Larger bell tent white duck vs stout vs elk mountain

[JVS]

Looking to purchase a large 16-20ft bell tent. I plan to take the entire family archery elk hunting this fall. Anyone have any exsperience or feedback on the brands mentioned above? Seems like white duck has great reviews on amazon. Saw stout has some good reviews on here. I'd appreciate any detailed intel you all have.

Thanks in advance

Jordan

 

[Customweld]

Looking to purchase a large 16-20ft bell tent. I plan to take the entire family archery elk hunting this fall. Anyone have any exsperience or feedback on the brands mentioned above? Seems like white duck has great reviews on amazon. Saw stout has some good reviews on here. I'd appreciate any detailed intel you all have.

Thanks in advance

Jordan

I have an Elk Mountain wall tent. The tent itself is fine, there are a couple of features that I wished it didn't have. I know the owner pretty well and he is a stand up guy.

 

[sndmn11]

exsperience or feedback on the brands mentioned above? Seems like white duck has great reviews on amazon. Saw stout has some good reviews on here. I'd appreciate any detailed intel you all have.

The elk mountains are trash.

The white duck tents will last 1/4 of the time, or less, than one of the stout tents due to the treatment used if you choose the sunforger version.

 

[Back Country Hunter 2]

I'd take a hard look at @Davis Tent. Made in America and great CS.

 

[450]

Looking to purchase a large 16-20ft bell tent. I plan to take the entire family archery elk hunting this fall. Anyone have any exsperience or feedback on the brands mentioned above? Seems like white duck has great reviews on amazon. Saw stout has some good reviews on here. I'd appreciate any detailed intel you all have.

Thanks in advance

Jordan

What tent did you decide on? I have been looking at those same 3 tents. Kinda leaning towards the Stout.

 

[450]

I have an Elk Mountain wall tent. The tent itself is fine, there are a couple of features that I wished it didn't have. I know the owner pretty well and he is a stand up guy.

What features did you wish it didn’t have?

 

[450]

The elk mountains are trash.

The white duck tents will last 1/4 of the time, or less, than one of the stout tents due to the treatment used if you choose the sunforger version.

What tent do you recommend?

 

[JVS]

What tent did you decide on? I have been looking at those same 3 tents. Kinda leaning towards the Stout.

I went with the 16ft white duck.

 

[sndmn11]

What tent do you recommend?

I would 100% buy the Stout sunforger if I were stuck on a bell tent.

Stout Bell Tent - Overland Sunforger Series

The Overland Sunforger is our most durable tent. It measures 5M (16 ft) and is made from 10.10 oz./340 gsm double-weave marine duck canvas. The Overland Sunforger has a built-in 3-6" adjustable stove jack, our signature 24" secondary mesh sidewall, and large, #10 zippers. Hunters, adventurers...

stouttent.com

I started in canvas tent production in 2005 at Davis Tent. When folks would call wanting a bell tent we would send get them connected with Caitlyn and they would always be happy.

There are inherent design flaws in a lot of the overseas white labeled tents that come from being designed by a person over there with a sew shop and no functional experience. Ex: White Duck started when their current key business members moved to the USA from Pakistan in 2018ish so they could cut out resellers.

Since this is a hunting forum, I assume the purpose of a tent to be for western hunting, I wouldn't trust any imported tent that doesn't tell me exactly what the treatment is and the material. If it's not Sunforger army duck canvas, I'd want to see a lot of testing showing after treatment strength OR an MSDS of what that treatment contains. If a company cannot produce an MSDS, that is a clear indicator that they had no hand in design or material selection.

@Back Country Hunter 2 above still works at Davis Tent, and I am not sure if they make a bell tent. If they do, I am sure it would be great and last many years. They do make a herder tent which is similar.

The last Davis family member left Davis Tent earlier this year and is now at Colorado/Denver Tent. They do make a bell tent but it is a lot more expensive than what has been mentioned. https://www.denvertent.com/products/maroon-bell-tent

 

[Customweld]

What features did you wish it didn’t have?

The vertical corners on the walls are velcro'd the entire length rather than being sewn together. There are triangle vents, at the top of both sides. They are velcro'd down as well, but there isn't a screen over the vent so if you open it, the bugs just come on in. I'd rather those vents not be there.
There are some good qualities though. The material that they are made of is much easier to care for than canvas. It's much lighter, so it's easier to handle.

 

[Customweld]

The last Davis family member left Davis Tent earlier this year and is now at Colorado/Denver Tent. They do make a bell tent but it is a lot more expensive than what has been mentioned. https://www.denvertent.com/products/maroon-bell-tent

I have a Denver Wall Tent that was made sometime in the'50's I think. I just had the old stove jack replaced in it. It's been a great tent.

 

[sndmn11]

I have a Denver Wall Tent that was made sometime in the'50's I think. I just had the old stove jack replaced in it. It's been a great tent.

I believe it, and not uncommon to see those old sunforger canvas tents have more than a few decades of life. Who did the stove jack work?

 

[Customweld]

I believe it, and not uncommon to see those old sunforger canvas tents have more than a few decades of life. Who did the stove jack work?

An older lady that retired from Thunder Mountain Tent and Canvas in Nampa Id. She has all the gear in her garage and does small repairs here and there.

 

[Customweld]

An older lady that retired from Thunder Mountain Tent and Canvas in Nampa Id. She has all the gear in her garage and does small repairs here and there.

She is the one that thought it was made somewhere in that timeframe. The old stove jack was a woven material, I'm guessing it was a sort of asbestos, with brass rivets around it to keep the pipe centered.