Greetings fellas. I know many of you have asked about lightweight tents in a more traditional wall style. Well , we have the Courthouse. Weight for canopy and liner is just over 7 lbs including screens. Poles and stakes can add another 5 lbs. I see this tent, not so much as a backpack style , but more as a llama packer, raft, base camp but still light enough to be split between a couple folks for backpacking if need be. I'm including a few photos from various adventures using it (from southern AZ Coues hunting, to winter pulk trips). In short, it gives up a little in weight, but is pretty darn comfy, especially for longer term camps. It performs very well in the snow, and does better in wind than I would have imagined.

https://seekoutside.com/courthouse/



[img]https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1....b3123ee2cc2a355e8acb5461&oe=59494FCB[/img]

[img]https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1....d625695d188d21ecf25402e9&oe=59383295[/img]

Hmmm, how practical would it be to cut your own poles, and what do the poles weigh? And how much does the liner weigh?

Thanks.

It is practical to cut your own .. 8 ft. Poles are about 4 lbs , but if you wanted to shave weight you could buy carbon. Myself, I'd cut a couple poles, and just go a bit more wall tent style into my place I use year after year.

Liner, not sure, about 1 lb. I think canopy is 6 lbs even or very close. I was handed the package with liner and told 7 lb 2 ounces.

Looks nice but like my Redcliff too much to think about swapping.

I like the idea! I truck camp a bit and I'm tight for space on the trip out/back as well as storage. This would take up a whole lot less space I think than canvas. Then again, for the same price an 12 man might work mo' betta...

This style of tent is GREAT if you can handle the weight, enough so that I made my own a couple years ago.

This is my homemade version that's very much like that. It's 10x10. It weighs 11 lb including poles & stakes. I'm a llama packer and have used it on several trips. It's surprisingly wind resistant...unless the ground's so wet that the stakes pull out (happened 2 years ago). I used those narrow aluminum stakes. I've since switched to the wider plastic ones that hold better. The weight difference is minimal. The poles fold to 36" so I made the sidewalls the same so It packs tighter. The pack size is 36 x about 5" diameter. I could squeeze it tighter if I needed to.

Since I'm not so restricted by weight, I made it taller for comfort. The poles can extend up to 8'. 6' poles would have reduced the total weight by almost 2 lb but then I couldn't stand up in it.

I need to modify it a bit to try to pull some of the wrinkles out. I tried to make a catenary type roof but didn't get it right.

I have a 16" Ed T stove that heats it up nicely but it won't hold heat worth a darn. You have to keep stoking it.

Kevin:

I believe that your gear is well built. This tent looks like a good way to combine lightweight and high volume. It looks flimsy (Sorry but that's the best descriptor that I can come up with. I mean no disrespect) However, looks can be deceiving. Have one of these tents endured a really good wind storm yet?

KC

Hi KC

We have had it in 50 plus winds, and while we would never consider it a tipi in wind, it really did fine. I officially say it's good in 30 MPH which it has been in several times. We have also had it in 18 inches of unmaintained snow in which it did fine, but at 20 inches we had a pole problem, however the tent itself was fine. It was a big mountain snow dump on it.

In testing, we had it up for a 2 months in varied weather with no issue. We have had testers use it on llama based elk hunt in wyoming, I used it several days in southern AZ on a coues hunt. It's also been on a couple winter / deep snow trips as well.

In other words, we feel it holds its own. It isn't a canvass tent by any means, but it also has a lot of advantages over canvas like weight, packability, ability to store briefly wet etc.

From my perspective, I would not hesitate to use it anytime it fit well into my plans.

Thanks
Kevin