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Let's talk about SMALL canvas tents #8649077
10 hours ago
10 hours ago
Joined: Dec 2006
Wisconsin
Muskrat Offline OP
trapper
Muskrat  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Wisconsin
Good discussion going on wall tents on the other thread. OP looking for a tent for at least 4 and receiving good feedback. I've always enjoyed camping and the opportunities it gives one to arise "on site" and go about one's business. I've camped to fish, hunt and trap the next day for 60+ years. Experimented, listened to others, made poor decisions and have made good decisions. Number one consideration on your list should always be the quality of the canvas. You might keep your next tent for who knows how many years. Quality first. A rose is not a rose also holds true for canvas.

Small tents . . for just myself, or myself and a dog, or for two fellas and a dog, and that will be tight. And gear.

First up is a used tent that I picked up at a rendezvous years ago. Called the Lean-pee, the Forester by some, and single pole lodge by others. This one has RK Lodges stamped on the side of it. No room for woodstove, but I suppose one could put in a stove jack, but it would be tight in this tent for sure. Very easy to put up. Stake around with about a third of the stakes, erect the single pole inside, then finish staking out. Sleeps two easily, one on each side of the pole. Great for one with all gear inside and dog.

Here it is at rendezvous. Makes a great guest room or garage. Easy up, easy down.

[Linked Image]

At duck/bow deer camp. Easy to drop in the morning, cover with canvas, set up next to the duck blind and the birds never know it's there. Come in the evening before, set camp, get up and hunt. No having to run the river in the fog in the morning and dealing with all that nonsense.

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And with a fly. Jim Fairchild from Spring Valley Lodges custom makes my flys, all of which have a "swallow tail" end that helps to wrap back against the tent to keep rain out during storms.

[Linked Image]

Again, fair weather. I have run a Mr. Heater in there, but if it's going to be for a couple of days I like my woodstove.

So, next up is the wedge tent. Stake it out, raise the beam with two uprights, and your set up. This one is 10x13 with an 8' ceiling. Plenty of room for two with woodstove. We cover this one up during the hunt with an old German WWII camouflaged parachute I picked up at a rummage sale years ago. Back at same camp site as the Lean-pee above. This fly is longer. Both fly and tent made by Jim.

[Linked Image]

At deer camp . . .

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I run a three-dog woodstove in there with rear exit. Quite a bit of woodstove in there for the size of the tent, but once dampered down, will run most or all the night without having to get up and reload.

Last is a tent that I initially fell in love with but still too much screwing around with the side poles and all compared to the wedge. A 10x10 single pole pyramid with two foot sidewalls. Lone deer camp and it decided to snow that evening. Pics were a day apart.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

The green fly was retired once I got the swallow tails.

Again, the small tent allows me to take life at a more leisurely pace. Get out there the evening before, enjoy the campfire, watch the sun go down, and when it's wakeup time I'm there. Those runs up or down the river in the wee hours just aren't the thrill they used to be. That and you wake up on site. If it's duck camp, you can walk to your blind and the decoys are waiting to be tossed out. If it's deer bow camp, you can paddle up/down stream and arrive at your stand still without making too much noise.

That's about it. Again . . think about good quality canvas. I give the Davis Tent Company a big thumbs up as well as Spring Valley Lodges. Think outside your comfort zone. If it's for the colder months, you don't need zippers, skeeter netting, windows, etc. You don't need a sewn in floor. A piece of canvas that fits the floor and overlaps the sod cloth is all you need. I'll probably think of something else and add it in here, but hopefully some of this helps you in making a decision about a small tent that will meet your needs.


Lifetime member of WTA and NTA
Re: Let's talk about SMALL canvas tents [Re: Muskrat] #8649085
9 hours ago
9 hours ago
Joined: Mar 2012
meadowview, Virginia
E
EdP Offline
trapper
EdP  Offline
trapper
E

Joined: Mar 2012
meadowview, Virginia
I've had a couple of the RK Lodges LeanPee's over the years, but never thought to set them up like that. We usually used them as a diamond or as a tent fly in front of our 10x10 Wedge.

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