Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Canvas or Alaknak synthetic tents - which and why

Alaknak is light, and sythetic so they don't mold as easily - canvas is heavier and possibly better in the wind (noise).

Alaknak doesn't leak or require a second cover but retains moisture on the inside (it could drip in really high humidity) - Canvas - I don't know

Long term storage, and drying the tents out - I would think synthetic would be easer to maintain.

Alaknaks are easer to setup.

I'm hoping to hear from people who've owned or used both.

Spot

Humidity was a big problem with ours. But the biggest complaint i have is the way the wall and roof meet. When it snows, the snow builds up at the bottom of the roof and causes the upper part of the roof to sag.You have to the keep snow from pilling up
Its also a tough tent to keep warm when its real cold outside
might be a good early season tent.

Reminds me of the time that I was looking at an Alaknak tent that had been set up for a lion hunt in February by some friends. The old man was saying that it was a hell of a good tent but he noted that, "if it snows, one of us has to get up with the broom stick and knock the snow off the roof". His partner (who is his daughter) laughed and said, "One of us, that's my Indian name--as in "one of us" has to go and get the truck and meet us with the mules at such and such a place, or "one of us" has to go and get those two dogs that are back trailing!"

It's not a particularly good winter tent.

A good canvas tent works, this much I know.

I own both... For a quick weekend to a week, set the damn thing up and go, the Alaknak is your tent. For a week or two with a few guys, want something comfortable, the canvas wins out.

Both are good tents but they serve a different purpose. The Alaknak can be set up in the dark by yourself. The wall tent will usually take a few guys. In the Alaknak we usually sleep on the ground and the tent serves as nothing but a heated shelter. The wall tent is a home that a person could spend the winter in.

A place to sleep




or home, sweet, home...

wyoelk,

I think thats the best answer I've had yet, or at least one of the big components of the answer that was missing.

In that context a 9.5x9.5 or 12x12 would make a good couple day
jober to pack in up on top while having the big dog cotton wall tent down lower. Or you could use pup tents on the pack ins.



Spot

That was my name for a lotta years. We must have been twins separated at birth

Depending on the season, the colder and wetter it gets the more canvas will win.

To protect your investment, and make a better set, canvas should have a cheep plastic tarp spread out on the roof so snow will slip, and the plastic protects the roof from burning cinders of a campfire of if your stovepipe fire-screen looses one.

Wood heat in a canvas tent after a day hunting in a wet snow, drying gear and cooking meals, maintaining a toasty environment and canvas is worth every speck of extra work.

Even though the Alaknak is much lighter than a wall tent I wouldnt plan on packing it anywhere unless you have horses. A friend did once pack his up to where we backpack camp. He carried the thing up 1200 feet on his back. Some people have more muscle than brains.

So, is the biggest difference between the two types of tents the overall design or just the materials?

Though I've spent very little time in wall tents, that Alaknak, or one of that design, looks very easy to put up. I did spend a week in a Alaknak material tent (traditional design) in ID and we had just a few condensation problems. It would drip off the ridge pole. If you weren't the one sleeping under that it was no problem. But, I could see where having a floor could/would not be a good thing if you have condensation problems.

I have never slept in a synthetoc tent in that it did not rain inside. Put some propane heat in it and you have a rain forest.
Turn the heat off at night, and everything freezes. Then when you turn it back on in the AM,it rains again.Sure don't like getting dressed in the am in a humid, damp enviornment.Kinda sets the tone for the whole day

Canvas. I have silver locks and can put up an average wall tent with a frame by myself in about 20 minutes. It ain't tough, but it is a canvas cabin. You won''t regret it. You never know when conditions could make a place to sleep into a home, for a stretch.

Prezactly why I would never own one! My cousin HAD one that we used on an antelope hunt. Dripped from condensation and the thing flapped so bad from the wind that I spent the last two night in the truck sleeper! He returned it to Cabela's when we got back and went with Montana Canvas and never looked back.

I have a 12x12 Alaknak and I like it alot.
Like peole have said it is way easier to set up than a canvas tent. I haven't found it to be bad for condensation on the inside either. We usually have a fire going in the stove at night when we go to sleep, and with the design of the roof (theres no ridge)
any condensation would run down to the walls.

The best part of the Alaknak is what you get for the money.
When I bought mine in 2003 t was $600.00.
Thats for a tent with a floor, frame, windows. A canvas tent with all of those features would cost twice that.

I've slept in many canvas tents, and I cant tell any difference in one being warmer than another. Lets face it, when the fire goes out its cold.

I set my Alaknak up with a tarp just like a canvas tent. It eliminates the snow build up problem. I havent lost any sleep to the tent flapping in the wind. If its set up properly it shouldnt be a problem. Or maybe Im just damn tired when Im elk hunting

KC

I've never stayed in an Alaknak, but I've been in my share of synthetic material tents, big and little. We currently use a couple of Davis 14 X 16 tents for our camp.

Warm and dry weather it probably makes little difference in tent material selection. Where we hunt elk, we've seen temps from below zero to seventy, and it usually snows or rains (sometimes sideways!).

Canvas "breathes" and allows moisture to escape. A wood stove in a canvas tent will dry wet clothing and hunters surprisingly fast. Propane stoves and heaters seem to produce a lot of water vapor, I know guys that heat their canvas tents with it. Don't think that would work very well in a synthetic tent. We use propane to cook with as it's instant on and off.

Canvas can be purchased treated with a mildew preventative, it doesn't prevent mildew forever, but it buys enough time for you to pack up and get home to open up the tent to dry it out without ruining it. I have ropes and pulleys rigged to the trusses in my barn to hang our tents up. Just takes a few minutes when unpacking the trailer. When they're thoroughly dry after a few days, fold them up and they go in plastic 33 gal trash cans to keep the mice out.

I've heard of canvas tents lasting over twenty seasons. Obviously those are stored properly (dry).

My buddy bought an alakanak one year, this was the result




Canvas wall tent all the way, Alakanak is not that much lighter or easier to handle to make it worth while. Unless you only plan on dry summer camping.

With a internal frame kit a 12X14 wall tent goes up pretty easy with one person.

With out the internal frame kit you want two people to set up ridge poles etc. I have done it alone but it takes tying to trees staking guy lines and keeping re-adjusting as you pull it up to position.

I have slept in an Alanak tent when the day time weather was dry and pleasant. In the morning there was frost all over the inside of the tent and that made getting out of the sack miserable. I will never sleep in an Alanak tent again. But it was easy to setup, lightweight and compact.

I own a 15' x 20' canvas wall tent with an internal frame and a wood burning stove. I can set it up by myself with a lot of effort but it's a much easier with two people. I've never tried putting it up in the dark and I don't think I will try. I do not put a tarp over the roof and it has performed well in sub-zero temps and two feet of snow. Most of the time, it stays pretty warm using just the wood burning stove, but when temps drop below zero, we add a 22,000 BTU propane space heater on a 20# tank. It's great for drying out things at the end of the day without any condensation. I bought it used in 1992 and I had to perform some repairs. I have used it on ten elk hunts since then, each lasting a week, and it's still going strong.

When there are just two of us hunting and I want to setup a base camp, I use two double-wall dome tents; one for cooking and one for sleeping. We heat them with small propane space heaters. They are tall enough to stand up in. The dome tents are light (18#) and compact so they can be packed on a horse, they are easy to setup and moisture does not condense inside. They are not as big as an Alanak tent, that's why I use two of them. I think this strategy works better than a single-wall tent, like an Alanak.

Granted,not all days ar nasty, but when you are up against it and very survival depends on it. Canvas wall tents have proven themselves for many years.

The 1st photo we had to chain up all 4 and then chain two pick ups together just to pull empty goosenecks to safety.That was two trips.Then we ponied all the mules out for 10 miles or some behind the pick ups to get everything out.Snow evertually was 4 ft +deep. Packed down to 2 ft on the road

During the storm in the 2nd photo,we had to bring two mules inside the tent it was so bad.

If you are confident of your tent,have enough wood cut or have enough propane,you can ride out the storm. You will never have elk hunting as good as when the storm blows out,the sun comes out, it's about 10 degrees and the elk come out feeding after being holed up too.

It's just water, it wont kill you, you even need it to live.....

I agree with you and I will take my wall tent over the Alaknak most days. For long weekends or trips with the wife, the Alaknak wins out. Less chance for divorce....