Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting sleeping in wall tents

I really need to scan in some elk camp pics... maybe tomorrow...

-jeff

I have both a Kifaru Tipi and a wall tent, and much prefer the wall tent for comfort if I can pack it to the hunting spot. They are both great systems, but for different situations. The Kifaru does excel for plane travel. I must politely disagreee with Kutenay's comment about wall tents being too damp and having mildew problems in the "Canadian" climate - wall tents work just fine in Saskatchewan, where it is much drier than in most of BC, and you can see by the attached picture that my tent has no mildew problems, in fact I mostly do not even bother with a fly because we don't get much precipitation. Just different conditions depending on where you go.

Plenty of BC outfitters using wall tents so they must work?

MtnHtr

I love those pic's guys.

Gdv

Sorry, I should not have generalized about Canada, typical "Lotua Land" attitude, eh!

I can tell you from LONG, hard experience that a camp set up like yours in the photo HERE, would be soggy as hell within two days in November. During the many years I worked out of various bush camps here, I came to hate wall tents with a passion and I have set up enough camps to just detest them....give me a synthetic tent that will DRY OUT, but, each to his own...any big Whitetails on that trip?

Actually, the use of wall tents among BC outfitters, mineral exporation crews, forestry crews and various other groups living in the BC bush, especially remote wilderness areas has declined greatly over the past couple of decades. The outiftters have main lodges, cabins at "satellite camps" and use mountain tents such as Hillebergs at "spike camps".

I know this from having been in a lot of these camps from 1965 to the present and am going to the Yukon/northern BC, briefly, later this month; I am actually being hired to set up camps among other duties, due to having done so much of this over the years.

A few weeks ago, I talked with Petra Hilleberg as I had asked them last February about poassible wood heating of their large Atlas base camp tent. She mentioned that they WERE "working"on this, using a good, old Kifaru stove to develop a system. Now, THAT would really be the catsazz, IMO, OR, maybe Patrick and EdT might develop a Titanium airtight and this would all weigh maybe 35 lbs, total. What a wilderness rig that would be!!!

Hey, Kute, don't worry about speaking for other parts of Canada in your posts, I know I often generalize about other places based on my own experience, it's only natural. That's when others should post opinions, and the reader can sort it out! I know that I would need to modify my methods for wetter climates, and your recommendations also match my very limited experience gained from three hunting trips to the Yukon (weather similar to BC I think, much wetter than SK).
We shot a couple of whitetail does and one nice buck on that trip, ( somewhere around 160 pts, but didn't bother to measure, we're mostly meat hunters) but all the moose were able to avoid us that time.

Kute,

Its probably not an option for wilderness areas but I think for long term setup a wood foundation/floor is best. They use canvas wall tents up in the park over here with no mildew problems. These tents stay up year around and some remain in the shade all winter due to the canyon walls. And it is foggy/misty on most days (when its not raining or snowing) so there is plenty of moisture.


I personally know of some hunting camps in WY and ID that use wood floors and frames too.

MtnHtr

About all the longer I'd ever set up a wall tent would be two weeks, and I do admit I'd be somewhat worried about using one for two solid weeks in the rain... but where I would be setting mine up snow is much, much more likely.

My bud's tent, the one that got stored wrong and then pressure washed and is now ruined, would leak in the snow. The walls would get wet. PITA. I'll probably tarp mine. I'm pissed because a couple years ago, as a contribution to elk camp, I had a tent company make me a tarp out of tent fabric that we could use to go between our two wall tents, instead of a blue tarp.. but it's just a couple feet too small to work as a fly on the tent I'm about to order! Dang it.

-jeff

I use an old down mummy bag and 3" inches of foam on the cot.The foam is as important as the bag.

Jeff, you ought to start a thread on the Blue poly tarp cult. Best thing that has happened to canvas tents

Ahmen, mine is green though.

Green tarps are much better than blue tarps...ask anyone who has used both. Blue ones just aren't heavy enough to do the job...too much is lost from using a tarp that's just not big enough for the job.
Green tarps are better for longer range planning...they go farther, and are better for bigger jobs. And there's a bigger selection of sizes.
For the best though, use a grey one...real men use grey tarps. They go farther than all the little green or blue tarps. Blue tarps are ok for women and children, especially when modified to fit smaller frames. Green tarps are ok for most mansized jobs, but grey is the best because they are bigger and therefore reach farther and are more hard hitting when it comes to getting the job done. My favorite tarp is a grey 20x30', modified to fit my frame, of course. It's a custom tarp with 1 in 3' grommets.

No more "cult" posting from me! The natives were getting restless. Feel free, though! Oregon is one big cult of the blue tarp anyway. People roof their frikkin' houses with 'em!

-jeff