A fly over the top of the tent solves the problem
Canvas tent- help me out.
- Thread starter Schnyd112
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We bought a 12 x 14 wall tent from Wall Tent Shop several years ago . Great service. We bought corner angles from them and made our own frame poles which saved on shipping. We love the internal frame. Also a fly for over the tent is a must during our November hunts here in Alberta as it adds heat and keeps the roof snow free. With the stove 4 people fit great but we have crammed in 6 once. A real benefit of the internal frame is that you can buy hooks that hook wherever you want on the frame to hang things. Our lantern and drying clothes hang from the center and coats, rifles etc hang along the sides.
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Deleted member 107796
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I found a first gen Cabelas Bighorn tent, sans main pole and 2 ropes, at a garage sale for $175 and have used it on many hunts with all weather conditions. The fabric and design of this series of tents, including the Alaknak, make them an excellent tent with less weight than canvas.
GW Hunter
Well-Known Member
The key to a canvas tent is to keep it treated. And don't touch the walls and roof when the canvas gets extremely wet...
Best advice in the thread, especially if you are setting up for more than a couple of days. Flap to ground in breezeway to block the wind and a fly over each tent if it is going to get snowy is only additions I would make. Big advantage to the two tent setup is drying room, not having to take down and put up your cooking grear, and best of all, guys can go to bed when they want, the others can stay up visiting as late as they like.
If you are making this a one time purchase then I will always say bigger, not biggest, is better. I have owned a gamut of wall tents and elk hunted over 60 years out of them. The last 15 years, my favorite, and most used, tent is a 12oz. canvas 12' x 17' x 5' with an interior pole set made of 1"galvanized conduit. This gives you room for 4-6 people but with 4, you have plenty of space for your stove and gas grill, space for a small fold-up table, room for canned goods, food items you don't want freezing, small storage shelf and room for everyone's gear. I have been hunting when weather conditions have kept us in for 3-4 days @-17F and kept warm with room to move around, something that will drive you insane inside a 9'x12' or 12'x14' tent full of people, particularly with 4' sidewalls! I always treat my tents with a fresh coat of Canvak every year before I take them hunting and sometimes after I bring them back, if we have had our camp set up for several months. So far, I have never experienced any sun rot and I throw a few moth balls inside of them when I fold them up to keep rodents from chewing them or bedding inside of them. A good fly over them really helps and you can get cheap plastic tarps at places like Harbor Freight. I made boxes out of 2x2's and 1/4" plywood to store my brackets and conduit and a bag for each tent. Hopefully, this will help you decide but whatever you do, if you want it to last, buy 12oz or higher canvas and treat it with Canvak before you use it and a minimum of once a year afterwards. Also, get 5' sidewalls. Good luck with your choice!
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Apparently you weren't aware of what the essential benefits of using a rain fly provide for you?
We hunt for the most part in colder conditions and over the years we have learned the more comfortable you are the more likely you will enjoy your hunt, be successful, and have lasting memories of the good time you had rather than memories of freezing your *** off and coming home sooner than expected.. We generally are in camp for a minimum of 10 days so we have plenty of time to set up camp and also break it down once the hunt is over. We have three wall tents, all with doors on both ends: 20 x 15, 18 x 12, and 9 x 12 that we use in various combinations depending on how many hunters we have, The 18 x 12 and 9 x 12 go end to end with the 9 x 12 used as a kitchen if needed. If there are more than 5 hunters we use all three. If there are 4 hunters we all sleep in the 20 x 15 and cook in the 18 x 12 or 9 x 12. We don't like to sleep more than 3 in the 18 x 12 and use the kitchen (9 x 12) when we do. We have a separate 7 foot frame for a porch on the 20 x 15 and 18 x 12 and plastic tarps that cover the tent and the porch. We like to use tarps that are large enough to extend well over the edge of the tent to keep the snow away from the tent and provide a place to keep our coolers out of the snow. It also helps to direct the wind up and over the tent. Every hunter has a cot, chair, and hanger to keep gear off the floor.
18 x 12 with 9 x 12 kitchen on end. 3 cots.
Kitchen
Porches
Tarps
18 x 12 with 9 x 12 kitchen on end. 3 cots.
Kitchen
Porches
Tarps
Very nice setup. Looks a lot like ours. You are spot on about comfort. There have been many years where it was more than -30 at night. We bring lump anthracite coal along to burn at night for even long lasting heat. It is no fun freezing your butt off. Parking the Quads in the cook tent over night means they start a whole bunch easier, even though they all have synthetic oil in them.
Blacktail63
Well-Known Member
Call Chris at Kwikkamp; been using his stuff for almost twenty years. Great quality. https://kwikkamp.com/
Heck, for a minute, I thought that I was home!
huntsman22
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't want the job of housekeeper in that camp........
22250imp
Well-Known Member
Davis Tent and Awning 12x14 internal frame with 5 ft sidewalls.They can fix you up with the entire frame or just buy the joint pieces and you can cut your own pipes from conduit piping. Not to big and not to small. Give them a call they can answer all your questions and fix you up with a very good tent. Definitely get a rain fly and also a very good stove. They make some very nice windows and have a good storm flap for the door. Awning is also nice. Store gear under and a very good place to cook when the weather isn't to nasty. Amazing how much room the higher side walls make.
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COBrad
Well-Known Member
When I was outfitting I ran 12x14x5' tents for groups of 4. Used plastic tarps for rain flys and floor tarps, wood stoves, propane stoves and Coleman lanterns. No windows or screens. Doors on both ends. They were warm and roomy. Mine were Davis tent and awning. Used corral poles for frames.
