charlie brown

Well, I figured this would be the best place to ask a question about wall tents, as I don't know of any other place to put it that would get a good response, so here goes.

I am sure EKM will have a wealth of knowledge here to

I am no expert, but don't exactly call myself a beginner when it comes to camping, both large camps and small, from years in the boyscouts, and the camp my dad and I have put together so far, but opinions will definately be welcome.

This is more of a "review" type question than anything.

I am in the market for another tent. One to serve as a base camp for the many times that I go out exploring by myself, but not one that will be carried on my back. Weight is not of a huge concern, but I want something that can easily put up by one person, and does not take forever to do so. My dad and I have a 12X14 wall tent right now that is GREAT for extended stays in the woods. (we had it up for close to three weeks a couple years ago). I am looking to find something that will allow me mobility in a vehicle base camp near true wilderness areas, that I will be able to break down quickly, as I plan to make many two and three day trips for scouting, etc. I am getting tired of these flimsy nylon pieces of %^&*&^&^%$#$%@$^%&^%& that just don't hold together. To be quite honest, I could very easily sleep under the stars, but it is nice to have some sense of protection while camping. I do most of my hunting in the early season (Sept and early Oct), and we again, have my dads tent for the really cold long stays.

I have looked into Davis Tents and Awnings, based out of Denver, and am quite interested in the Single pole tent, and Herder tents they offer. They would fill the bill I am trying to fill quite nicely. A stove for heat is not a big concern, as I plan to have a large propane heater and cook stove, as well as regular camp fire for heat and cooking. (the heater would be used OUTSIDE the tent ONLY). Has anyone had any experience with these types of tents, or Davis in peticular? I like the look of the tent, as I could pitch it with no poles by simply hanging under a tree, which would be easy to set up and take down. An 8'x8' tent would be plenty for short two and three night stays with myself, or even a couple more if it was needed in an emergency/back-up situation. If I actually draw an elk tag this year (fingers ARE crossed), I will be hunting with my father by my side, and, again, we will have his larger tent with us (probably 9 days total in the woods during ML season, unless I happen to tag out early). We would use the smaller one I purchase as an equipment storage type task. Again, this will be in mid - late Sept., so cold temps are not of major concern.

Sorry for the long winded post, I hope I did not confuse anyone, lol.

Any help and suggestions would be great!!

Thanks,
Marcial

ELKampMaster

#1: www.kifaru.net
Mini-teepee. Single pole. Light weight. Super strong. The cats meow. Expensive.

#2: The Davis (one pole/suspended) sheep herder tent.
I've pondered these, but we have too many people. I have never seen Davis have one of these in the "showroom" so I haven't laid in one.

I think you are on the right track with the Davis but its not first hand experience. Call them up and talk to Roy Davis [303-561-0603] about what your concerns are, he is a great guy and will give you the whole story with both sides -- reporting fair and balanced. They are all a great bunch of people there, but Roy is THE one you want to talk to for this question.

I just got my wall tent back from them, it used to be 16x20 and now is 16x28!

TerryM

Have you ever looked at the Alaknak tent that Cabelas carries? I just quickly looked at them last fall at the Sydney store on my way out west and it sounds like what you had in mind. We use 2 wall tents, a 14x16 and a 16 x20. What we have done is go to a tent pole kit for both which even though they are heavy to lug around speed up tent setup and they are plenty sturdy.

charlie brown

EKM - Thanks for the info!! Sounds like you keep expanding every year!! From a not so good spike camp two years ago, to a VERY GOOD spike camp last year, to an EVEN LARGER main camp this year!!! Definately no point in roughing it these days eh?

Terry - I have thought about the Aklanak tents (am looking at them in my catalog right now), but we already have a larger tent perfect for two or three people in an extended stay, making another such tent really not worth the trouble. Also the size would be almost a monumental chore for one person to put up only for a one or two night stay.

Oh yeah, BTW - we are also planning to make an 8 or 10 foor extension of heavy visquine sometime this summer to put on the end of our current wall tent for use as a cook shack.

Roskoe

One of my buddies has a Davis sheepherder - he likes it - easy to pack in and easy to set up - might be ideal for what you are looking for. Only issue, from what I have seen, is high winds. Some tents like the Alaskan Guide (Cabela's) are amazingly stable in the wind. The Davis might be best pitched in a more protected spot.

ELKampMaster

Charlie Brown,

No doubt your cooking extension will be a custom job, but here is what we did, take it for what it may be worth.

First, this assumes the cook "extension" and the wall tent will "mirror" each other for height, width, and pitch of roof....

**Steel wall tent frame for the plastic to go up over.... butt it to your other tent rather than attach it.
**Diagonal rope the tubing to itself and the ground to give it some rigidity.
**6 mil clear plastic, up and over the top WITH 3' extra after touching the ground on EACH side --- we have used our current piece for 3 years coming up 4 --- no problems yet.
**Once the plastic is "up and over" temporarily weight it down with some rocks so it doesn't "take off" in the wind.
**Consider having the plastic "overlap" your wall tent by 2 feet or so (cut small holes for the wall tent ropes to go thru), so if it is a 10 foot extension, then you'll need 12' of plastic.
**ANCHORING THE BOTTOM: We use a 2" diameter piece of 3 strand rope and lay it at the "edge" of the 3' extra of plastic and then we all get on our knees and roll the rope tightly in the 3' of plastic until it "bumps" up against the frame, then we take 12" nails and nail right down thru the plastic and into the 2" rope (the 3 strand "parts" and lets the nail thru but it is tight) and into the earth with nails about every 18" or so. This will follow uneven terrain like a glove. Don't worry about getting the first side too tight since the opposing side is only lightly anchored with rocks and will just pull on over if you "torque" on it too much. But when you come to the second side torquing and tightening and tensioning is just what you want.
**ANCHORING THE TOP: We then put a poly pro tarp (with grommets and wall tent ropes) up and over the same plastic sheet and use THAT to rope down ala wall tent style with the plastic "trapped" underneath.
**SEALING THE GAP AT THE WALL TENT: We cut a piece of plywood 2' by 4' and "lean" it against the 2' of plastic that overlaps the wall tent and then take an adjustable pole and diagonal brace against it - having a little screw sticking out of the plywood for the pole (or a piece of conduit) to catch on helps on that part.
**CONDENSATION: With a plastic tent you gotta have a floor in it or the moisture in the earth will cause it to rain every morning when you heat it up which cooking will do, plus a "tarp" floor is just much better than a dirt floor, I know it is nice to cook over earth, you can be messy with no penalty but we have done it both ways and you want a floor (assuming you are going to put a "end wall and door on this thing).
**END WALL/DOOR: I 'll leave this one to your own ingenuity, but one thing to consider is to ask your tent guy what they would charge to make you a canvas "wall tent end" with zipper door that simply loops up over the top of the tubular frame and ties (many ties) and complete with sod cloth --- I'm thinking we paid $125 for ours --- heaven.
**FOR A GOOD SEAL on the end wall/door with your plastic do two things: (1) make sure your cooking tent "fly/tarp" extends over the entry end of things 1 to 2 inches creating a little "eve" over the door [the whole front end for that matter]. When you tension it down it will seal down hard on the tube. (2) lean yet another 2'x4' piece of plywood against the plastic side wall at the "front corner tube to tighten the seal between the plastic, the tube, and your canvas (or whatever) end cap.

We have had ours (16x32) in some tremendous thunderstorms and some 12-14" snowfalls with ZERO problems and the way the clear plastic lets in the light is really cool (hot actually, but you can always open the door)

There you go,
Trade secrets given away for free,
Enjoy!
Home Sweet Home!

EKM

charlie brown

Roskoe - thanks for that piece of info. Wind shouldn't be a big issue, as when we go camping like this, we are in some type of timber, be it Aspens, PJ's, or Lodgepoles, depending on the exact location, which helps considerably in keeping the wind down to a minimum.

EKM - Thanks for that detailed information!! We had something similar in mind, but never even thought of the rope thing, that sounds absolutely ingenious. We had planned to basically find out what pitch we had, (I think it is 2 to 1),

oops, got sidetracked, lol

Well anyway, we were planning to have the angles made to match the tent, cut the poles, and then run the visquine over the top, though I am not sure about the end yet. I will definately take your advice when we get closer to actually building this thing.

Wolf killer

Charlie Brown, You have a bunch or great information already.
I am wondering if you have considered putting a fiberglass topper on your pick up truck? You could load everything you need for 2 or 3-days in the back of your truck & still have room to sleep in the bed of your truck. I have made short camping trips like this myself. Camping in the back of your truck works great for a short time.

I have never looked at any small wall tents or teepees? I own & use a 12'x14'x5' Reliable wall tent. My tent has a Kwik Kamp internal frame. I can set up my tent by myself in 15 to 20-minutes. Yes the 12'x14'x5' tent is on the large side for a short scouting trip. The upside to buying a larger wall tent? Your camp has room-to-grow if you want it to?

let us know what you decide,

Wolf Killer

charlie brown

No camping in the back of my truck for me, I only have a Jeep, so everything will be towed in a small trailer. I have vacation now, so these short trips like you describe (camping in your truck, etc., and which I have done in the past while in school) will be less and less. I will be able to take a couple of nights and go out. I will also be going farther from any help, so I want to have everything that I will need in case I need to stay an extra day or two because of an emergency. In the past, I would usually camp in areas where there are lots of people around, or in fairly populated areas, so I only took a minimum of camping gear, and enough food to last me a couple of days at the very most. I would leave in the afternoon, and come back the next day. My dad also has a 12x14' tent that we use when we are going to set up for longer that 3 or 4 days, and which I just don't like to set up by myself, lol.

PaRu

Try Colorado Tent Company the Herder is i think 9x9 weight around 58 lbs cost around $520.00 according to what you want. Another one you might try is www.packsaddleshop.com .