My First Wall Tent

[husky390]

It's a 16'x20' Davis with three windows and a screen door. I was able to pitch it by myself but it was a buttkicker. Should be nice and comfy for rifle season.

[GoGriz1234]

That's a great looking tent! Have you picked out a stove to use with it yet?

[husky390]

That's a great looking tent! Have you picked out a stove to use with it yet?

Thank you and yes I have. It came with "The Peak" from Summit stoves, it's a monster but should hold heat well. I plan to add a "heat robber" to it before the season starts.

[Fridaythe13th]

I'm jealous, great looking tent, love the screen door. How long to set up?

[vertical limit]

Nice tent!! You will have no regrets going with such a big tent right off the bat. I know too many guys who have bought a smaller tent only to wish they went bigger after teir first outing in it. Take care of it and it will last you many, many years.

[ElkNut1]

Hey Dave looks great! You'll have some great times in that bad boy!

ElkNut1

[Old school]

Nice looking tent Dave. How many people will that tent comfortably sleep?
--Mitch

[Indian Summer]

Nice! That's a beast. A word of advice: The canvas looks tight across the front. That can be the death of the zipper. Shorten the rafters a hair so you have some slack and the zipper slides shut easily.

Imagine the memories you will make in that tent.

[CurlyTail]

That thing is awesome!

[Dr. Rx]

x2.. that thing is awesome!

[bowhunter04]

Looks great! Enjoy the comfort.

[Elkduds]

Nothing beats a canvas cabin. Betcha love it! Easiest setup for one guy is to build the frame roof, put canvas over it. Next put legs up along one side, then the other side. I sure like a poly tarp over the top of mine to keep sun and cinders off the roof.

[husky390]

Thanks guy's and sorry for the delay on getting back to you. It took me probably about an hour to assemble the frame and get the canvas on. I did not stake it down or lash it as I just wanted to make sure I cut the frame correctly and wanted to see what it looked like.

Thanks Indian Summer and I'll look into shortening the rafters. There's a chance they were not fully seated into the angles as well.

Mitch, this year will be my Uncle and I using it. Plus we'll have the stove and a folding table with chairs inside so four of us have some shelter for some Texas Holdem when it snows. I imagine you could fit up to 8 people with cots if you stagger them. It just depends on how crammed you want to be.

And after talking with more people that own these, I'm seriously considering buying a fire retardant fly to fit over it.

[chipick]

I don't know if you have anything for a floor in there but my buddy has an old truckers tarp he lays down and has an old rug he lays on top of that turns it quite homey. And with all tents never put it away wet. It is best to get home and set it up even in the rain if you have to, let it set till its dry so it don't rot. Congratulations and I am jealous.

[Indian Summer]

Any tarp over the top will be sufficient to keep embers from hitting the canvas. I've used the every day plastic tarps for years and just replace them every so often. Why pay big money for something that gets beat up?

But make no mistake... a tarp of some type is an absolute must.

[husky390]

Thanks, since I'm going to buy an enclosed 2 horse trailer to haul everything, I think blue tarps this year fits my budget perfectly. That's one of the down sides to working in construction, specifically the door industry. 9' is not very long, until you realize you own a Ford Expedition and everything is not going to fit, especially the poles. I should have bought an Excursion.


As for the floor, the tent came with a full floor. We'll most likely fold 3/4's of it back for the stove/mud room or we will put down some fire mats under the stove.

[Indian Summer]

You can buy couplers from the Wall Tent Shop. Cut your longest poles in half and then use the couplers to join them when you set up.

Actually instead of "in half" I prefer to cut them closer to one end. Less stress on the coupler if it's not dead center on the pole. That's for rafters anyway.

[husky390]

I finally had a chance to take the tent out on its maiden voyage and it was a success. However, it's a lot of work to set one of these up and I'm thankful my wife was able to help me with some of it. I think staking it out took as long as assembling the frame and putting the canvas over it.

Couple things I learned.

I'm never taking this thing with me for an over night trip. I needed to do a test run so that's why we took it. Otherwise, it's too much work for two people for a quick trip. Week long elk hunting trip with a couple guy's to help set it up, no problem. It's worth it.

Buy lots of tarps. My tent came with a full loose floor and it's a good idea to lay tarps on the ground first, then the actual floor. This will keep condensation from building under the main floor.

When staking, pay attention to the walls and make sure they are plumb. I goofed and had the walls "out" from the frame, this caused an issue where the floor barely met the sod skirt.

Open the windows at night: I'm amazed as to how I was able to take a nap in 70 degree weather with the sun beating down on the tent and was still comfortable. That's something I've never been able to do with a silnylon type tent. I'm usually running out of that thing as soon as the sun hits it. Conversely, I can't believe how well these hold heat at night. Temps dropped to below 50 and I woke up in the middle of the night hot.

All in all, it was a success and we had fun. My wife likes it but she's tired of truck camping so now we're camper shopping. Looks like I'll get the best of both worlds.

[Texasgamehunter]

Nice looking tent!

[Texasgamehunter]

Husky can you post pics of the inside and possibly with the stove? Are you going to use a a rain tarp?

[husky390]

Husky can you post pics of the inside and possibly with the stove? Are you going to use a a rain tarp?

Thank you and sorry man, I don't have any of the inside or with the stove setup. Hopefully you can wait until October 15th when I'll have it all setup. We're going to use cheap blue tarps as a rain fly this year.

[Texasgamehunter]

10-4! I have nothing but time... Im going yo be purchasing a Davis also. Im just curious the setup you have going on. Im real new to all of this. Im more excited about planning an elk trip for next year than my own duck deer seasons! And that says ALOT. Good luck to you and congrats on your tent!

[Bow4Elk]

That is a sweet looking tent. Something you will use for years to come. I bought a 14X20 wall tent back in 1991 and still use it every year for 2+ weeks. The one I bought was mildew and fire resistant. I got samples of the canvas from the manufacturer and put them to the flame test with a blow torch. The one I bought would burn a hole in the canvas with extreme fire and nothing more. Other ones smoldered and spread from that. As stated, make sure that it is dry before storing it each year. I also put a poly tarp over the top of the tent. I leave a rope running through the grommets and hook the rope under my stakes all the way around and tie it off on the other side of the front door. I have only changed tarps twice. Just cut a hole in it for the stove pipe and if the tarp does touch the pipe it will melt it to the right size plus some. On the floor we use a doubled tarp and cover that with some indoor/outdoor carpet from a box store. Cost of that is around $50 but well worth is on the cool wet nights. I put a fire tarp under the wood stove an stack the wood on that also. My cousin built a boot dryer that bolts to the top of the stove. The boots are over 18" from the stove so the heat is not enough to ruin your expensive boots. He cut holes in the rolled steel and welded some muffler tubing to that with a bent rod on top that looks like a boot dryer. We adjusted the legs to give us maximum clearance from the stove and fit under the tent roof. Also attached some j-bolts to some flat aluminum and attached brackets to the aluminum that fits over the tent frame on the inside for hanging clothes on. Have those on the long sides of the tent and they work great for drying clothes, towels and just hanging stuff on. It is really nice when the weather is wet and you can stay warm and dry inside with nice cozy fire. We also take a generator to run a small chest freezer, shop lights in the tent and under the EZ up cook shelter. As comfortable as you can get and that makes the camping very enjoyable.

[Indian Summer]

That is a sweet looking tent. Something you will use for years to come. I bought a 14X20 wall tent back in 1991 and still use it every year for 2+ weeks. The one I bought was mildew and fire resistant. I got samples of the canvas from the manufacturer and put them to the flame test with a blow torch. The one I bought would burn a hole in the canvas with extreme fire and nothing more. Other ones smoldered and spread from that. As stated, make sure that it is dry before storing it each year. I also put a poly tarp over the top of the tent. I leave a rope running through the grommets and hook the rope under my stakes all the way around and tie it off on the other side of the front door. I have only changed tarps twice. Just cut a hole in it for the stove pipe and if the tarp does touch the pipe it will melt it to the right size plus some. On the floor we use a doubled tarp and cover that with some indoor/outdoor carpet from a box store. Cost of that is around $50 but well worth is on the cool wet nights. I put a fire tarp under the wood stove an stack the wood on that also. My cousin built a boot dryer that bolts to the top of the stove. The boots are over 18" from the stove so the heat is not enough to ruin your expensive boots. He cut holes in the rolled steel and welded some muffler tubing to that with a bent rod on top that looks like a boot dryer. We adjusted the legs to give us maximum clearance from the stove and fit under the tent roof. Also attached some j-bolts to some flat aluminum and attached brackets to the aluminum that fits over the tent frame on the inside for hanging clothes on. Have those on the long sides of the tent and they work great for drying clothes, towels and just hanging stuff on. It is really nice when the weather is wet and you can stay warm and dry inside with nice cozy fire. We also take a generator to run a small chest freezer, shop lights in the tent and under the EZ up cook shelter. As comfortable as you can get and that makes the camping very enjoyable.

Holy crap! Any vacancy?

You guys are fabricators aren't you? I'm more of a Jeremiah Johnson type. Take a piece of bale twine (or any string/cord) and tie it in the middle of a piece of kindling around 18 inches long... poof, coat and pants hanger. Hang it anywhere you want. Then tie your boot laces together and put them around the cord and flop them over the front. Boots and clothes all hanging away from the walls.

I'd like t see a picture of that dryer setup Bow4elk. Do you have a ceiling fan? Satellite tv?

[husky390]

That sounds like a sweet setup and would like to see pics as well.

[Bow4Elk]

I will get a pic of the dryer and post it. It is really sweet and yes my cousin was a fabricator. My wall hangers are more my fabricating and it shows.

[Bow4Elk]

1.jpg (109.25 KiB) Viewed 13045 times

This is the dryer setting on top of the wood stove we use. You need to paint each every couple of years to keep them looking nice. The legs (not pictured) are made of angle iron and we use bolts with wing nuts for attaching. If you want I can attach it and take another pic.

[husky390]

That's a slick setup.