Question on Cold Weather Tents

C

chambero

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I'm looking for a legitimate cold weather tent for next year that can take a stove. I'm tired of either sleeping cold in a pack-in tent without a heater or trying to drag my popup camper around over terrain it wasn't meant to go. Obviously, I'm considering a wall tent, but would like some suggestions from those of you that have them. Some tents I'm considering are:
1. Wall tents from Cabelas
2. Alaknak Lodge from Cabelas
3. Kifaru Tipi Tent - This one intrigues me. I'd like to hear from someone who has one.
 
Sniper on the coues forum has the Kifaru and I think he really likes it. He is out hunting now but you might send him an email......... Thanks, Allen Taylor......
 
First question to answer is how many people do you need shelter for and what amount of time will be spent in camp? My current set up is a 10x14 wall tent with stove purchased from a canvas shop here in Idaho. Wouldn't trade it for anything else. The stove will run you out in the winter and will dry out the wettest clothes/boots overnight. If you keep a small group 3 or 4 max, this set up works great. With the pre-fab frame (pre-made slip angles and 3/4 inch electrical conduit) a single person can set this tent up and be camp-ready in less than 30 minutes.

There are lots of options for the tent, but I got open sleeved gables (which close by draw string) for packing with horses and using natural poles for a frame. I have one window in the solid wall for better ventilation (and climate control). The sod cloth around the base is about 10-12 inches. This allows an additional barrier for the water and cold weather to stay out.

Research the sources well before buying, but the wall tents are fabulous investments. You can get unlimited sizes of tents, but I would expect the 10x12 or 10x14 to be about the most common size. We use cots to elevate our sleeping bags off the ground and then store extra goods underneath. It helps clean the "clutter" of misc extra boots, bags, etc... lying around on the ground..

As for the specific tents you have asked about, I do not know anthing specifically.

Good luck..
monte
 
I have a 12 x 17 Montana Canvas tent from Cabelas. It stays nice and warm as long as someone gets up every once in a while and stokes er up. I am going to burn coal next year. If you arent using a wall tent now I have seen a heater for tents that leaves the burner(CO2) outsinde and funnels the warm air in using a flex hose.
 
the davis tent & awning company 1-877 elk camp great wall tent withstood 60mph sustained wind this year on the kiabab.
 
Damn!! Here we go again!!

I just had my mind made up to buy a pop-up camper (have been saving up for a while now) and here comes this thread to make me think about it.

This question has been killing me for quite sometime!!!!



JBone
 
I've had two popups. I really like them, but where it seems like I wind up hunting is too rought to take them up the roads. This past fall I had to keep taking my truck back and forth over a horrible 4x4 road. I just can't get them where I want to camp most of the time during hunting seasons.
 
I've been using the Cabela's Alaknak 12 X 12 tent since 2000. It has stood up to a lot of abuse from high winds at elevations from 7000 to 9000 feet. It does have a full floor so you need to go to some effort to keep the inside clean. I just throw down a tarp then when its time to tear down camp you just fold and drag the tarp outside and the tent floor stays clean. The only negative I have seen so far is that the manmade fabric will sweat at cold temperatures and run down the inside walls so you want to make sure your sleeping bag, duffle bag, etc. is not touching the tent walls.

This is a great tent for up to 4. Any more then that would be crowded especially if you don't use cots so stash your junk underneath.
 
One of my buddies has an "Arctic Oven" tent. It's supposed to be wunnerful in cold weather, with some kind of fancy liner material. I spent a couple of nights in it in moderately cold weather. We had a couple of inches of heavy wet snow that it handled with no problem. It was set up for a stove, but we didn't have one on the trip I was on. The flap gizmo over the stovepipe hole leaked when it rained HARD. Sorry about the technical terms.

Website: http://www.alaskatent.com/products/tents/arctic_oven.htm
 
I 2nd Davis Tents here in Denver. I bought mine at their scrach and dent sale that they have every spring. I have a 15x18 with a wood stove and its great. 2ft of snow in 24hrs and warn as ever. I think the hole set up costs $1100.00 with poll frame. Easy to set up even by my self if needed but I always have my 5yr old around to help. Jovan
 
I took the family camping in the desert dunes west of Blythe, CA over the New Year's holiday. It was damn chilly at night. 5 of us slept in our Springbar tent made by Kirkhams out of Salt Lake City, Utah. We had a reflective heater with an 02 sensor/shut-off switch for heat. We sacked out in bags on top of Coleman air mattresses and slept great.

I can't say enough about the Springbar tents. Everytime I set mine up and it stays up in the bitter, vicious winds out here in the southwest I'm all the more impressed. The tent is a quality piece of equipment and comes in many variations, along with models that allow the use of wood burning stoves. I'm sure all the other wall tent manufacturers mentioned are great too, but you owe it to yourself to look at the Springbar models before you make you final choice.
Good Luck!
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-11-04 AT 01:34PM (MST)[p]What kind of heater do you have? I have a springbar tent also and I love it. The only problem is that I havent found a heater that I feel comfortable using in it.
 
One other thing I forgot add in my post. I am not sure where you are from but I know last year at the International Sportsman Expo, Davis tents had an awesome deal on their tents. If you can make it to one of these shows you can definitly save some money.
 
I also have a Davis Tent and they are awesome. Plus their service is top notch. I've had mine for 5 seaasons now. This year was the best test of all. We had 3 ft of snow over 3days total. With winds in the 20mph range most days with gusts over 60mph. I thought we'd be blown away and tent tore all to heck but the tent and the tent cover they built stood up to it all just fine through it all.. I was very impressed. The cover (heavy duty tarp) did not tear at all. They really build them well. Also, as for service, the first year we had ours we burned a hole in ours, long story.. so I took it back to them to have them fix it. Knowing and telling them that is all our fault and none of the tents fault.. They fixed it for free! I couldn't believe it, you just don't get service like that nowadays. The Davis' are a great family and will treat you right. Give em a call and enjoy.
 

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