. Like you said, it could be used without the stakes just like any framed tent. Hoop tents, for example, are what I would call “semi-freestanding”. They have rigid bits but can’t really stand on their own.

Thanks. I can’t ride or drive, among other things, right now. It’s likely going to be a long road to regain something resembling normalcy, if that’s even possible.

Looking at Quarter Dome SL2 the overhang of the rainfly, over the doors, doesn't look like much. When you had it in the rain with the door open, getting in and out, did you notice any water dripping in?

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Indyfabz!

Major bummer. But if you work at it, you have the best chance at getting normal again. Good luck.

I go to PT twice a week and spend much of my nights trying to gain mobility. My so-called life.:D

Don’t think I was in it while it was actually raining. Started to pour just as I got to my site. Took shelter outside the restroom and pitched once the rain stopped. Changed at went to the laundry room to charge the phone. That’s when the really heavy stuff started. Went back to my site after it ended. Everything inside was dry.

It rained so hard that the site across from the laundry room was flooded with inches of water despite the ground being porous.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7e96f06f1.jpeg

First and foremost indy, I wouldn't recommend sleeping in that tent in bear country.....

And sorry to hear of smashing up your hand. Whaddya do? And if don't feel like sharing, simply all the best with recovery and physio.

indy, I wrote my last message without seeing the other stuff you wrote, including this one--damn, really sorry to hear this.
I wish you all the best.

I inexplicably lost consciousness while walking errands during lunch on Friday the 13th of November. I have very little memory of the incident other than a tingling all over my body just before I fell out. Fell on my face and likely snapped back the thumb that was holding my messenger bag on my left shoulder. Don’t remember being stripped, put in a gown, having an IV stuck in me or receiving CT scans of my head, face and cervical spine. The amusing part is that they tested me for alcohol and all sorts of drugs, including PCP. At some point after my 3+ day hospital stay I got the results on line. I laughed and said our loud “People still do PCP?” Of course, all the tests were negative. Hoping it was an idiopathic event.

Ouch and ,just ouch. Concerning. Listen, all the best.

Wishing you the best and a quick recovery.

Here are my take homes for a touring tent ( as compared to a bike packing tent)

Has to be able to be pitched externally, ie the fly can be erected first, without the inner. Makes thing much easier if it's raining when you arrive can set up the inner in the dry or when you break camp, same same. Or if you are on top of some pass, in pouring rain, you can whip it up and have a dry lunchtime.
A vestibule per person, of a decent size.
Good head room.
Lots of mesh in the inner
Decent heavy grade floor
Good high sides on the floor tub so no ground splash through the mesh
Big doors
Large high vents in the fly
As vertical end walls as possible
Lots of interior pockets

I'll generally take a bit of a weight penalty to get the above.
Worthwhile also treating the whole tent, inner, floor, foot print and fly with some Nikwax Tent and Gear Solar Proof. Adds extra water repellency and is a sunscreen to protect against UV damage.

Current tent for 2 is a North Face Talus 3, nice and roomy when you're on the road for a couple of months.

I have commented before about careful site selection for a spot that will stay dry in rain. The site below, forecast was for a couple inches of rain overnight, so we were extra careful to pick a site that had good drainage, and this site had good drainage to a wetland that was to the left of the photo. The problem was that we had something like 6 or 7 inches of rain and several acres all drained to the same wetland, that wetland became a pond and did not drain by itself. The wetland is off to the left out of the photo, the tent was essentially on the shoreline of that pond which did not have a good outlet to flow to the lake.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7bd0174943.jpg

Hung my sleeping bag on a clothesline the next morning, the steady stream of water flowing out of it is the whiteish gray line on the left side of the photo below the bag, I was really glad to have brought a synthetic bag instead of a down bag on this trip. Fortunately, our schedule was flexible so we could stay there that night and take the day to dry out.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...087a8d9923.jpg

Bottom line, we were careful, but not careful enough, I think the site would have been fine for the couple inches that was forecast but not the deluge. It was not enough in that case to make sure that your immediate site had good drainage.

That sounds really scary. I hope you have as close to a full recovery as possible. Sounds like with PT a couple times a week, you have adequate health insurance, I hope the co-pays are not horrendous. If you are on disability, I hope you have good insurance for that too.

I ran into a tree at about 15 mph on my bike about 9 years ago. It was less stupid than that sounds, the tree was there for only a second before I hit it, it blew down in front of me on a very windy day, I was too close to it to have been able to stop or veer off of the trail. Took two surgeries and a couple rounds of PT over three years, I still have some arm problems but am 98 percent recovered. My point is sometimes recovery takes time, but if you are diligent and careful in your recovery, you may get to where it does not change your life style or prevent you from doing what you want.

And before you ask, the bike that I rode into the tree was undamaged. The stem was turned to the side on the steerer tube which was corrected in less than a minute, I was surprised that the handlebar did not dent the top tube. I have done several tours on that bike since, my Thorn Sherpa.

Indy..yikes. So sorry to hear about the injury. Heal well. One bright note..at least it's January.

Just read this. Yikes! Glad you came out of it without any more serious diagnoses (stroke Heart attack etc...).
On a less serious note. Now might be a good time to consider going 1x and coaster brakes ;)

So sorry to hear. Hope you are mending well, and that it was a one off event. Take care.

Scary, sounds like you are on the mend. Unexplained medical issues suck. Raising a pint to your speedy recovery and good health.

+1