Now that the season's over for me (hunted Archery, 2nd and 3rd season), it's time to start planning for next years hunts. I'm trying to figure out some new accessories/tricks for the wall tent to make life a little easier. So what do you guys have? Homemade, store-bought, doesn't matter. Post pics if you got 'em.

I'll start. We used to hang wet clothes along the ridge pole, but this usually just got in the way. Since then I've upgraded to a simple over the door coat rack (6 hooks and about $12) near each cot to hang things. Easy to move closer to or further away from the stove depending on my needs.

I built a plywood box for the frame conduit. It comes apart and can be used for shelves on either side of the tent. Another plywood insulated box for the woodstove/lanterns can be used for a table and mouseproof food storage.

I color coded my ridge poles with green paint, it's easy to spot the wall poles and anything left is rafters

This is exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks Huntsman22. I have the pole bags from Davis currently, but when they wear out (starting already), I'll build a box. Do you just attach it to the poles using wire? I also have the stove in a plastic tub with wheels. Makes for a good place to leave the bags for the stakes, angles, etc.

Tracks, I did the same only with electrical tape. But paint would have been much easier.

Keep the ideas coming!

I didn't do the paint or tape on the poles. Guys that borrow the deal, can't screw up if the blueprint is marked on the box...

I wire or plumbers strap the shelves up.

I also run a rope thru the ridge angles to hang and dry clothes and such. If I need them closer to the stove, I'll run one between rafters.


I take a few carpet scraps to stand on to get dressed or to stage stuff on. A tent floor is a royal pain-in-the-azz. Who wants to sweep, clean and take off muddy boots when ya come in?





you can stand them up during the day to keep them dry.

Made some serious tent stakes by cutting steel fence posts into 2-foot lengths.

That's me and my Dad breaking down camp.

I used to use a bucket of concrete stakes with a nail bent through the top hole and a washer under it. I like the fence post idea, and I really like your puller.

I did a tarp for the floor. If I were doing it again, I'd cover about half the floor, away from the stove.

I bought four of the Cabela's cot side night stand/organizers that are made to hang on the side of a cot out of their Bargain Cave for next to nothing. They work great to hang on the frame rails (similar to Huntsman's shelf) to keep stuff organized and off the ground. Great for matches, spices, utensils, lights, batteries, you name it.

A Cabela's cot tree is also handy for hanging jackets, hats, etc. on.

I use a propane tree for my lantern and keep the tank in a square milk crate to keep it more stable and tie a long handled lighter to a cord right on the tree so I'm not always looking for it. The milk crate also helps keep the tank in one place in the truck/trailer.

Collapsible feed buckets/yard waste containers make great garbage cans with a liner.

A paper plate on top of a plastic plate gives support, saves washing dishes, and goes in the fire:

There's a collapsible trash can in this picture.....

A fly/tarp helps keeps snow off. Will also help keep embers from your stove off the roof (assuming your pipe goes through the roof).

My two favourite accessories are my double bed and a heat reflector for the stove.

I built a bed using 3/4 ply to double bed dimensions. I used some hinge from the hardware store so it folds in half to fit easily into my utility trailer. It has two aluminum tubing cross pcs that attach with carriage bolts. This then rests on four 5 gallon buckets turned upside down. Obviously one bucket at each corner. This is super comfortable and my darling wife has been content to sleep for a week on this contraption with me.

The heat reflector is made from 22 ga galvanized sheet metal. It is 59"tall. It has a centre section that is 24" wide with "wings" 12" wide that are attached by spot welded hinges. It has 1/2 safety hems all around to eliminate any sharp edges. This allows me to place my stove tight to the back wall of my tent to free up room and not worry about tent damage or fire risk. This also throws a lot of the heat back towards the front of the tent and occupants making the tent a lot warmer when the stove is choked down. In fact even in weather as cold As -25c I have not needed to run the stove full bore once a coal base has been established.

Fuzzy

One of these sure beats messing around with matches and tinder when lighting the fire, especially if the kindling is a bit damp. Hint - be sure the get the self lighting one.

You men who think you don't need a floor have never set up on frozen ground. I use concrete blankets. Lay them on top of the sod cloth.

bullshit.....frozen ground is the norm. A couple days with the stove going will dry it out . Why anyone would want to dick with insulating blankets and housecleaning is beyond me. If you spend any amount of time in a tent, you'll figger it out.

This year we set up camp in a nice grassy meadow. We had a great natural carpet. It rained and the meadow was soaked outside but inside it was stocking feet on a soft 'floor'.

I use a heavy vinyl floor that came with my tent and a few small pieces of carpet like Huntsman uses floor. Takes all of 10 minutes to sweep out and frozen or muddy ground doesnt bother me a bit.

That is 10 more minutes you could be hunting.....

Im typically not in camp during legal hours...

it's a bish to have to come home after dark and clean house.

CumminsHunter: I spend 14 to 20 days a year in our high country Hunting camp and its 12'x16' wall tent.
Without a doubt the greatest addition to our tent/camp has been a stainless steel water heater that attaches to the side of our tents stove!
It is SO wonderful to have boiling water available for washing our bodies, cooking, cleaning dishes, to make an impromptu cup of hot chocolate, coffee or a hot toddy made with boiling water, Tang and good whiskey (try this sometime - it is much better than it sounds!).
Happy camping.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Then dont. Still cleaner than dirt..

Instead of putting a tarp on top of the tent, use Visqueen. It allows more light in. You can get the ripstop kind and use if for a couple of years in a row.

Thanks for all the replies!

Huntsman22 and Bwalker, I agree that there are conflicting opinions on the floor thing. What I've come up with is sort of in between. I use the 3/4 floor that came with my tent. I just put it down and use a couple of old carpets near the cots for a nice place to put your feet on in the morning. However, I haven't cleaned, swept or washed the floor since I've owned it. I don't take off boots on the tarp, and the entire camp (10-15 people) gathers in the tent frequently. If you're going to do a floor, I'd do no larger than 3/4. This leaves room near the door to store wood, dig a hole for a dutch oven, and help soak up mud.

MontanaMarine, those look like they hold pretty well... ever had any problems getting them to come back out?

GreatWaputi, I made someting similar to the cot organizer out of PVC, but switched to the over the door coat rack because it's pretty handy to move closer to the stove when clothes are wet, or move back to the bunks when they're dry. I have one by each cot...

Fuzzyone, any pics of the reflector? Sounds like that may be a good idea for the cold nights and to help the heat more evenly distribute around the tent...

RockChuck, I agree with the self igniting propane torch. I honestly haven't started a fire in my stove with a match ever... And it's really nice not to have to worry about the matches when its dark and cold out (or in).

Varmitguy, I agree, the stove jacket water heater is very nice. It can be a pain to keep full with water depending on the use of the stove and how hot it is. However, I've been looking at the Zodi Extreme Camp shower. Seems simple enough just to put on the stove and heat it up... That would make the Royal Throne I have from Davis a little more useful.

Snake River Marksman, I haven't seen visqueen before. As for covering the tent with a tarp, I simply haven't been for the last few years. I had one the first year, as you can see in the pics below. Instead, I've had snow simply slide off the roof by tapping the roof from the inside. Easy and quick. (A warm fire helps too). Plus, I've been told and noticed that the hardest thing on these tents seems to be the sun.

Thanks again. I'm hoping for this thread to be a good reference tool with all the tricks, tips, etc in one place for future (and veteran) tent owners, so keep them coming. I've had a Kings Package (14x16 tent, 2 cots, stove kit) from Davis Tent since 2010. I spend between 15-25 nights a year in it with anyone where between 1 to 4 hunters in there. I wouldn't want more than 4 in there because it gets tight with gear. However, If we have 4, I usually add the 8 ft. porch on. It pretty simple and can be seen in the pics below. Its nice to park the quad and leave the coolers out there if its snowing. Saves ice and space!

I've learned that using coal helps make starting the stove in the morning easier, although it doesn't really give off that much heat. I make the coffee the night before, put it on the stove warmer. Then in the morning its a quick jump out of bed, break up the coals with the firepoker, toss a couple split logs in, open the dampers, slide the coffee over, and back in bed for an hour or so...

Pictures of my set up:

Bought a Riley pellet stove for my wall tent this year and I love it. Fill the hopper before I go to bed and wake up in the morning with it still burning. I burn pellets in my garage because trees are few and far between here in eastern montana and the ones that are here people don't want cut down so burning pellets work better for me. I take a bag for each day and don't have to waste time cutting firewood when I could be out hunting.

Laker,

I've heard great things about riley stoves. I have seriously considered adding a pellet kit to my stove to help make it through the nights...

CumminsHunter,
Is that in Logan Canyon in Utah?

Nope... Unit 44/444 in Colorado

Come a big snow dump, I'll bet the guy with the big, tip-out fifthwheel wishes he had it pointed toward the road...... like the resta the guys that know what they're doing.

I know how that goes. Years ago I had a full sized Blazer and an old 16' camp trailer. We set up about 50 yds off the road in a few inches of snow - and pointed towards the road. During the night, it turned to rain and poured all night. The next morning we decided to screw the hunting and get out of there. I chained up the fronts and headed for the road...for 10 yds. Then I chained up the rears. That got it to the road. The road was fairly solid but it was so greasy that it took us 3 hours to go 10 miles, even with 4 chains. We couldn't keep the trailer out of the barrow pit even at 5 mph. We never got stuck but we did a lot of sweating.

Na, he keeps it plenty warm in there. He's also got a ladder and a broom if he needs it - though I've never seen him need it. It's turned that way to be a wind block. We have almost no wind in the center of camp there because of the way it's turned.

All 3 of those guys double tow and they have chains for every axle (6 sets). I've seen them pull out of camp in deep deep snow no problem.

We did need a hatchet to get to the beer in the cooler...

My apologies but despite my relative youth I am not particularly computer savy when it comes to posting pics. Here is my best depiction of the heat shield

\_/ The angled parts being 12" and the middle 24". It folds flat nicely for storage and transport.

Fuzzy

a stack of firewood behind, and to the side of the stove will reflect heat also. With the advantage of keeping your wood dry, and the disadvantage of having the stove further from the wall. I'll take the dry wood......

A heat shield UNDER the stove will keep grass from cotching fire, as in my first pic.

Fuzzyone, I think I know what you mean... May have to try that.

Huntsman22, I stack the wood near the stove too, but honestly that's mostly for convenience.

My stove stands roughly 10" off the ground, so no worries about burning anything underneath unless I've jammed a bunch of wood to dry down there. Huntsmen you owe it to yourself to try a good reflector you can dry more wood safely this way and reap the benefits of increased heating efficiency and maximized space. I was completely blown away at much better the tent is with the reflector. I have since made 2 more for friends and there reactions have been the same.

Fuzzy

yeah. It's convenient to have dry wood....

Fuzz, If it is heating efficiency yer after, insulate the whole fugging tent.....

then you can really talk about being blown away.....

I'm surprised nobody has brought up the convenience of having an indoor chitter. A bucket buddy is yer friend...as is the midnight pee bottle...


Nothing like taking the ol' morning constitution in woodstove heated comfort as compared to the wind-blown, snow-covered latrine log at 0 degrees......

Got this trick from a buddy as most of us like our latrine a distance from camp. Made a commode by buying one of those blue plastic barrels. Cut it in half and cut a hole to fit a toilet seat in the bottom. Bolt the seat down to the barrel, with the seat at the front edge of the barrel and all you do is dig a hole an place it over the hole. Keeps the splashing down and is more comfortable than most toilet seats. The last couple years we finally bought one of those small "privacy" shelters to keep the rain and snow off the toilet between uses. Usually just keep a couple rolls of TP in a gallon ziploc bag near the toilet to keep it dry and handy.

Have to disagree with the floor thing. We all have carpets for our tent floors and put a tarp underneath to keep the moisture out. I hate getting up in the morning or during the night and putting my bare or stocking feet on a cold dirt floor. Also, tends to keep the floor a little more even than the natural dirt floor. Never really had much problem with getting mud on the floor- sometimes some snow gets tracked in like it did this week, but never really and issue. Sweep it off with a stiff broom and roll it up for the next use and throw it in the utility trailer.

I've never liked cooking in my main tent for lots of reasons, moisture in the tent, heat, food smells in the tent in bear country, loss of usable room, etc.... so we bought a 10 x 12 cook tent to concentrate the cooking, food storage, clean up, coolers, food smells, etc.. all in one place away from the main tent(s). We got one of the those foldable 3 x 6 tables for the main tent and some foldable metal chairs for everyone to eat together and BS when the weather is really crappy outside and keep it in my main tent. Great to have a place to sit, set our plates when we eat, and have the serving dishes on the table instead of setting them on the ground or sleeping cot. .

Cabela's sells some great camp kitchens and you can find all kind of canvas organizers that hang from your tent frame to keep all sorts of things up and out of the way. Personal items get stored under the cots for additional room.

We do like a comfy camp.

Bob

Never liked to crap in my kitchen. I did put one in my stock trailer once.

I'm not into huffing a lot of s h i t fumes. With a few folks in the tent, that would get downright unbearable.

I'd much sooner put up a small crapper tent.

I agree w/ not having a bathroom inside... I time my need to use the outhouse better.

Looks like a latrine tent to the bottom right of that pic!

Mike

MontanaMarine

Might save a little digging by cutting one of these down to pull your stakes.

http://www.amazon.com/Lifter-Puller...p;sr=8-16&keywords=fence+post+puller

Mike

Good eye ready_on_the_right, That's a royal throne from Davis Tent. I just use it as a shower tent. My latrine is conveniently located in 3 separate places (Those nice large 5th wheels)

That idea sounds much more comfy!

Mike

The steel post stakes aren't really hard to get out, just a couple knocks on the side to get them loosened. I took the spade plates off the posts.

I always have a pick to dig the crapper with. In the picture, Dad had just grabbed the pick loosen up the stakes.

Ah that does make it much easier.

Mike

The spade plates on the stakes work great in sandy soil. Good to have a few of those in your kit.

I always set up a Crapper tent, Simple A frame set up with Canvas Tarp as the roof. Crapper is dug with a Post Hole Digger, Then The Plywood Crapper Box with standard seat gets set over it. Tent Stakes are 18" Concrete stakes, I also bring a few 24" and 36" for real windy conditions or bad soil. 3lb hammer. Cut Off T-posts would not work very well where I set up sometimes, Rocks or Having them freeze in when it gets below zero. Hard enough to get the concrete stakes out of frozen ground. One Guy I know uses 4' sections of 1/2 Galvanized water pipe for staking a large Army Tent. Floor is a Poly tarp with 6'wide rolls of Cheap Indoor Outdoor carpet from Home Depot. The Stove side gets a short roll. White heavy Poly tarp for roof slide/Rain Fly. I bought the long leg kit for my Cylinder Stove to solve the ground catching on fire issue

we put 6 mil poly on the ground (keeps the dampness out) and cover it with 1/2 " plywood landscape cloth then put carpet remnants in front of the bunks. We also have a door from a tent trailer that we fashioned for the tent door, works pretty slick.

setting up the floor system

Why not just build a house?.....

It is our house , for 3 weeks. Might as well be comfy

How do you do that with 2 ft of snow on the ground?

Last year I figured it out. I'm too old to do all that setting up, tearing down chopping wood. I jacked the tent up and ran a pop up slide in camper under it on my Dodge. Then put the tent in case and stored it.
Funny thing. When I was younger,we always had a few older guys in camp and we told them to sit back and relax while us younger guys did all the work. Now I'm older and the young guys say they don't want to work that hard hunting. Go figure

Circle the wagons!!

The main reason I'm thinking of quitting is all the hard work involved in getting to a site early, sitting up and getting ready for opening day. I don't mind cutting but splitting wood is a killer job for an old man
Seems like nobody can miss a day or two of work and just show up on Friday afternoon ready to hunt.
Most years I'm worn out by Sunday afternoon

Now that's what I call a hunting camp!!

L.W.

We use a pop-up blind as our crapper cover. Keeps the snow and wind off you while giving you a little privacy. Works great plus you can hunt while on the pot which is more effective than one would expect.

the ol' latrine log trick, improved.......

Ackley improved??

That's easily AI+P....grin

I always rummage through the tack room before I leave. These are handy to hang from the peak pipe or wall pipes. great for the lantern, hanging oats, hanging clothes to dry.......





And as you can see, I vote floor. Been in the tent during heavy rains and the water was running along the ground under the floor coming out in the bare area by the stove. I vote floor

Especially if beans &/or chili were on the menu.

What do you reckon the load rating might be on the ridge bar? Could it handle a pretty good load of wet garments?

DO you guys have CO detectors in your tents with those wood stoves?

Huntsman I really like the side wall vent for your wood stove. Eliminates alot of problems with through-roof pipe vents!!

Yup, but tent makers these days,just can't seem to get their asses outta the 18th century.

Just 'cause grampa's went thru the roof.....

But grampa had ember holes everywhere, and his tent leaked like a sieve.....

I don't use a CO detector in the tent. I have heard that guys that use propane heat do, but I'm not sure I have heard of anyone using one with wood.

I would imagine the load the ridge pole could handle would be enough for one or two hunters clothes. just have to be careful when hanging items and see if it makes it start to sag.

Wood doesn't put out CO2 as a byproduct. Propane does. When it doesn't get enough air, it puts out CO instead of CO2 and that's what's dangerous. If wood doesn't get enough air, it just smokes and runs you out.

Don,

What do you use to hold the stovepipe up on the outside of the tent? I played with that a bit, but felt I would need some kid of brace or rod to hold it up?

The stovejack holds it nicely, if there is no wind. If the wind starts, I just run a piece of tie-wire from the ridge grommet to take a couple dillywhirties around the pipe, down to the eave grommet.

That stove jack on the wall makes sense for a few reasons. No hole in your roof/fly. No burns in your roof/fly. I's think a short horizontal end piece would prevent rain/snow from coming down the pipe too.

Mine is through the roof. Only advantage I see is having nesting stovepipe that can stow easily inside the stove.

A pipe 'T' works most dandily...

That'll work.

I am going to have a stove jack added to the sidewall on my tent. Then plan on getting a decent length of 3/8" rebar and using it was a pipe support. Drive it in the ground a foot or so then wire the pipe to it.

The endwall works better'n a sidewall......

I don't want to go out the end because I don't want to lose my ability to have a porch setup. I have found the porch to be nice for storing gear, extra wood, etc out of the weather.

They gots two ends for a reason......Ya don't need a fugging back porch, too....

Thanks for the response Don. I had mine out the sidewall. Brain clicked a bit after I saw your picture.

But The door is at the front and Id rather not haul wood from the front to the back.

Well, of course not. You are probably one of those guys that likes floors......grin

Wouldnt be without one..

I'm sorry you didn't think ahead far enough to get doors at both ends.....grin

also better at catching the wind and acting like a parachute, to rip your tent.

I have not had a problem with this...and can't figure it would given the awning is made of a extra long rain fly and isn't attached to the tent.

When I was maybe 4 or 5, 4 families went deer hunting. Or at least the 4 men did. The women and us 10 or 12 kids stayed in camp. We had a huge milsurp wall tent big enough for every one. The guy who owned the tent apparently had a phrase that he liked to hear himself repeat..."into the wind". He convinced everyone that a wall tent should be set up into the wind. It was his tent so he was the expert, right? The next day when the men came back to camp for lunch, they found the 4 wives and the hoard of kids playing around a huge tent spread out over the sagebrush.

Why not a T post?

Rebar would be easier to remove if the ground freezes and is lighter.

If you have a handiman jack, one of these t-post pullers will get them out easily.

My tent has doors at both ends. I made my poles and my ridge pole sticks out about a foot on both ends. I wire my chimney to it that comes out from the front side wall. I will probably be selling that tent next summer.