A Floating Tent Is the New Must-Have Accessory For Any Serious Recreationalist

Imagine floating down a lazy river, simply enjoying nature and letting your worries and cares slip away. Now imagine doing that any time of the day or night – and quite possibly, a combination of both. That’s the premise behind the brand-new Shoal Tent from the Ohio-based company SmithFly – it’s a combination tent and inflatable raft, and it’s the newest must-have accessory for any serious recreationalist.

There’s a lot to like about this new Shoal Tent, which has been billed as “the world’s first floating tent.” You can think of it as an inflatable raft that comes with a very sturdy attachable tent. Thus, you could float down a river during the daytime, and then once nightfall comes, easily attach the upper tent portion. You could literally sleep all night in the tent, and then wake up the next day, still on the river.

Credit: SmithFly 

What makes the Shoal Tent work so well is that it’s designed with the rugged recreationalist in mind. This is not a toy, or something that you’d buy for your kids to float around in your swimming pool for a while. No, this is meant for the serious hiker, backpacker or outdoor enthusiast who enjoys doing a little fly fishing or river kayaking during the day and would rather camp out on the river all night then go back to base camp.

To make that dream a reality, SmithFly (a company created by renowned fly fisherman Ethan Smith) took specific steps to make sure its Shoal Tent could stand up to the most demanding of conditions. For example, the tent fabric is completely waterproof. It’s made to withstand high-intensity winds. And the tent itself is designed to be tall enough and wide enough (8 feet x 8 feet) to make it possible for a tall man or woman to stand up or lie down comfortably.

In fact, in the promotional photos released for the Shoal Tent, it looks like two grown-up adults would fit quite comfortably inside. And the inflatable raft portion of the tent doubles as an air mattress, so you have a very sturdy 6-inch-thick surface on which to sleep (or just take a lazy nap).

And, to sweeten the value proposition even further, the Shoal Tent comes with a host of goodies – like a waterproof storage bag, a manual foot pump and patch kit (in case of emergency). That being said, the world’s first floating tent is remarkably easy to transport. Yes, it weighs a very considerable 75 pounds, but it can also be folded, squeezed and creased into the shape of a burrito. Yes, a very heavy burrito, but still, a burrito! The storage bag that comes with the Shoal Tent checks in at a very reasonable 60 x 24 x 18 inches.

So the next time you’re thinking of hanging out at the local pond, going rafting or kayaking or fly fishing, there’s one way to make the experience truly unforgettable, and that’s by remembering to pack the Shoal Tent so that you can turn that day trip into an overnight trip as well.

These tents are available at Smithfly.