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Tent question.
I’ll be hunting solo again this year, 2nd rifle cow elk in GMU 25/26. Last year I roughed it, slept in the bed of my pick-up, I have a topper. It was cozy and warm, but I’m thinking of stepping up to a heated tent. Last year I visited with a couple hunters up the road who had a wall tent with a stove and it was damn nice. I see my options as going the wall tent route with a stove or perhaps the Cabela’s Big Horn with a stove. I’m also thinking about just getting a big Colemans tent and a propane heater. Just run the heater when I wake-up and to dry clothes.
So my question is, does anybody elk hunt out of a big Colemans tent with a propane heater? How’s it work out for you? |
RE: Tent question.
hunted last year at 11,000 ft and tried to use a propane heater. It would make a little heat but not enough to warm the tent. Would dry clothes, but thats about it. It was tough to roll out of your bunk when its about 20 degrees in your tent.
Next trip will include my new Davis wall tent and Cylinder stove with a load of seasoned oak....... FW |
RE: Tent question.
Just a little tip! Heaters with o2 sencers may not work above 7,500' elv. so be sure to check that out before you head this way.
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RE: Tent question.
Not sure if I would want to run a heater in a Coleman for an extended amount of time.
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RE: Tent question.
We use two tents. One is an old army tent for sleeping and the outfitter tent for a mess tent.
On a nice day. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/HuntAway/Moose%20Hunt%2006/106-0610_IMG.jpg and on a little bit cooler day.;) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/HuntAway/Moose%20Hunt%2006/106-0619_IMG.jpg We hunt on the South Shore of Lake Nipigon located north of Great Lake Superior. The pictures were taken during our moose hunt last October. |
RE: Tent question.
Huntaway,
Great pictures. Yesterday I was at a surplus store looking at one of those army tents. How do you like it? The store wants 3-5 hundred for a small tent depending on condition. They also have the larger ones, which is what it looks like you have. The one they had set up in the store was a command tent. I'd have to think the army tent would be pretty tough. I just really like the idea of coming back after a hard day of hunting to a place I can stand up in and get undressed, maybe relax a little and warm up around a stove. I wonder if you can buy the army tents new? Bugs11 |
RE: Tent question.
You can get a good wall tent for that 300 to 500 and make a log frame. I don't like the old army tents cause you have to burn a lantern even during the daytime to see in them.
http://www.davistent.com/html/OrderATent.html |
RE: Tent question.
Hmmm, never thought about that.
I've been looking at the Davis Tents website for some time now. Just can't bring myself to drop that kind of change on something I'll use 1 week a year. But then again you can't take it with you. Maybe a 12x14 tent with a small cylinder stove is in my future. |
RE: Tent question.
Anyone here ever purchase a wall tent from the “Wall Tent Shop”? The company is based in Moscow, Idaho.
I'm looking at them and Davis Tents in CO. |
RE: Tent question.
I bought a frame kit last month from them, They ship the day I ordered. The owner is an outdoors man and they will help you with deciding what you really need.
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RE: Tent question.
First thing to think about is carbon monxide. Propane heaters are not reccomended for tents of any kind.
Second any kind of propane in a tent (nylon or canvas)will make it sweat, even a single burner fish cooker. A wood stove is the best for canvas tents. It's a dry heat and it's warmer. |
RE: Tent question.
I wonder just how big of a wall tent one man can put up by himself?
We've used propane for years, BUT we have a 16' x 32' army tent. We only run the heaters in the mornings and evenings. NO heat at night! Get's down right frosty, but nothing a good sleeping bag can't handle. |
RE: Tent question.
Last year there were 4 guys camping across the road from me. They had the complete set-up, 2 wall tents. One for sleeping and one for cooking. They ran a propane heater all night long in there sleeping tent. They all made it out alive. They also had table set-up like a bar, whiskey, vodka, gin... you name it, they had it. Nice guys, I think they feld sorry for me slepping in the back of my truck. I drank a couple of their beers, they had cases of the stuff. Me I was there to hunt, I hadn't brought any alcohol. I'm just a beer now and then guy and I figured with the cold beer would just freeze.
I think one guy can set up an internal framed wall tent or at least that's what one of the web sites say. |
RE: Tent question.
Check e-bay,get a nice little 10x10 and a wood stove.Toasty;)
BBJ |
RE: Tent question.
bugs,
I'd never discourage someone from a wall tent as I love them; however, it is an expensive step up and the "more you do it right" the more it costs. I have hunted elk when we did NOT use a luxury wall tent camp. There are cheap comfortable options out there but they require strict adherence to the rules! One winter we used a 7x9 dome tent, three season, with a large vestbule and a fly that went all the way to the ground. One 15" wide table side ways on the the short dimension between two cots against the walls on the long dimension. A 25 # propane bottle with a REGULAR Mr. Heater within a foot of the table. Sleep with ones head at the table end and feet at the door end. In the evening, open the door and a vent on the opposite end and run the Mr. Heater on low and it will leave you warm and toasty --- no condensation. Get ready for bedtime, close the vent and the door opening (18") hop in the sleeping bag and reach out and shut off the Mr. Heater. Sleep in a cold tent --- no problem. In the morning, alarm goes off, work your arms out of the bag and reach over and turn on the Mr. Heater and in 5 minutes (you absolutely cannot go back to sleep). it is warm as toast, get up open the door a little open the vent a little and get dressed, shut off theMr. Heaterand you are off. In the evening hours, say 6 to 9 we ran the heat all the time, had a smallfolder table in the tent and ate between the cots while sitting on the cots. Warmth, relaxation, recharge. The only downside being that you are holding your life in your hands all the time.... no room to screw up. We kept a carbon monoxide detector in the tent. We tested it before we left. It never went off while we were up there. Again, as mentioned earlier, I find the Buddy heater to be totally unreliable as a heat source at higher altitudes as the "low oxygen" switch gets confused by high altitude. The two of us had a suburban that we had a tarp lean to on the side and did the cooking there and used the back of the suburban as a pantry/storage area. No Problems. Pinch hit, cheap solution. |
RE: Tent question.
EKM,
Thanks for the suggestion, that camp set-up you described probably makes the most sense.Now to find a decent, well flyed dome tent. I'm on a volunteer FD, we get paged out for carbon monoxide testers going off quite frequently in the winter. I'll set up the tent, fire up the heater, and let her cook for 1/2 an hour then test the air in the tent withthe FDgas tester. Bugs |
RE: Tent question.
When I am not bivy hunting I do just about what EKM states. I hunted a late season mulie hunt last year and got snowed on heavily with cold temps. I was nice and toasty. I also put a tarp over the tent linched between two trees. That method is alot cheaper and easy for 1 guy to set up if needed. If you use a cot in cold weather, make sure that you have some type of thermarest pad or equal to keep the cold air from circulating underneath, or you will get cold even with the best of bags.....
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RE: Tent question.
Elkcrazy8 made two real good additions.
To reiterate: (1) Any tent is a better tent under a tarp, this will allow you to consider the boxy "canvas condo family tent" if you have one that isn't too drafty, just make sure it will support weight of the tarp and the snow, unless you use the rope between two trees style ridgepole to carry the weight, still will be some indirect pressure on the tent. Main thing whenusing the Mr. Heater is you DON'T want snow on the same layer that your rising heat is going to "bounce" off of as that is just begging for a condensation problem. (2) Cots are great for saving your floor space and for making things efficient (and easier to get up) but theyDO need a thermarest or something under them, your body gives off a lot of water thru the night and you don't want it condensing on the bottom side (top side is okay). Also make sure you put some padding between the cot legs and the tent floor to prevent damage, especially on unfavorable ground. |
RE: Tent question.
ORIGINAL: bugs11 Huntaway, Great pictures. Yesterday I was at a surplus store looking at one of those army tents. How do you like it? The store wants 3-5 hundred for a small tent depending on condition. They also have the larger ones, which is what it looks like you have. The one they had set up in the store was a command tent. I'd have to think the army tent would be pretty tough. I just really like the idea of coming back after a hard day of hunting to a place I can stand up in and get undressed, maybe relax a little and warm up around a stove. I wonder if you can buy the army tents new? Bugs11 Bugs11 specifically, (and anybody elsse that is interested) You mentioned the Army tent at the suplus store and for a bunch of reason. I won''t say you are wrong. Everybody else makes good points too. Something that you might consider if that is what you want is to go through DRMO. That is Defense Reutilization managment office. You can do a web search for them. that is where the military sells of old still usable equipment that isn't being used any more. That is where the surplus stores get all their stuff. Figure, if they are asking 500 for the tent, I bet the bought it for 100 or 200 tops. You'll have to look into that. Anyhow, depending on how much stuff, and how many guys you have going, set one up, and put a little keorsene potbelly military heater in there. It will be HOT in there. The tents have a stove pipe hole in the roof for the heater. This is just a thought. Not trying to say anybody is wrong either. You all make valid points concerning the Carbon monoxide...etc. Either way, you can still get the tent and not use the heater too. hope this helps somebody. |
RE: Tent question.
DRMO, thats something I haven't heard in quite a few years. I used to go to the one on my base to watch the people who went. I watched some old lady beat the hell out of aGI over a severe weather parka. It looked like a bunch of vultures on a rotting carcass. It is correct though, you can get good deals at these sales, just watch out for the old lady with a jacket in her hand. ;0)
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RE: Tent question.
bugs11, Sorry for the delay in getting back to ya.
We like the big army tent. We use a wood stove in it for heat and drying out the rigging. We tarp the floor to help keep the condensation down. We are always warm because my brother has a bladder the size of a peanut and is always up through the night stoking the stove.:D As for lighting, there are window flaps on ours. The green peice is rolled up then there is a clear plastic, then the screen. Plenty of light during the day if you are there, but we're always gone hunting....Lot's of room to stand up as the side walls are about 5'5" and the peak about 10'.With cots on either side there is about a 5' path down through the center. You got to keep a grip on the guy's though. If it doesn't fit under your cot it belongs at home. I like the prospector wall tent for a kitchen tent as the canvas drys quickly with the kerosene heater we use in it. Believe it or not, the big army tent can be set up by one person easier than the wall tent. |
RE: Tent question.
How much do the tents weigh? I know the 16' x 32' army tent would NOT be put up by one man, because one man could not lift the dang thing by himself. That thing isbulky and HEAVY!
On a side note. My wife and I went camping this weekend in the mtns. I have a 4 man dome tent with vestibule. I just bought the small Mr. heater and that thing heated my 4 man tent in about 5 minutes, and I'd guess the night temps. were between 40 and 45 degrees. I only used it in the mornings to knock the chill off so that getting out of the sleeping bag was easier,......... for my wife!:DShe is cold blooded. |
RE: Tent question.
Howler,
no doubt that they are heavy, and surely not a one man tent. They would be managable with say 4-5 guys. Not sur ehow many you usually hunt with. Now for one tha tyou can do yourself, there is a more or less round one. It has a nice tall center poles, and then you put up poles arount the edge. I have slept 6-8 guys in there with cots at Ft Riley about 12 years ago. it also has a stove pipe vent in the roof for a heater and it is big enoug to stand in. Wouldn't be the easiest to set up by yourself, but doable. And if you hunt with 1-2 other guys/gals, it really would be no problem. Of, course too, there are a ton of civilian tents out there that are simple to put up, but maybe not as tall, or have heater vent. I guess you just have to prioritize what you want from it. Hope this offers some help, at least to somebody that wants a BIG tent, but not theNew Tent Price. |
RE: Tent question.
Hey, thanks everyone for the info. Whoever mentioned the kerosene heater reminded me that I have a kerosene heater; got it from my wife’s family farm when they cleaned the place out. I’ve used it in the garage in the winter, when it’s really cold (below zero) and I’m skinning a deer. My 2 car garage is insulated so it generally doesn’t get below freezing, no matter how cold it gets outside. So I think I might take the kerosene heater for heat, rather than fork out the dough for a Buddy heater. Anyone use a kerosene heater in a tent? Is it too smelly?
As for the tent, looks like the biggest Cabelas Westwind (12’x14’, $280) with a vestibule fits the bill. I could use this tent when camping with the family too, if needed. I’ll definitely set up where I can get a tarp hung over the tent. And being on a certified FFI, I know how to tie knots. It’s amazing how many people don’t know how to tie a clove hitch or bowline. As for sleeping pads, last year I picked up an air mattress (from Big Agnes I think) that has insulation in the air chambers and a cheap self inflating sleeping pad from Wal-Mart. I wrapped the self inflating sleeping pad in an old blanket and put the insulated air mattress on that. I had to wrap the self inflating sleeping pad in a something as the air mattress and sleeping pad kept slipping around. The blanket provided enough bite between the two, so they were stable. I didn’t get cold at all with this arrangement. The air mattress is way comfy; I used it during this summers vacation and slept like a baby. Looks like a run to the nearest Cabelas is in order. Need to get a cot too. Cabelas Army or the Alaskan Guide cot? The Alaskan Guide cot is bigger, but weighs more. Decisions, decisions... |
RE: Tent question.
The experience I've had with Kerosene heaters is not favorable in your situation. Generally they really stink up a place, and I get a headache after awhile from them. So that tells me something is wrong. I would be concerned that your hunting clothes would reek of kerosene. At least with wood smoke its natural.
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RE: Tent question.
Shato,
Yeah, I've googled up some info. on kerosene used in hunting tents and it doesn't seem to be a prefered method of warming a tent. So... back to getting a Reddy Heater and toting a couple 10 lbs. propane tanks. Bugs |
RE: Tent question.
I've used the fuel oil/kesosene thing and if my wife hadn't woken up we may have all died.
I highly recommend against it. We did make an error, but still. I recommend against it. Stinky oily PITA! What ever you do, don't get a Buddy Heater.... totally unreliable at altitude. A Mr. Heater single burner will chase you right out of there and don't forget the Carbon Monoxide alarm. |
RE: Tent question.
Kerosene would smell up all of your gear stored in the tent clothes etc. wich would decrease your odds for hunting . A wall tent or something similar is the only way to go IMO . The main problem with propane or other liquide gasses are that they produce thier own condensate when burned adding to problems sometimes when you need to drie off clothes or warm up ! I have a 15 by 21 walltent that me and the in laws take hunting in october and the wood burner puts off a nice effective dry heat for heating the bones and drying clothes even in the harshest conditions! There are all kinds of sizes of wall tents that fit all kinds of budgets . I have spent more on tents and propane heating devices then I have on my walltent.Just my 2 cents but I will never agin spend money on a normall tent for hunting ever agin.
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RE: Tent question.
I might have mentioned it (kereosene) , and sorry I am not looking back to see if I did, I know that we have used them in the Army. What we did do though was hang the kerosene can outside the tent ad run the small fuel line into the stove to keep that smell out. Then with the stovepipe out the tot, it wasn't an issue.
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RE: Tent question.
DRMO...doesn't really exist as it did in the old days. Now Uncle Sam has contracted out to a company...can't remember the name.
Here is the website to use: http://www.govliquidation.com/ All the bidding is done on line. You can still go to the military bases where the stuff is stored to inspect, but, gotta bid on line. The process is fairly smooth. You set up credit card basedaccount, locate things to bid on, then go pick them up. Too easy, in fact. That is why I have about 400 ammo cans in my barn and 28 new mummy bags in my basement. |
RE: Tent question.
I mentioned the kero heater as well. If you are using one in a tent you CANNOT seal up the tent tight. Adequate ventilation is required. Fresh air from the top and the door left open at the bottom to allow escape for the bad gasses. That applies to any heater that is burning fuel. Also sleeping on a cot two feet off the ground would be a good idea as well.
The army tent I have is Canadian. 2-3 sections can, and I have set it up by myself. There are no center poles, the support is like an A without the horizontal bar. Set one side up and then the other. 2 sections with ends would weigh about 200 lbs, each support about 40(x3 for 2 section). Granted, many hands make light work. In the case of 2 section3 guy's can do it very easily. |
RE: Tent question.
We use a Davis 20 man wall tent " sleeps 7 with stove and gear we built our own stove some ten plus years ago and its time for a new one to bang around the trail LOL. but you can't beat a good wall tent and you should place a tarp over top as well it helps direct snow and rain from coming in the sides and a real good tarp for the floor helps stop moister from coming up threw the ground. make sure the floor is a bit bigger than the tent so you can cup it up the sides of the tent walls.We are at 10,000 foot and stay in for 15 days or two seasons and we have never had a better tent
 Now this hunt was early season and the rocks on the owning serveddual role,help collect cleaning water in the wash bins and two to help hold it down. worked great as a shower to when it rained LOL.  now this was second season and the front awning is in black plastic and is normally framed up to form an entrance room. the black plastic heats up in a hurry when the sun's out and dries the entry way out prit good.  Hear you can see how the outer shell really helps keep the snow back from the walls  \hear you can see the floor tarp silver side up to reflect heat " make sure you cut out around your stove at least three foot.  LOL the nice thing about a good box stove is when you have a horse wreck and the Colman got trashed you have something to cook on til you pack in the back up cookstove. Now if your going it alone think simple and practical the more crap in camp the more work you have. Make sure you can set it up your self. |
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