Sandproof Tent? (1 Viewer)

[atomicshawn]

We spend a lot of time in the desert and we sleep in a Kelty Mantra 5. It has been a good tent, light weight, easy to set up, perfect for camping in the woods, and even though it is only a 3 season, we have used in the winter multiple times. Its strong and low profile design really holds up to the desert winds while we watch our friends tents fold in half.

The complaint I have is that no matter how well we stake the fly, if there is any kind of wind it always fills up with sand. I think a lot of it gets in through the mesh vents near the floor, but I have also watched it come in through the large meshed areas on the doors and ceiling. I have thought about sewing in some flaps to try and seal it better, but it has had a lot of use, the zippers are getting tired, so thinking about retiring it.

I know one solution would be to get off the ground in a RTT, but we usually take our kids and need the rack space, and then we often find ourselves on off camber stuff and not sure about the extra weight up there.

I have searched on line but haven’t found anything that doesn’t have a lot of mesh, even 4 season tents. I am coveting the Campmor Safari Bow offered by Equipt but it is pretty heavy in more ways than one (77lbs and over $1k).

Any suggestions?

Note: I have posted this query on other web forums. My apologies for the redundancy.

 

[Josh N]

How many people are in the tent normally?

I have a couple of these that I was able to purchase because I am on active duty and they stand up to dang near everything and sand entry was never an issue when I lived in the Palm Springs area:

Eureka Military tent

They are two man though.

 

[atomicshawn]

Hey Josh that is it! I’m thinking that is exactly what I am looking for… except in a 4 man. I checked out the link and it looks like they offer a 4 man, 4 season. Pricey though Eureka!® ECWT - Extreme Cold Weather Tent Yikes!

 

[Josh N]

I hope you are able to purchase though. I purchased mine on base when they were brand new to the Corps back in 2000. I had a damaged zipper and put the warranty into use and the Eureka rep was in shock that I had one since they were restricted to military customers only until I told him I was on active duty.

They are still in like new condition though after using them at least once a month for the past 10 years. The rain-flies are really interesting since they block out light. You will sleep in You have to seal the seams though. They don't come taped.

 

[atomicshawn]

It sounds/looks perfect. The price though! Holy cow! I’m sure someone somewhere has one sitting on a shelf and collecting dust in their garage, willing to sell it cheap… I gotta find that guy!

 

[3rd Cruiser]

Check out the springbar canvas tents. I have the outfitter 3. We were in the Anza Borego a couple of months ago and had some pretty good wind the first night. All the nylon backpacking tents ended up with sand inside, even with the rain flys on. Not my springbar. It was dust and sand free, except what I tracked in.

 

[Bogo]

Hey Josh that is it! I’m thinking that is exactly what I am looking for… except in a 4 man. I checked out the link and it looks like they offer a 4 man, 4 season. Pricey though Eureka!® ECWT - Extreme Cold Weather Tent Yikes!

Most extreme cold weather tents should do. Check to see if the tent has fully closable flaps for all the screens. Used to be common on tents. Not so common anymore. Especially on the really light weight tents. Everybody seams to want them to be overly ventilated which I don't like.

The old Eureka Timberline is able to be fully closed up and can handle windy conditions if the fly is staked out properly. I've had one since the late '70s and used it in some windy conditions. Maybe up to 40 to 45 MPH winds. Flapped a bunch, but stayed up without failure.

 

[atomicshawn]

I have looked at Springbar tents, they are actually made here in Utah. They look tough, but there is something about the high profile that looks to me like it would act like a sail in the wind. But you say it does ok huh?

Weight is another issue. I know canvas tents are typically kind of heavy. Our Kelty weighs something like 14 pounds, I have actually used it several times on family backpacking trips. And I think that military 4 season 4 man Josh turned me on to that costs 25 gajillion dollars only weighs 20 ish. It would be nice to find a light weight tent that can take the wind, keeps the dirt out, and doesn’t cost a fortune. Perhaps I ask for the impossible.

I googled Anza-Borrego by the way… looks like a beautiful place.

 

[atomicshawn]

Most extreme cold weather tents should do. Check to see if the tent has fully closable flaps for all the screens. Used to be common on tents. Not so common anymore. Especially on the really light weight tents. Everybody seams to want them to be overly ventilated which I don't like.

The old Eureka Timberline is able to be fully closed up and can handle windy conditions if the fly is staked out properly. I've had one since the late '70s and used it in some windy conditions. Maybe up to 40 to 45 MPH winds. Flapped a bunch, but stayed up without failure.

yeah it seems like everything I look at, including 4 season tents, have mesh vents that are only covered by the fly which in my experience is difficult to seal in high wind. But I have been searching mostly online and maybe I am missing something.

 

[3rd Cruiser]

I have looked at Springbar tents, they are actually made here in Utah. They look tough, but there is something about the high profile that looks to me like it would act like a sail in the wind. But you say it does ok huh?

Weight is another issue. I know canvas tents are typically kind of heavy. Our Kelty weighs something like 14 pounds, I have actually used it several times on family backpacking trips. And I think that military 4 season 4 man Josh turned me on to that costs 25 gajillion dollars only weighs 20 ish. It would be nice to find a light weight tent that can take the wind, keeps the dirt out, and doesn’t cost a fortune. Perhaps I ask for the impossible.

I googled Anza-Borrego by the way… looks like a beautiful place.

I was also worried about the springbars ability to handle wind. I did a ton of research and found that to be one of its strong points. There is an event called the Burning Man somewhere out in the Nevada desert. Its known for high winds and dusty conditions. Springbar tents are for many who attend, the tent of choice.

They have a smaller version, called the compact 2, smaller, lighter and less expensive. I went with the outfitter so I could stand up inside for easier clothes changing.

The pictures below show my tent at cruise Moab 2011 on the 2 day San Rafel Swell trip and a view of the Borrego badlands looking east from Fonts Point.

 

[atomicshawn]

I think I found my next tent: MSR® Stormking™ Expedition 5-Person Group 4-season Tent. . I suspect this design will keep the sand out, it appears the only mesh that doesn't zip are small panels on the ceiling. Not cheap though, the best price I have found is $820 shipped. There are few customer reviews. Anybody have experience with this one?

 

[rusty_tlc]

You could always add a "sod cloth" to the bottom of the fly.

Basically add as strip of material 12 - 18" wide that you bury in the dirt to form a sort of seal around the bottom edge of the fly. Set the tent up with the door away from the prevailing wind direction and you should eliminate 90% of the wind blown sand.

 

[RyanR]

I recently ran into this issue as well. For many years I used an REI Cirque ASL 4 season tent. It had a lot of mesh but they were all back with solid panels so you could completely seal up the entire body of the tent with zero mesh or unzip the solid panels and have a ton of mesh panels in warmer climates. With good bags my gf and I never really felt like we needed a solid body tent in the winter and it was at times a bit warm in the summer. When it finally failed after 100+ trips (The skylight delaminated from the rainfly) we replaced it with a mostly mesh Marmot Limelite. Great tent except our first trip to the desert we came back and found everything inside covered in 1/4" of dust and sand. It was actually worse in the tent that the stuff we left outside.

I guess I am back to shopping for another 4 season tent!

 

[atomicshawn]

You could always add a "sod cloth" to the bottom of the fly...

A good Idea I think Rusty. The fly is pretty long on my old Mantra so I've done basically what youre suggesting w/rocks. It helps some. In a lot of the places we camp there isnt much soil. A lot of sand on top of slick rock (or just slick rock) where your lucky to even get a stake in the ground. Thats another thing I like about the Matra and the MSR tent I'm looking at, they are free standing, dont need to be staked, and can be secured with just rope.

Another thing is the desert landscape is so fragile down south and is getting more and more visitors every year, we try not to leave too big a mark you know, keep things low impact.

...our first trip to the desert we came back and found everything inside covered in 1/4" of dust and sand. It was actually worse in the tent that the stuff we left outside...

Ha! Exactly! Been there so many times. Its like you might as well just throw your pillow on the ground and sleep in the dirt.