New wall tent advice

[Gerald Martin]

SO then why would anyone use an internal frame? I guess you always have the center poles either way though....

Ease of installation? I can set mine up in about ten minutes. My tent only leaks through onto the poles when we get a lot of rain. During the worst it drips every minute or two. Just enough to be really annoying if your face is under the drip when you are sleeping.

Tarp over the top fixes all of that.


To the OP. Go with a larger sized tent than you think you will need. You will not regret it. Add a good wood stove and you have some incredibly comfortable camping. I love my 12x16 for two or three guys. Our family of seven fits in it as well but it's pretty tight when you are trying to cook, live and sleep in that space.

 

[JLS]

Jose,

A couple of reasons, #1 being the moisture wicking at the ridge/eave poles. For guys questioning internal frames, you have this whether you do a lodgepole A frame or use a metal interior frame. Either way you have a ridge pole going through tent.

#2 is it helps insulate the tent a little better by preventing heat loss through the roof. I have a really nice fly made from sail cloth that sheds water like a duck, doesn't rattle like a blue tarp, and greatly increases heat retention.

 

[pabearhunter]

Denver Tent with internal frame 12x15 and 4 dog stove. ONE AND DONE.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Jose,

A couple of reasons, #1 being the moisture wicking at the ridge/eave poles. For guys questioning internal frames, you have this whether you do a lodgepole A frame or use a metal interior frame. Either way you have a ridge pole going through tent.

#2 is it helps insulate the tent a little better by preventing heat loss through the roof. I have a really nice fly made from sail cloth that sheds water like a duck, doesn't rattle like a blue tarp, and greatly increases heat retention.

Doesn't the tarp just trap the moisture inside the tent? You don't get the evaporation if you trap the moisture ??


Not sure I buy the heat retention thing, as that has never been a criteria. In any wall tent I have been in, the options fore heat were;

• Is stove burning? Tent is warm
• Is stove out? Tent is cold

I have never seen "Is stove out? Tent is warm" as an option.

 

[JoseCuervo]

If you are using an internal frame, rain will wick through the canvas where the poles come into contact with the canvas. I usually put a tarp over mine if it's not windy.

I want the moisture to wick through the canvas..... That is how I keep from having a sauna inside.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

I want the moisture to wick through the canvas..... That is how I keep from having a sauna inside.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm only going with a tarp if it's really pissing or I'm leaving the tent somewhere for a while and want to keep snow/rain off it.

Only logical way fire out and tent warm is if someone is doing blue darters.

In case you were wondering what a blue darter is...
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blue%20darter

 

[JLS]

Doesn't the tarp just trap the moisture inside the tent? You don't get the evaporation if you trap the moisture ??


Not sure I buy the heat retention thing, as that has never been a criteria. In any wall tent I have been in, the options fore heat were;

• Is stove burning? Tent is warm
• Is stove out? Tent is cold

I have never seen "Is stove out? Tent is warm" as an option.

I should have qualified that my tent is not a Davis. The quality of canvas is slightly above a burlap bag. Thus, wicking leads to dripping. To let moisture evaporate we open the door when we first fire up the stove and burn the hell out of it.

I agree, stove burning = warm and stove out = cold. The difference the fly makes is no fly = 4 logs is fine and fly = 4 logs is too damned hot.

Don't knock the sauna affect. A sweat lodge with cheap Canadian whiskey in the middle of the Scapegoat Wilderness is magical and leads to prophetic visions.

 

[noharleyyet]

A sweat lodge with cheap Canadian whiskey in the middle of the Scapegoat Wilderness is magical and leads to prophetic visions.

Hunter Thompson approves this message.

 

[elkduds]

Why I tarp my wall tent:

Protect it from UV.
Stays drier IMO.
Warmer when heated.
Semi-vestibule is dry, shaded cooking spot. Ditto storage, relaxing.
Protect canvas from cinders from wood stove chimney. If so equipped.
Speeds up drying tent for storage by keeping roof dry.

My tent is older and smallish @ 10x12. The extra covered space is useful, and I want it to last beyond my lifetime.

When I bought it used, I powerwashed it to clean some of the soot it had from previous owner using kerosene heater in it. Then I treated it w Canvak from Cabela's. Sprayed on to restore waterproofing I may have sprayed off, and to resist mildew. So far so good after 5 years.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I want the moisture to wick through the canvas..... That is how I keep from having a sauna inside.

Warm water vapor will still wick through as the molecules are much smaller than rain. Same way goretex works.

 

[1_pointer]

One tip I've read, that makes sense to me, if you plan on tarping your tent is to have the stove jack go out a wall vs. the roof. FWIW.

While I could see myself enjoying a hardsided camper, I'm leaning more and more towards a wall tent for my truck based hunts. Purchase price and storage space/cost have me leaning this way. Just need to figure out if I will have room in the faux truck I have...

 

[JoseCuervo]

Warm water vapor will still wick through as the molecules are much smaller than rain. Same way goretex works.

Until you cover with a tarp.


The way canvas works is the canvas fibers soak up moisture, and swell. As they swell, they get MORE waterproof, but still allow moisture to pass.

I could see taping if you held the tarp 12" above the canvas, to allow air movement.

I have spent a lot of nights in wall tents, never tarred, and never got wet, from the top. My water issues have always been from water running under the the tent walls.

 

[JoseCuervo]

I was thinking the same thing. I'm only going with a tarp if it's really pissing or I'm leaving the tent somewhere for a while and want to keep snow/rain off it.

Only logical way fire out and tent warm is if someone is doing blue darters.

In[/URL]

Yes, if you were leaving a tent, not bringing wet clothes, people breathing, cooking into the tent for a long period, then a tarp makes sense.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Until you cover with a tarp.


The way canvas works is the canvas fibers soak up moisture, and swell. As they swell, they get MORE waterproof, but still allow moisture to pass.

I could see taping if you held the tarp 12" above the canvas, to allow air movement.

I have spent a lot of nights in wall tents, never tarred, and never got wet, from the top. My water issues have always been from water running under the the tent walls.

Might just be a difference in areas, climate and the way that tarps are applied. I only cover the top. Never had a problem with the sauna effect. Can't say I know lots about wall tents, I just know I didn't enjoy the water that was running down the frame and dripping on my face every couple of minutes in the middle of the night. At least things dried out really quickly with the heat from the stove.

 

[Gerald Martin]

One other bit of info you guys probably already know, but do not walk on your canvas with dirty shoes. My brother helpfully walked on my tent when we packed it away in the summer. This fall when it rained hard, the water drops would come through on his footprint. I guess the dirt that was on the canvas trapped the water and transferred it through.

 

[el unit]

We always covered our wall tent roofs with a rain fly (tarp) and had no issues with condensation or the like. Those heavy-duty rain flys were a pain to roll up when breaking down a frozen camp though.

 

[BuzzH]

I have never tarped my Davis, and will never tarp it.

I have had zero problems with water coming through and that includes one night with over 1" of rain...

There is no need to tarp a good wall tent, IME.

 

[Sytes]

For a long while I did not tarp my recent wall tent. Up until the past few years however it began leaking.

I believe I destroyed the integrity of the canvas by washing it the end of each year. I don't believe the threading has the same swell type effect that typically closes the fabric from allowing water to pass. That is just my thought. The prior wall tent I had had been with me for god-knows-how-long and was never tarped. This wall tent had so many incredible memories. Each time the tent was used we used Sharpie markers and wrote about our individual adventure. While relaxing in the tent we were able to look back and more often than not recall fond memories.

Unfortunately I packed her away one event and forgot to air-dry her in the garage. Next time I used it I had the worst mold in the world. Good ol crusty hard yellowish mold that made the canvas brittle as can be. To the canvas bone yard , she went.

I thought for my new one I would be extra cautious and make it a point to wash her each year. And now I think the Integrity has been spoiled.

So now my new wall tent is tarped. It works just fine. In fact it works better than I had imagined. I have a nice tarped cover off the front and end. It makes a nice lounging area while sitting back in front of the fire outside and a place to stock items that do not necessarily have to be inside, i.e. firewood, etc. it is also easier to knock the snow off the roof.

So as much as the additional weight of a 14 by 20 tarp I find the convenience works pretty well so no complaints. I have never had condensation issues. I do not tarp all the way to the floor. There is way more than enough canvas area to alleviate condensation in my opinion. Of course I suppose location such as Alabama or the Carolinas would play a different factor however my experience regardless the weather I have camped in, I have yet to experience condensation of a level that caught my attention.

<royal edit due to wild voice to text auto @#$% correct...haha!>

 

[TimeOnTarget]

Anyone know how many feet of 1" EMT would be needed for a davis 14x16 tent? I'm looking at pulling the trigger on this size with the angle kit and im trying to figure total cost once I get and cut the needed EMT.


Thanks

 

[JoseCuervo]

Anyone know how many feet of 1" EMT would be needed for a davis 14x16 tent? I'm looking at pulling the trigger on this size with the angle kit and im trying to figure total cost once I get and cut the needed EMT.


Thanks

Really, really, really look at the external frame option.

Watch the video of his 10 year old girl setting up the tent.

[video=vimeo;27272394]https://vimeo.com/27272394[/video]