Good Design: The Ozark Trail 1-Person Backpacking Tent

It has an open top side pocket, a vertical hidden pocket and a large zippered main compartment. It is also designed to hold a 15″ laptop in the padded pocket. This unisex camping and hiking backpack is large enough to hold supplies for several days, but not bulky or inhibiting enough to become a nuisance. Ultimately, the good design for this product was that it was sized right for what I needed, both in dimensions and weight. Not too small, but not too large (and thus wasteful) – a Goldilocks design.

After all, I had to be sensitive to weight as we were required to carry our own water for 10 miles as there were no options for filtering during that stretch. The Ozark Trail 1-Person Backpacking Tent is on the cheaper end of the spectrum. A variety of websites have it currently priced for less than $50. Many higher quality tents could cost 3 or 4 times that amount. Of course it has no side water holsters, or lid pocket, or hipbelt strap, but I think that all contributes to its low weight. For the water bottles I just use Platypus .5 liter and 1 liter flat style bottles, which you can fit in the main body of the pack on top of your other gear.

Camp at Highway DD trailhead near the section’s start or Harper Spring around the 15 mile-mark. Temperatures can swing from chilly mornings to sweltering afternoons. Consider bringing several sets of clothing so you have options for hiking and spending time at camp. Wear layers to be comfortable in any weather, and pack rain gear to stay dry. Then I did the same test with cold water from the same coolers. The Yeti Rambler tumbler is made with kitchen-grade stainless steel and has double-wall vacuum insulation.

It’s made of heavy-duty polyethylene that is virtually unbreakable. The construction rivals that of the Yeti cooler and yet it’s a fraction of the price. We’ve put ours through the ringer the last several months and it’s stood up to daily use from van life. All in all, both mugs do an incredible job at insulating both hot and cold drinks for hours on end.

The pack size and weight is good for all my day hiking to any shower. I’m not sure if it is durable enough to hold any of my camera equipment. This pack will make great for a day at the beach with an extra change of clothes, flip flops, keys, tanning oil, towel and a iPod or stuff your lightweight sleeping bag and a jacket. This hydration compatible backpack has a connection for a water bladder built in to the design.

We had great weather – not too hot and not too cold – but it did rain for about 5 minutes. My friend chose to not put up his rain fly betting on the perfect weather to continue while enjoying the stars at night. During those five minutes of rain, he was a little more stressed as the risk of a wet sleeping bag had not been completely mitigated and he rushed back to the campground. I, on the other hand, could have stayed out longer. True, I wasn’t able to remove the rain fly to watch the stars or let the wind ventilate my tent, but I was able to enjoy the day hikes without any sort of worry. In essence, I had committed to the permanent rainfly option by default and there was a certain contentedness that came with that.

Other items that you may want to keep at the foot of the sleeping area are also hard to access or reach if your head is near the door. For these styles, it seems most people want their head at the door side and so they have a constraint for which way the tent is set up if the ground is not flat. On the other hand, accessing the tent from the middle, or on the long side, gives one more degree of freedom. Assuming a symmetrical tent, like the Ozark Trail, my head could be placed at either end and both options would feel equally comfortable. In fact, my particular tent spot wasn’t completely flat so I quickly rotated my sleeping bag so that my feet weren’t above my ozark trail sleeping bag head all night.

It’s been stuffed to capacity with almost everything I had to carry, including, but not limited to, outerwear, lunch, groceries, laptop, iPad, a Bose speaker, and combinations thereof. I am a 6-foot tall male, weighing 185 lbs and it fits just as well as other day packs I’ve tried. Walmart had a small section of packs and for the most part I was satisfied.

We put the Ozark Trail tumbler and the Yeti Rambler in head-to-head tests to find out how well they perform.

Now it is time to rest, for we rejoin the group tomorrow to hike together and relish in the fruits of their labor. This is a wild moment as Washerrr and I turn towards each other with huge smiles, nodding to each other in solidarity. We both know that we will do whatever it takes to hike ozark trail sleeping bag EVERY INCH of this trail that we can hike. Our hosts graciously let us shovel some food in our mouths before people start to gather around us.