Altitude tents are fairly cheap considering their POTENTIAL benefits. I think all serious runners owe it to themselves to experiment with them. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- You will probably need to spend a lot more than 8 hours in the thing to get an appreciable benefit. Watch TV, do homework, eat, etc. You can also get a mask that lets you sit elsewhere, but you might find it uncomfortable.
- Supposedly there are altitude responders and non-responders. Some people are skeptical that there's really such thing as a total non responder, but it's certainly true that people react differently. If you're going to use an altitude tent, don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish: invest in some good blood testing so you can make sure that your iron levels are high enough and that you're actually responding to the stimulus.
- Your sleep may suffer. Sleeping in an altitude tent is like sharing a humid bivy sack with a snoring robot. It's not that much fun. A built-in bedroom system would be amazing, of course, but that's both very expensive and pointless unless you're settled in a single residence for the long term.
- Your recovery may suffer. Altitude isn't a drug. It's a stressor to which your body adapts. Think of it as another ingredient in the training stew. If you're training right up to the limit of what you can handle and you throw altitude into the mix, you could be asking for trouble.
- People will think you're weird. You think they won't know about it, but word gets around. And the tried-and-true "wanna watch a movie on my bed" will probably be out of the question (unless you get one of those higher peak units with the canopy that you can easily remove).
- Altitude generators are large and noisy. The noise may bother other people if you have roommates, and when I was in college, floor space was at a premium.
I don't want to sound too negative. There are lots of success stories. I know people personally who have had measurable increases in their RBC and significant performance gains after using an altitude tent. I really don't think it's a placebo. I just want you to realize that altitude tents aren't magic, and using them can be tough.