In your opinion - who makes the best wall tent?

[mtn-memories]

I've saved the money and have the green light. Now I just have to make the final decision on which wall tent to buy. Montana Canvas? Davis Tent? Yakima? AAA Tent? Western Wall Tents? Others? Any opinions, experience, or suggestions welcome. Thanks!

[DesertBull]

I've saved the money and have the green light. Now I just have to make the final decision on which wall tent to buy. Montana Canvas? Davis Tent? Yakima? AAA Tent? Western Wall Tents? Others? Any opinions, experience, or suggestions welcome. Thanks!

 

 

Cabelas Bighorn or Alaknak. Way easier to set up. Weighs WAY less. No big poles to deal with. Synthetic material will be more resistant to water and mold damage. Optional vestibules for storage, cooking, etc. Their stove sucks, but the tent is tops.

[singleshot]

I have a montana canvas. I have had it for 12 years. Bought a custom model through Cabelas with two screen doors and no stove jack. Qwik camp frame. 12 x 17 foot. I set up the tent the first time and put a sprinkler inside and over the top for 24 hours and then let it dry out in the hot August sun. This melts the canvak into every seam. It's been through massive monsoons, 12 inches of snow, strong winds. Never has leaked a drop of rain. It has been fantastic overall. I have had to cut about six inches total out of the legs and rafters to accomadate shrinkage of the canvas. It has been a great tent and a really good investment. It is heavy, the tent alone weighs over 100 lbs, the frame probably 60. I can set it up myself, but it's easier with help. If I had to do it over again I might look into the new synthetics. But a wall tent looks good, and smells good, and works good.

[mtn-memories]

I've saved the money and have the green light. Now I just have to make the final decision on which wall tent to buy. Montana Canvas? Davis Tent? Yakima? AAA Tent? Western Wall Tents? Others? Any opinions, experience, or suggestions welcome. Thanks!

 

 

Cabelas Bighorn or Alaknak. Way easier to set up. Weighs WAY less. No big poles to deal with. Synthetic material will be more resistant to water and mold damage. Optional vestibules for storage, cooking, etc. Their stove sucks, but the tent is tops.

 

I know what you are saying, and it makes sense. But I've spent a lot of years day-dreaming about a nostalgic canvas wall tent, not sure I can shake the obsession with logic.

[mtn-memories]

I have a montana canvas. I have had it for 12 years. Bought a custom model through Cabelas with two screen doors and no stove jack. Qwik camp frame. 12 x 17 foot. I set up the tent the first time and put a sprinkler inside and over the top for 24 hours and then let it dry out in the hot August sun. This melts the canvak into every seam. It's been through massive monsoons, 12 inches of snow, strong winds. Never has leaked a drop of rain. It has been fantastic overall. I have had to cut about six inches total out of the legs and rafters to accomadate shrinkage of the canvas. It has been a great tent and a really good investment. It is heavy, the tent alone weighs over 100 lbs, the frame probably 60. I can set it up myself, but it's easier with help. If I had to do it over again I might look into the new synthetics. But a wall tent looks good, and smells good, and works good.

 

Was your montana canvas "sunforger" or "treated"? I wasn't aware that the canvas shrunk that much. I may very well look into a synthetic or at least a blend. Thanks for your input!

[Coach]

I'm in the same boat. I want to get a good wall tent, but I'm also looking at the Alaknak. There is something to be said about sleeping in a quality wall tent. Some guys I know and hunt with have a nice canvas wall tent and every hunt, as a tradtition, the guys will sign the tent with their outcomes. It's unofficially called "camp cantaloupe" because of one of our young hunters on an anteloupe hunt referring to his "cantaloupe" hunt.

 

You can compare canvas to high-tech materials all day, but every time I step into "camp cantaloupe", I know I am amoung friends, will sleep warm and dry and hopefully be able to write something new on the wall about the latest adventure. There's nothing like the smell of a good, cotton wall tent to bring home the spirit of the hunt and the people you shared it with.

[singleshot]

I have a montana canvas. I have had it for 12 years. Bought a custom model through Cabelas with two screen doors and no stove jack. Qwik camp frame. 12 x 17 foot. I set up the tent the first time and put a sprinkler inside and over the top for 24 hours and then let it dry out in the hot August sun. This melts the canvak into every seam. It's been through massive monsoons, 12 inches of snow, strong winds. Never has leaked a drop of rain. It has been fantastic overall. I have had to cut about six inches total out of the legs and rafters to accomadate shrinkage of the canvas. It has been a great tent and a really good investment. It is heavy, the tent alone weighs over 100 lbs, the frame probably 60. I can set it up myself, but it's easier with help. If I had to do it over again I might look into the new synthetics. But a wall tent looks good, and smells good, and works good.

 

Was your montana canvas "sunforger" or "treated"? I wasn't aware that the canvas shrunk that much. I may very well look into a synthetic or at least a blend. Thanks for your input!

 

 

When I bought my tent I can't remember any options such as "sunforger" I think it was treated with canvak. The first few years it would feel a little greasy. A friend of mine has the same tent but his is about 15 years old with only one door, the small window, and the stove jack. I paid extra for the two screened doors and it is well worth it. The screens keep the bugs out and let the breeze blow through your tent. I have never had to re-treat my tent with waterproofer and I think it is because I follwed the directions of soaking it and allowing it to dry in the sun. The shrinkage does not happen all at once. My tent has been through some serious white mountain rains and I have cut a total of 6 inches off of the rafters and legs. The length has stayed the same? I didn't buy a floor, I lay down a 12 x 20 foot tarp and the grommets match up with those of the tent. Stake the floor out through the tent grommets above the sod cloth and lay down a piece of indoor / outdoor carpeting that fits the whole floor. Works great and feels great on your feet. I highly reccomend the qwik kamp frame. It is bell and spigot 1" ridgid conduit and is really stout. I can hang from the rafters at 190 pounds and they don't flex.

[Schmitty]

Go with a Davis. I don't think there is a huge difference between the top quality tent manufacturers, but Davis has a great reputation for customer service and taking care of folks. I have a Davis 14x16 sunforger 10 oz w/ screen door and 3 windows. I'd recommend spending the extra $ on windows to increase your ventilation for earlier hunts and summer camping. The sunforger treated canvas has minimal shrinkage (they recommend setting it up and wetting it down to shrink it down to the frame when you get it). A treated canvas tent will shed water just fine, is much more breathable than the synthetics, and is much easier to repair should a mishap happen and will most likely last much longer. There are plenty of outfitters who have been using the same wall tents for 20 plus seasons.

 

Good luck,

Schmitty

[mtn-memories]

Go with a Davis. I don't think there is a huge difference between the top quality tent manufacturers, but Davis has a great reputation for customer service and taking care of folks. I have a Davis 14x16 sunforger 10 oz w/ screen door and 3 windows. I'd recommend spending the extra $ on windows to increase your ventilation for earlier hunts and summer camping. The sunforger treated canvas has minimal shrinkage (they recommend setting it up and wetting it down to shrink it down to the frame when you get it). A treated canvas tent will shed water just fine, is much more breathable than the synthetics, and is much easier to repair should a mishap happen and will most likely last much longer. There are plenty of outfitters who have been using the same wall tents for 20 plus seasons.

 

Good luck,

Schmitty

 

Thanks for your input Schmitty! I've heard good things about Davis.

[Curtis Reed]

I have a 12x14 Davis tent with internal frame. I love that thing, and I cant say enough good things about the guys at Davis Tent. A great, American company. I also have their Big Boy cot, and that thing is built like a tank. Both the tent and cot should last a lifetime. I don't like the condensation problems that other tents like the Alaknak have. Canvas is very breathable and durable.

[Curtis Reed]

I have a montana canvas. I have had it for 12 years. Bought a custom model through Cabelas with two screen doors and no stove jack. Qwik camp frame. 12 x 17 foot. I set up the tent the first time and put a sprinkler inside and over the top for 24 hours and then let it dry out in the hot August sun. This melts the canvak into every seam. It's been through massive monsoons, 12 inches of snow, strong winds. Never has leaked a drop of rain. It has been fantastic overall. I have had to cut about six inches total out of the legs and rafters to accomadate shrinkage of the canvas. It has been a great tent and a really good investment. It is heavy, the tent alone weighs over 100 lbs, the frame probably 60. I can set it up myself, but it's easier with help. If I had to do it over again I might look into the new synthetics. But a wall tent looks good, and smells good, and works good.

 

Was your montana canvas "sunforger" or "treated"? I wasn't aware that the canvas shrunk that much. I may very well look into a synthetic or at least a blend. Thanks for your input!

 

As long as it is set up completely (all ropes and stakes used) then it shouldnt shrink. If you just set the canvas over the internal frame without stakes or ropes then it will shrink too much. You can get the tent back to original condition:

 

http://davistent.com/html/framefit.html

[mtn-memories]

I have a 12x14 Davis tent with internal frame. I love that thing, and I cant say enough good things about the guys at Davis Tent. A great, American company. I also have their Big Boy cot, and that thing is built like a tank. Both the tent and cot should last a lifetime. I don't like the condensation problems that other tents like the Alaknak have. Canvas is very breathable and durable.

 

Would the 12x14 accomodate 3 big cots and a stove with ample room to get around without tripping over one another?

[clinthamblin]

look at David Ellis out of colorado also.I have a bedroll and a tent from him and they

are top quality. I think his website is cowboycamp.net

[azslim]

+1 on the Bighorn, weighs in around 75 lbs plus no center poles to dodge like on the Alaknak. Also have the Outback Lodge 12x12, weighs in at 25 lbs but have to dodge the center pole. I heat with propane so can't comment on stove use.

[Viper]

I have the Alaknak 12x12...love it! I can set it up myself. Everything...tent, roof protector, floor protector, poles, ropes, stakes, weighs around 75 lbs. It is very weather/wind proof. The stove that I got with it is OK, but not airtight like a cylinder stove. It easily sleeps 3 with the stove, 2 is more comfortable. I usually use a propane heater, as the stove will blow you out of there. Temps need to be below 40. I like the center pole. I bought the hangers that attach to the pole, for hanging clothes to dry, or hang a lantern, or....makes a good dance pole for the wife/girlfriend I also have the vestibule. That adds a bunch more space for gear, table, whatever. The only negative is...a lot of stake pounding. Canvas is nice, but much heavier, much more $$, and usually no floor. The "mildew" smell bothers my sinuses. It's a matter of choice.