Hunting & Fishing Outfitters Tent

[Jig Stick]

I am in need of an outfitters tent and tent stove for this upcoming deer season, as well as some planned hunting trips out west. Does anyone have any experience with canvas walled tents and the tent stoves? I have been looking at the following:

The Cabelas Bighorn 3 tent

The 12x15 canvas wall package by CylinderStoves.com (Camp Packages - 12x15 Camp Package w/A-Frame)

If I went with the cabelas tent I would still need to buy a stove, and Ive had my eye on the Kifaru ones. The canvas tent by Cylinderstoves seems like a hell of a deal for the money because for their price, they include a frame. Most other wall tent manufacturers dont include the frame. Any ideas of the quality of these two tents? I need something that can handle temps into the single digits, and moderate snow. Tent will be packed in on a truck or horse.

 

[Trevor300wsm]

This is the only wall tent brand I have ever used, or would use. The last one I had.....I sold a year ago, had been in use for about 15 seasons and was still in great shape. If taken care of, they can last 20yrs. As for a stove, we've used several different kinds, inlcuding some we made ourselves. They all seem to work pretty well.

Montana Canvas - Wall Tents

 

[jd-11]

trevor, sending you a pm

 

[Infinity]

I have a 12' x 12' alaknak w/ vestibule, also the large cylinder stove...I've always been happy with both. They easily handle temps below zero and the weight of snow (clear tent off if it snows more than a foot). The chimney liner, stovepipe top, and vestibule are all necessary imo. The liner keeps embers from burning holes in the tent. The stovepipe top (think I'm calling it the wrong label) keeps you from finding a puddle in your stove. I did without the vestibule for a year and really enjoy its additional space/protection.

I refinish the stove every year and it is like getting a new one each time.

I know the bighorn used to have condensation issues but not sure if they fixed that or not. Best of luck with the decision and on your trips.

 

[rem300wm]

I spend somewhere on the order of three weeks to one month a year in a wall tent or cowboy teepee. Most of that time is in the back country but sometimes out of pickup too.

Treveor is quite right about the Montana Canvas tents. The material they are built from sheds moisture well at a significantly lighter weight than canvas. If you are using a wood stove, especially if you burn any paper in the stove, a spark arrestor is almost a must with one of these tents.

The folks I guide hunters for have used the cylinder stoves for years and they are good stoves. Easy to pack and a reasonable weight.

If you will be going into the back country with horses very often, weight is a big consideration. I noticed the package offered by Cylinder Stoves weighs 199. That's not too bad with the stove but I am sure the frame is adding weight to the package.

In my opinion the internal frames are great if you are setting up at the end of the road. If you have to pack everything in I would leave the frame home. I haven't found a camp site yet that didn't have some dead wood close with which to build a frame.

One thing I will say about the Big Horn Tent is that geometric shaped tents like that make great use of the space inside. In that regard they are generally more efficient than a wall tent. If you decide to go with a wall tent you might consider buying one with 5 foot walls. That makes the space near the outside edge of the tent much more usable.

One last thing I might suggest is a fly. Most tent manufactures will offer flys as well. You can do it a little cheaper with plastic tarps from someplace like Wal Mart. Waterproof and snow slides off of them very well. Even with a fabric like Montana Canvas uses, days of rain or snow will likely start coming through the fabric, even if you treat it often. Plastic tarps take the worry of leaks and snow load out of the picture for the most part.

Good luck on your hunt!