Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Tent recommendation please!!

Although the Arctic Oven and Barneys Bomb Shelter are durable 4-season tents with lots of room, they have their draw backs, when used in the situation that the OP asks about. When packed up, the package is pretty big and takes up a lot of room. That could be a problem in the back of a Jeep if you also have other stuff you want to carry. They are also time consuming to setup and take down. They are compatible with a wood stove but the OP did not mention stoves.

I just re-read the original post and have quoted it above for reference. Idaho Elk Hunter is not looking for a tent to live in. He wants a tent to carry around in the back of his Jeep and use it when he wants to camp. IMHO what he's looking for is a 4-season expedition mountaineering dome tent like a North Face VE-25, Cabelas XPG-4-season with aluminum poles, Marmot Thor, Eureka K2-XT, etc. These tents have a lower profile than the AO and BS, they are easier to setup and take down, take up less room when packed, and weigh less than the AO and BS. The Cabelas Alaska Guide tents generally have a higher profile and therefore are inherently less capable of enduring high winds but even they would be better than an AO or BS for the stated purpose. These tents could be easily heated with Little Buddy in the winter.

I assume that anyone using a tent (ANY TENT) knows to erect it sheltered from the wind (when possible), fully staked down, and tied down with every loop available.

KC

I've been thinking about this thread and it has been bothering me. The advice that we (including me) have been giving to this guy is not the best advice. We have been suggesting the best and most expensive tents, on the market. The kind of tents that you can depend on in extreme conditions. Conditions where if the tent fails it could mean that you die. That kind of reliability is expensive. But that's not the kind of conditions that he is anticipating.

He states that he wants to carry the tent in the back of his Jeep and that he's not going to be packing in. So he's going to be car camping and that includes winter car camping. Even in winter he's not going to be placing himself in extreme risk conditions because if the tent fails he just climbs into the Jeep, waits until morning and goes home. No Big deal.

Idaho Elk Huntr:

Here are some suggestions that more closely mirror the kind of conditions that you anticipate.

The Cabelas XPG-4, four man, 4-season tent with aluminum poles costs $500 and it's one of the best values on the market for top-of-the-line tents.

There are a bunch of 3-season, 4-person tents on the market for around $300. Even though you anticipate winter camping, they would probably serve your needs most of the time since you will never be far from the Jeep. These tents all have full coverage rain-flys and that's signifigant in winter.

Eureka Taron-4 ($330)
Marmot Limelite-4 ($300)
Mountainsmith Genesee-4 ($170)
Mountain Hardwear Shifter-4 ($270)
Kelty Gunnison 4.3 ($240)

All of these tents can be purchased at Campmor.com.

Hope this helps.

KC

I agree with KCs line of thinking in his last post and thought I would add 2 more tents to his list. My spring, summer and fall horse packing tent without needing a stove is currently a Terra Nova Etesian 4. 13#, goes up quick like a Hilleberg, stand up room to get dressed, large vestibule for all my gear and so far very stable and weatherproof. It is a tall profile so you always have to take that into account. Paid $400 new with footprint. My truck tent lately is a Sportsmans Warehouse Browning Glacier Extreme 6 for $450. Same style as AO but no stove jack. Goes up quick, lots of guy outs, 2 vestibules, full coverage fly and weighs about 30#. This tent with a buddy heater would work well for what he's looking for.

Forgot all about this post. We went with a Cabela's tent. It does a good job. We purchased a big buddy heater and the only bad thing most of the time we have to kill the heater because we cant adjust it low enough