Wall Tent

[dreamhunter]

I just wanted to say that my wall tent is finally paid in full and I should be seeing that puppy next week.I cant wait to get it and set it up.Spring is close and my honey might just say go ahead and try it out for a few nights but leave the tv in the house, lol. It's just always exciting when we get new gear. Not bragging just excited and I knew I could share here without getting guff.

[elk-n-walleye]

I just wanted to say that my wall tent is finally paid in full and I should be seeing that puppy next week.I cant wait to get it and set it up.Spring is close and my honey might just say go ahead and try it out for a few nights but leave the tv in the house, lol. It's just always exciting when we get new gear. Not bragging just excited and I knew I could share here without getting guff.

On your wife's behalf here's your guff dreamhunter... just kidding. I'm sure you have seen that a time or two just like me.

Have fun with the new gear!

[Indian Summer]

Take your time measuring for the pole frame. The best way to cut the poles nice and perpendicular without leaving burrs is a cheap pipe cutter. And remember... you can always take more off but you can't make them longer!

Pretty soon your wife will be outside asking if she can come in! Congrats on your new home away from home!

[ElkNut1]

Sweet! You'll love it. Walltents are great for all styles hunting & are certainly simpler to put up & haul than a travel trailer! (grin) As Joe states, measure pole lengths twice, cut once! That is if you didn't already purchase the pole kit too? Good Luck!

ElkNut1

[archery bum]

been looking at them myself,just haven't pulled the trigger. What brand and size did you buy? Been looking at Davis tents myself. Would appreciate some feed back on quality of the tent if you don't mind.

[Triplebhunters]

Congrats. Guff, not here we all understand you have your priorities in order. Can't wait till one is in my budget.
Dave.

[Elkduds]

When I cut conduit for my tent frame, I went to a hardware chain store, True Value I think. They had a power saw for cutting conduit, for customers to use, which was great. I made 3 trips before it was how I wanted. I recall shortening the wall vertical poles to get the bottom edge of the canvas to lay flat on the ground.

[dreamhunter]

Well thanks ya'll . I will give back much feedback as soon as I take delivery , they are saying the 13th of March. I'm guessing it will be before. I am supposed to call the wall tent shop when I am ready to measure and they will walk me though it. A good friend owns an Ace hardware store and is gonna give me a sweet deal on some conduit. I have a handyman business so I already have a pipe cutter and a tool to remove any type of burr. A floor and some pole stands or feet ( for the bottom of the poles ) as I call them will be ordered soon. Some of my friends from Georgia said to start looking for some carpet scraps and cut them in manageable size pieces so I can enjoy wall to wall carpet. He said it's really nice on those cold mornings.Also I did find out it has two doors and two windows and none of the poles will be in the middle of any windows because I went with the 4 angle kit as vs the 3 angle kit.
As far as what I ordered 12'x14' Wall Tent with fly and a back door and two windows. The people at the Wall Tent Shop have been very helpful in helping me decide what would be best for my needs. I called a few times and they were nice every time and didn't ever seemed annoyed or to be in a hurry . That's important to me , I like and expect great customer service, they give it. Just give those folks a call and they sure can help you to. They do have the law away program and that's what I used to make my purchase a little easier. Kinda like eating an elk…one bite at a time. So I guess that's it for now and when I get it and get it figured out I will be back and post some pics. Heck I will even help convince you to buy your own if you wanna pick my brain about it.

[Indian Summer]

I have a hundred tricks of the trade. I'll rattle them off as they come to me. For starters... once you get the legs cut take a roll of duct tape and make some nice big balls on the ground ends. It will keep the pipe ends from damaging the sod cloth which is the 6-8 inch lip that comes in off of the walls all the way around the perimeter. That also helps you tell which are the legs at a glance.

If you plan to use it in the snow before you even get started cutting poles I'd buy an extra angle kit and make it a 4 rafter tent so you have two inside the center instead of just 2 ends and one rafter in the middle. Makes a world of difference in sag.

Buy a tarp 4 feet wider than the length it takes to cover the tent from side to side so you have overhangs to keep coolers, tools, and firewood under and easy to get to. That also keeps snow off of the spikes holding the canvas down so they are easy to get to and not frozen into the ground.

Lay your tarp out on the ground before you fold the tent to keep it clean. When you're done pull the tarp and lay it back on the ground to put the canvas on and fold up. Your tent will stay clean for a long time if you keep it off of the ground.

Take your pole measurements from INSIDE the canvas.

Most important: When you place the spike to loop the guide ropes around picture a line that goes from the peak down the roof to the ends of the wall and continues straight out from there to the ground. Don't put the spikes closer to the tent which pulls the canvas down over the end pole. Once you cinch down the guide ropes at that angle you may even notice the canvas lifts of that side rail. That's what you want. Once you endure a few rains or some snow you'll see the advantage. Don't sink the spikes all the way until you've ran the tarp lines to them. I use bale twine for that.

A roll of bale twine serves lots of purposes. Once you're done you can string a bunch around the inside of the frame to hang clothes and gear.

Take a small pipe wrench. It comes in really handy if spikes get frozen into the ground. Put the wrench on and spin them and they'll pop right out. It's also good for attaching and removing propane hoses.

The Wall Tent Shop will give you tons of extra rope for lines. Make all of the guide lines really long so they work in various situations.

[dreamhunter]

Lots of good info there,thank you. I will be copy and pasting this and printing it out .It will then be stored with all my maps and stuff so when I need it I will know where to find it.

[ElkNut1]

Yep, like Joe there we too have the same ideas for setup & making our stays a bit better as well as efficient! I suspect you'll have a few of your own that will speed up setup & make your stay as comfortable as possible! Good Luck & have fun!

ElkNut1

[elkaholic]

Congrats on the tent! You will love them. I spray painted a small bad around the different sections. Specific colors for rafters, eves, legs. Makes putting up the tent in the dark even easier.

[Indian Summer]

Congrats on the tent! You will love them. I spray painted a small bad around the different sections. Specific colors for rafters, eves, legs. Makes putting up the tent in the dark even easier.

Color coding, absolutely. Your legs will have the tape bulbs on the bottom. You could take the rafters and paint them or simply put a wrap of electrical or duct tape etc around them. The untaped ones will obviously be the "eaves" which includes the ridge.

For tents where the ridge angle is a different angle than the angles at the top of the legs you should paint the ridge angles so you know which is which. That might be the case with that 12x14. On the 10x12 all angles are the same.

[Bow4Elk]

I did similar on the frame and angles. Spray painted the ends different colors for the top and sides. For our cover tarp I used some mule tape and ran it through the grommets. Tied one end and then just take the slack out from stake to stake till you get to the last stake and tie it off. Leave the tape in and reuse each year. We also put a tarp down for the floor before we put some carpet on it. That way you don't wake up in the middle of the night to wet carpet. I got some cheap indoor/outdoor carpet from H Depot for under $100. It is great on the cold mornings. You can also extend your frame out past your tent on the front door and the tarp over it makes a nice shelter for wood and other stuff. A friend made a grate to place in the ground in front of the door to clean your boots off and not track so much into the tent. I took some old aluminum chunks I had laying around and make clothes hangers that fit over the side rails of the frame. Basically just flat aluminum with plumbers tape attached that bends over the frame pipe. Then put some j-bolts into the aluminum. They are down both sides of the tent and we can hang a lot on them. The one behind the wood stove gets a lot of use in damp weather. We also built a boot dryer that mounts to the wood stove. Angle iron legs that bolt to the stove top and a piece of sheet metal that serves as the top. Cut holes in the sheet metal for muffler pipes to be welded to. Top of the pipes have a metal rod welded to them that bends over the pipe. We have it adjusted so that it doesn't get too hot and ruin the boot leather but will dry them overnight.

[dreamhunter]

Well my New Wall Tent arrived yesterday. I hope to be able to get it laid out and measured this weekend. Then send an email to the guys and they will instruct me as to what length to cut the tent poles. I can't wait to set it up.

[Elkduds]

It may need to be shrunk, check w your dealer. If it does, do so before making the final cuts to frame poles. Get it wet, let it dry, do that twice.

[dreamhunter]

I will check but I believe they told me since I am gonna be using a fly I shouldn't have to worry about shrinkage.If it does shrink I can always trim the poles. I will make sure my pipe cutter remains a part of my tent travel gear.

[dreamhunter]

I will check but I believe they told me since I am gonna be using a fly I shouldn't have to worry about shrinkage.If it does shrink I can always trim the poles. I will make sure my pipe cutter remains a part of my tent travel gear.

[ST52V]

Don't get in a hurry to cut your poles when it shrinks. Davis tents suggest you set it up during the summer and go through the steps to stretch it back out. The info is on their website!

[Indian Summer]

No need to wet a tent from The Wall Tent Store. I missed the part on his site that said you don't need to. I draped mine over top of an 8x10 cargo trailer and wet it several times and it never shrunk an inch. Then I read the website. lol

Have fun... getting a new wall tent is like buying a new house!