Tent advice - Idaho in September (1 Viewer)

[Fly Rod]

You have received some great ideas above. I have stayed in Montana canvas and Mil surplus tents on elk hunting trips. Both are a great option and Mil surplus is fine if you have time to test it to make sure it doesn't leak. Leaks are easy to fix but require time and effort to detect. On our old Mil surp tent we used to place a tarp on top when it snowed. Never had a wet night sleep. If you don't have the time then a new tent is the way to go.

A wood stove sized for your tent is a great, and sometimes necessary, addition. Not only do they keep things warm but they will dry wet gear over night and are a great cook surface. I miss the old elk camp tent. Nothing quite as memorable as elk liver and onions cooked on that old wood stove!

 

[M32H32is]

Thanks everyone.

 

[snobdds]

Well, Just got back from an elk hunting excursion. We had 18 inches of snow when we showed up and I had to clear a 25x15 section of snow to set the tents up on...A great workout by the way.

We have a 12x15 canvas wall tent and a 12x10 ex-military waxed canvas wall tent. We usually seperate the two to have a cooking and separate sleeping tent. Well, due to the snow, we just set them up back to back to minimize the snow shoveling. It actually worked well. These pictures are after a few days of melt, but after these pictures were taken, we received another 15 inches of snow. The tarp is key to keep the heavy snow sliding down and not weighing the tents down. Also notice the card board around the cots, they act like a thermal break and do keep the sides warmer when you sleep. I know, ghetto, but it really makes a difference.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

I've spent a fair number of winter days packed into one of those 'GP small' military tents. If the flue isn't tall enough, the number of small holes that end up burned into the roof look like stars in the daytime.

 

[snobdds]

Our wood stove has an internal spark arrester where the smoke flows up and around it to get out. That combined with the spark arrestor at the the top of the pipe, I've never had a problem. But yes, old stoves that had no internal spark arrestor had issues with hot sparks falling onto the tents.
'

 

[Bigsky80]

SNOBDDS thanks for the cardboard idea. Simple and smart. We just got back from a trip to the mountains with some heavy weather. I think I'll try the tarp set-up in the future. Even with the steep pitch of the wedge tent there was noticeable build-up. It insulated the tent though and there was no interior condensation. We were comfy even during the 15 degree nights.

 

[AlaskanWheeler]

For those of you with the wall tents, how much of a factor does the wood stove help, if any, in getting rid of condensate?

 

[Coastline]

For those of you with the wall tents, how much of a factor does the wood stove help, if any, in getting rid of condensate?

Some military tents have liners in them to control the condensation and I was on a Japan tent trailer web site last week that showed the same concept. A cotton liner suspended by velcro or other fasteners an inch or two away from the top will capture the moisture and help with evaporation without dripping all over the place.

 

[snobdds]

For those of you with the wall tents, how much of a factor does the wood stove help, if any, in getting rid of condensate?

With a stove, there is never a problem, ever.

At night we put a piece of lump coal in the stove and damper the thing down. It just allows there to be some coals in the stove the entire night. Then in the morning you just stir it a bit and throw some wood on it and it kicks right up. As long as there is some coals going, no condensation can collect. However finding lump coal as become harder and harder to find, and I live in the one of the biggest coal producing states in the world.

 

[AlaskanWheeler]

Coastline
I actually have an acrtic oven tent, that uses this concept, and it works great. It just isn't big enough for what we've planned for future use.

snobdds
Thanks for the info, that's what I was hoping for.

 

[Bigsky80]

Like all the others have said, I've never had a problem with condensation.

 

[Bryan E.]

Wall Tent

I was doing some research for canvas tents. Found this place and it looks worth of checking out. Ironically, it's in Montana but slightly differrent name so not sure if it's the place previously mentioned.

http://www.walltentshop.com/index.php

http://www.walltentshop.com/montana-canvas-lodge.html


I found it when I was researching three and four season tents on my local CL, then after finding a tent, went to a youtube for same tent. The guy had loved it for a long time, but after 8 yrs, plastic started delaminating. This was on an expensive tent. He said in his update that he has now gone to a big wall tent made by this place and had the link and said he is loving it.

They sure look well made, and always good to compare products when you're ordering a tent.

 

[Bigsky80]

The wall tent shop is a vendor for Montana Canvas, but I believe they also sell some other brands. Montana Canvas has a pretty informational web site. http://www.montanacanvas.com