The wall tent thread.

[centaur]

This was elk camp in 1987. Boy oh boy, I miss having hair, my old Jeep CJ7, and camping in wall tents.

[habujohn]

I too have the Davis 14 x 16 canvas wall tent.  We camped in it this weekend for the odd year gathering for PBS in New Berlin Wi.  It was really hot for this northern boy and I was glad I brought my free standing air conditioner.  While it was 95 and humid outside it was 72 inside my tent.  Now for hunting, I use it with a three dog stove and it keeps us plenty warm in November here in the Yooper.

[Steve O]

There is nothing more comfortable in the field than a good wall tent. I don't have my own, but am fortunate to have many friends that do. They are fortunate I have a Kifaru tipi when we fly in or backpack somewhere.

Aaron, we are going to have to share points somewhere; I've got a bunch of Wyoming elk points...

[Auzoutdoor]

How do they finish the edges of the hole the chimney goes through when you have a stove.?
I love the idea of the stove in the tent for winter but not something that is very common here in Australia.
Cheers KIM

[DarkTimber]

Originally posted by Steve O:
   


There is nothing more comfortable in the field than a good wall tent. I don't have my own, but am fortunate to have many friends that do. They are fortunate I have a Kifaru tipi when we fly in or backpack somewhere.

Aaron, we are going to have to share points somewhere; I've got a bunch of Wyoming elk points...

Sounds like a plan Steve.  Let's compare notes, I'm sure we can come up with something.  WY Elk sounds good or maybe AZ if you're not too far ahead of me.

[kevsuperg]

Izzy, will you be bringing your home away from home to ETAR. I'd like to check it out

[Frank V]

Wow these photos bring back memories of great times in the Mountains.

Here we are having more & more bear sightings & I'm kind of wondering if it's still safe to tent camp? Sure is fun though.

[Izzy]

Originally posted by kevsuperg:
Izzy, will you be bringing your home away from home to ETAR. I'd like to check it out

No bud, Im gonna be "roughing" it in a cabin. The cabin is part of the tradition of ETAR for me.

[RIng]

hay Izzy Looks good . cant wait  to see it .

[Pointer]

Congrats Izzy...enjoy that home away from home this season.

[Sixgun]

Originally posted by Auzoutdoor:
How do they finish the edges of the hole the chimney goes through when you have a stove.?
I love the idea of the stove in the tent for winter but not something that is very common here in Australia.
Cheers KIM

It is called a stove jack. It gets sewn into either the wall or the roof of the tent.

http://www.davistent.com/index.cfm?id=3a267423-0adf-4bec-abfbf39f4e7a5444

There is an explanation in the link above, and also a picture of one installed in a tent.

Ray

[Izzy]

Just came back from the beach where I finally convinced the whole family to tent with me on a scouting trip up north. I want to get acquainted with this tent as much as possible in the next month to get ready for hunting season. Maybe the family can give me some recommendations on comfort upgrades.  Im good as is but the more use I get pre hunting season the more it feels like home.

  I bought mine from the Wall Tent Shop in Idaho and they recommend that I burn the stove to "season" it before using in the tent otherwise they said everything will smell like paint if its used in the tent first.

[R.V.T.B.]

I set both of my stoves up and burned them outside before I took them camping.  They do stink pretty bad at first.

Something else I did with my stove.  I have the nesting pipes that fit inside of each other.  When I had it set up in the back yard I drilled a hole through the overlap on each pipe joint and then ran a sheet metal screw through it to secure the two pipes together. Now I keep a zip lock baggie with a screw driver and several of those small sheet metal screws inside my stove when I pack it up. When I set up the stove I secure the joints to keep them from blowing apart in a heavy wind.

In talking to several guys who had wall tents, they all told me the first purchase that I should make is for a suitable fire extinguisher for inside the tent.  I leave mine under the cot that is closest to the stove.

[LB_hntr]

Originally posted by Izzy:
Just came back from the beach where I finally convinced the whole family to tent with me on a scouting trip up north. I want to get acquainted with this tent as much as possible in the next month to get ready for hunting season. Maybe the family can give me some recommendations on comfort upgrades.  Im good as is but the more use I get pre hunting season the more it feels like home.

Ok you asked so I will mention so things I do that make it better.

Cots: disc-o-bed xl cots are the best cots ever made (used my military, relief aid, and the number one cot in the world for good reason) they can be used normal or as bunk beds. as bunk beds you can now sleep 4 people in the space normally needed for 2 people. Best money I ever spent...period.

Bath room for women: a 5 galon bucket with a plastic toilet seat and let them have the whole tent to themselves when going to the bathroom. keeps them warm dry comfortable and happy.

Shower: see my above post

acessories: the clips that you get from montana tents are amazing, they hook on the internal fram and let you hang things. buy a dozen of these. worth thier weight in gold.

Laundry line: make 2 of these with paracord, mini carabiners and plastic line adjusters. then when in camp you can just carabiner them to the brackets on each side of the ridge pole.

s hooks: cheap big s hooks from hardware store and hang them on the frame pole brackets to put head lamps, clothes, towels etc on.

Big tarp: have a big tarp that you can lay the tent on when setting up and taking down to keep tent clean. while the tent is up use the tarp to cover your extra wood and outside gear. or add a couple poles and use that tarp as out cook shelter/ outdoor canopy (i did an article on this on my podcast site).

Fan:  get a small battery operated fan and use as follows. In summer put the fan in the window or ridge pole hole blowing out. it will pull air in and send warm air out.  In the colder temps put the fan in corner above stove and blow warm stove air down to middle of tent (makes a huge difference).

cheap great perimeter alarm: if you have meat hanging or have food or other things you want to put a perimeter alarm on buy a battery opererated window alarm/chime. its cheap at about 3 bucks and light weight plastic. run a perimeter of fishing line around area you want and put the 2 peices of the alarm next to each other with a small thin rubber band. when critter hits fishing line the 2 peices pull apart and alarm or chime sounds letting you know a coon or bear is investigating your stuff.
cot pad: cots are always cold if you dont use a sleeping pad. air is cold under the cot and soaks up into you. always use a foam sleeping pad on the cot under your bag to keep you warm.

Tent floor: simple cheap 5 dollar tarp works great and use a couple tent stakes thru the gromit holes to  keep it tight and down.

Tent stove path: my tuck has a back seat so I have a back seat long skinny floor mat that i bought for 10 bucks from walmart. at night before i go to bed I take this long skiny rubber floor mat and put it between the tarp under the sleeping area and the stove so in the middle of the night i can walk bare foot to reload the stove and not have dirty feet going back into my sleeping bag.

Tent case/table: i dont bring a tent table. instead i put the tent, stakes, lines in a big plastic bin and use the bin as a table in the tent. multi purpose plus we can keep stuff in the bin to keep the tent cleaner and organized.

Carbondioxide detector: buy one and leave it in your tent bag so you always have it with your tent. when using a stove just hang the co2 detector some where in the tent for middle of the night piece of mind.

thick space blankets: when temps get sub zero use 2 of the thick silver/orange 7 dollar space blankets and hanging them from tent frame around the stove to reflect heat back into the tent rather than loosing it all thru the canvas.

There you go. A couple ideas to make life better in the wall tent.

I no longer have my van, I have two new subaru outbacks, with hitches. My most valuable camping tool has become my four by six cargo trailer.  I even get a really comfortable folding bed in there along with my tents, camping gear and deer.  One of the problems in Iowa is that many campgrounds close October 1, it's all about the water hook ups for fifth wheel campers and flush toilets.

[Izzy]

[Izzy]

[Frank V]

Some nice tents shown here fellows. Brings back memories, thanks!

 

These are my two Egyptian sail canvas tents. They have no waterproofing treatment of any kind and have never leaked. They do seem to be tornado magnets. There are very few places where we can set them up in Iowa during the rut and walk out of the tent and go hunt. Most of the campgrounds close earlier than that.

[Izzy]

Originally posted by pavan:
   

These are my two Egyptian sail canvas tents. They have no waterproofing treatment of any kind and have never leaked. They do seem to be tornado magnets. There are very few places where we can set them up in Iowa during the rut and walk out of the tent and go hunt. Most of the campgrounds close earlier than that.

Nice tents. Believe it or not our state government looks after us so well that to sell a tent to a NY address, the tent must be treated with a fireproofing. Cost me an extra $100 or so but at least I know my elected reps care deeply for me.