Couple's new tent platform business is getting... Off the ground

After tent camping most of his life, Fred Bauer Jr., knew there had to be a more comfortable way to camp.

More than four years ago, Bauer, an engineer who lives outside of Holmen, Wis., started experimenting with a strong, yet lightweight, padded tent platform.

"I couldn't find anything that would help keep the tent out of the muck in the fall and spring rains, would help keep crawling bugs from walking up the sides, and would help to make those hard dirt and wood floors comfortable," Bauer said. "The problem was how to make it strong enough, light enough and soft enough."

Bauer, who has built and, successfully flown five experimental home-built aircraft for years, began working on his first tent platform.

Alison Young, Bauer's fiancee and business partner, said he experimented with various materials and designs to construct a platform that was strong, lightweight and affordable.

Each prototype was taken out and tested, then re-tested until Bauer had the product he was after.

Through their business, called Camp-Up, Bauer and Young have put their padded tent platform on the market.

The tent platform is made of strong tubular steel and wire steel mesh, with a cushioned pad made of ripstop nylon fabric covering polyethylene foam.

The platform can fit under any size tent. It provides a more comfortable sleeping area, raises the tent up to 4 inches off the ground and is strong and lightweight, Young said.

When the product was unveiled at a major outdoors product show in Phoenix, Young said, she was pleased with the reaction.

"We didn't know what to expect. We didn't know if people would even stop and look," Young said.

"But for the entire three days we were very busy with people who were an RV or camper who said, 'Wow, I sure wish we would have had that years ago,' and others who thought it was a great idea." The tent platform also was very popular at a Wisconsin Campers Association gathering in Green Bay this spring, Young said.

At both events, Young and Bauer saw that the tent platform is as durable as they had hoped.

"We had people really test it out. They came in and laid on it, sat on it, stood on it - we even had kids jump up and down on it, and it held up wonderfully," Young said.

"Of course, it isn't designed to be jumped on, but it's nice to know it's sturdy."

For public and private campgrounds, temporary pipes can be driven into the ground, and the platform can become permanent for a season, Young said.

Also, under-tent-cushions are available with the steel platform, to help with those hard wood platforms found in so many campgrounds throughout the world.

The tent platform, pad and hitch basket can be ordered on-line at www.campup.com, Young said. Suggested retail prices range from $329.95 for a 7-by-7-foot platform and pad to $799.95 for a 10-by-13.5-foot platform and pad.

BUSINESS OF THE WEEK

WHAT: Camp-Up, which manufacturers portable tent platforms, tent pads and hitch baskets.

WHERE: N8723 Hanson Drive, Holman, Wis.

WHO: Fred Bauer, Jr., and Alison Young

CONTACT: www.campup.com or (608) 526-9753

Copyright La Crosse Tribune Jun 26, 2005
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