Alaknak tent user Question

[Stalker69]

Man I used the 12x12 Alaknak on one trip to Texas hunting javelina.( 1 week) And that thing leaked like a sieve. I mean 3” of water on the floor. Luckily we slept on bunk beds and were up out of the water. The roof flap opens “ down hill”, instead of like a shingle, which would help. But we couldn’t keep the flap up and the wind kept blowing it open, and water ran in like a facet. The plastic windows are in the roof, that plastic gets brittle when cold, and will only get worse with age. It was the only time that tent was used, Cabela’s sent me a return tag, which I did for a refund. My brother has the larger model ( with the flap the right direction, and widows in the walls vs roof) and he didn’t have any issues, but never had it in a heavy rain either. Your question about the stove and cover. Never used a stove in it.

 

[cdare101]

Im about to purchase the Alaska Alaknak 12x12 tent. Question is this: do you guys that run these tents with a wood stove use the roof protector?. I was looking at it and its tiny, would it actually be worth it? I was thinking that setting up with stove pipe to the down wind side and using a chimney spark arrestor would be fine.

I bought my Alaknak 12x12 this past Feb, I set it up for deer season this year and its been up now for a month and a half. I love the tent as a whole BUT, there is a few issues I have. The first issue is the design of the stove jack cover. The cover rolls up and zips up and goes up under a little flap at the top. When not in use and the stove pipe is removed and the cover in place, during a hard rain with or with out wind the center portion of the cover slide out below the flap and allows water to flood into the tent. I must say it flooded my tent. The other issue is the opening for the wood stove when closed and during a hard rain water get up under the tent and will come up thru the zipper also flooding the tent. Very poor design. Also the zipper for the electrical cords for external power ripped completely out of the tent the when closing it. Also the little pull cord on the front door zipper broke. The wood stove work great and I used a rain cap and the roof protector worked well also. I have no other complaints about the tent. I absolutely love the tent however!. Since the water intrusion issues cant be resolved I have decided to get a refund and buy a different tent.

 

[cdare101]

Man I used the 12x12 Alaknak on one trip to Texas hunting javelina.( 1 week) And that thing leaked like a sieve. I mean 3” of water on the floor. Luckily we slept on bunk beds and were up out of the water. The roof flap opens “ down hill”, instead of like a shingle, which would help. But we couldn’t keep the flap up and the wind kept blowing it open, and water ran in like a facet. The plastic windows are in the roof, that plastic gets brittle when cold, and will only get worse with age. It was the only time that tent was used, Cabela’s sent me a return tag, which I did for a refund. My brother has the larger model ( with the flap the right direction, and widows in the walls vs roof) and he didn’t have any issues, but never had it in a heavy rain either. Your question about the stove and cover. Never used a stove in it.

I had the same issues. The water even came up thru the floor opening zipper for the stove.

 

[syoungs]

Ive got the 12x20 thats 4-5 years old, none of the issues presented in this thread have been a problem for mine. Ive had it in 60mph winds in wyoming, and torrential downpours around washington, no issues. I always considered it bomb proof, and was pse to upgrading to the 13x27. Sounds like the newer tents arent made like the older ones.

 

[cdare101]

Ive got the 12x20 thats 4-5 years old, none of the issues presented in this thread have been a problem for mine. Ive had it in 60mph winds in wyoming, and torrential downpours around washington, no issues. I always considered it bomb proof, and was pse to upgrading to the 13x27. Sounds like the newer tents arent made like the ol.

Ive got the 12x20 thats 4-5 years old, none of the issues presented in this thread have been a problem for mine. Ive had it in 60mph winds in wyoming, and torrential downpours around washington, no issues. I always considered it bomb proof, and was pse to upgrading to the 13x27. Sounds like the newer tents arent made like the older

Ive got the 12x20 thats 4-5 years old, none of the issues presented in this thread have been a problem for mine. Ive had it in 60mph winds in wyoming, and torrential downpours around washington, no issues. I always considered it bomb proof, and was pse to upgrading to the 13x27. Sounds like the newer tents arent made like the older ones.

My understanding is the stove jack cover is just the opposite on the larger tent. It may be as well on the older tents. But this years model 12x12 tent dumps water in thru the jack and up thru the opening for the stove thru the zipper.

 

[cdare101]

My understanding is the stove jack cover is just the opposite on the larger tent. It may be as well on the older tents. But this years model 12x12 tent dumps water in thru the jack and up thru the opening for the stove thru the zipper.

It is the same as if you shingled the roof of your house and installed the shingles upside down (the bottom edge facing up toward the peak.

 

[Hoopleheader]

Looks like they have discontinued these tents

 

[Brook.Trout]

I use my roof protector all the time. Seems better to have it then not just in case

 

[Stalker69]

I had the same issues. The water even came up thru the floor opening zipper for the stove.

Yes it came up the floor of mine also, I didn’t mention that though. I hated that tent, it made for miserable sleeping that week and I could not wait to return it. I won’t own another one, no frickin way.

 

[cdare101]

I talked to a rep and he told me they pulled this years model to work on some quality issue. None of those issues applied to tent already sold (prior model)

 

[Stalker69]

Not sure what you mean by prior, the tent I had was about four to five years ago, and was junk.

 

[cdare101]

When I had talked to the rep at Cabela's he said that the tent with quality issues were this year model tent not tents that had already been sold. In other words the 2020 year model tents supposedly didn't have these quality issues. One of the problem for me is not one person I talked too knew what those issues were.

 

[jblam]

One 3 night trip for me, 12x12 was great for 4 guys and 2 dogs. 40mph winds and people in and out left the tent without a roof (center pole blew the seams), mesh door and normal door torn, and other random busted seams. Purchased and returned in 30 days. So disappointed because it was the perfect size for my family, and not 200 lbs.

 

[cdare101]

One 3 night trip for me, 12x12 was great for 4 guys and 2 dogs. 40mph winds and people in and out left the tent without a roof (center pole blew the seams), mesh door and normal door torn, and other random busted seams. Purchased and returned in 30 days. So disappointed because it was the perfect size for my family, and not 200 lbs.

WOW! I did not have those issues at all. Mine was set up for a month and a half and held up very well in the wind. Mine main issue with mine was the water getting in the tent when it rained. I too returned mine.