Originally Posted by cyccommute

Total crock. What's "mechanical" about sticking a pole in the ground and running a bunch of guy wires out to keep the pole from falling over? And then hoping that the wind doesn't come up and blow the whole thing down?

I've used a non-freestanding tent exactly once and ended up rebuilding the damned thing in the middle of the night when it collapsed. That makes the night go ever so much better On the other hand I've used freestanding tents for hundreds of nights without any issues in all kinds of weather from wind storms to thunderstorms to 4" of snow in all manner of locations. They can be used in as many places as tarp tents and offer some niceties that are often missing in tarps tents like double walls to reduce condensation and insect barriers.

And each freestanding tent I've owned has come with anchors...they are called tent pegs.