I'd be tempted to tell her I'll try to do better at her next wedding.

Now I'm curious about which tent she wants, though. The ones I've been ogling are not reasonable.

It's an Embark 4-person tent from Target, Amy K - about $45. Which is, in my mind, not unreasonable for a wedding gift. I don't think I've ever spent more than $20 on a wedding gift, but I'm pretty cheap I certainly received gifts in this range for my wedding (13 years ago). And it's one of the cheaper things that the bride registered for.

So IMHO a nice pyrex is going to not even be in the ball park of an inexpensive tent. Unless you take the time to seal all the seams yourself, inexpensive tents tend to leak like sieves and the poles snap in high wind and she'll be wanting a better one the first time they camp in the driving rain. Pyrex on the other hand will last forever. I cant believe the saga though. Crazy!

ETA: I was curious so I looked at the Embark models online, they dont seem to have a lot of ventilation panels and only a single door so they will be super stuffy and hot during sunny daytime hours too with no way to capture the breeze. The rain fly looks to have minimal coverage too. Pyrex is superior all the way!

I honestly find this situation completely absurd - speak of entitlement, sheesh! Not to mention the fact that they registered for a tent?.. Some people are just beyond strange.

cranraspberry - I love your online name. Cran-raspberry is my favorite flavor of jam

Read with incredulity and LsOL
Can't wait for the next instalment!

I'm familiar with people registering for gear. But I'm with Sarah A on tent-quality preference. (What do you think of these, Sarah?http://www.lightheartgear.com )

Also, I need to find some friends and family who are ok with $20 wedding presents. Those sound like fun weddings!

Next invitation I get, I'm going to send them Pyrex, buy a nice tent for myself, wire Amiable the difference, and come out ahead on energy investment.

The promised Easter dinner update: My cousin and her hubby came late and left early. I had thought through all the things that I could think of us having in common (an interest in natural living was about the extent of the list), to use for conversation. She had a super cute new haircut, and I complimented her on it as soon as they walked in. I thought she heard me, but maybe not - she turned away from me, and kept her back to me almost the entire evening. She avoided eye contact when I was facing her (from across the room), and refused to come talk to me when her husband asked her about something I mentioned (I'd offered to show them around a local farm that sells direct to consumers).

So I think she felt pretty awkward. But the topic of weddings and gifts didn't come up at all. I'm considering it over and past. And I felt no awkwardness, so I hope her feeling awkward passes quickly.

Sounds like a good update! You have been super fab in every way, so I hope she gets over anything she needs to get over soon!

Maybe in the first months of marriage she realized how awesome Pyrex is?

Sounds like a great resolution! Glad you had a nice family gathering for Easter and didnt have to entertain and awkward encounter.

Amy K. -- I hadnt seen the tents you linked before but those are pretty cool! The total mesh looks awesome for ventilation! Are you looking at a single or two person model?

If you are looking for a lightweight option but dont like to sleep on the ground I have actually also used a Eno DoubleNest Hammock with the bugnet screen for single overnights. (No water protection unless you string up another tarp over though... been lucky with the forecasts on those trips) You'll need trees where you are going. Of course it would depend on how much other gear you were trying to keep track of etc at night. If you are planning to hang your pack for bear safety anyway, etc. I would say it is best for one for sleeping, two is fine for reading a book or whatnot but I would get a good nights sleep that way.

http://www.amazon.com/Eagles-N.....B0053TKD5U

Your skill set obviously counts here too and how many insects you plan to encounter and how much they bother you but I have seen some awesome shelters made from parachutes (granted this was as a student of a military survival training course...)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Milita.....ltDomain_0

I have typically found Big Agnes, Sierra Designs to be a good quality/affordable balance although I havent been in the market for backpacking/ultralight for at least 5 year. For car camping with kids we have all sorts of REI brand items which suit the bill for that need. Their stuff is good enough not to exasperate experienced set but I would hate to have to carry any of it very far!