Curious your thoughts comparing this to a Davis go tent as far as usable space. Do you think the courthouse could benifit from some couplers and a makeshift carbon internal frame?
I love mine. I was debating between the courthouse and a tipi. I went with the courthouse because it is a smaller footprint to set up and has more space to stand up in. We used it this year with 2 cots, 2 chairs, and had all our gear inside along with a stack of wood across the entire back. I would put 3 cots in and the stove with minimal gear.
I don't recommend using this tent with out the liner. Hunted for 14 days in Colorado out of it with no liner, it rained for 4 straight days. The rain was just as bad in the tent as out. Anyone have any experience with precipitation using the liner, is it that much better with it? My experience has me rethinking things. I like everything about the courthouse except for the condensation. Considering a Mountain Den but there is a weight penalty compared to the courthouse.
It does fine with the liner.
Might be a weight penalty but everything else is heads above. I had a SO 12-man and it was ok for a few years but I got tired of constantly adjusting guy-outs and it was like a sauna during the day. Since you have to set it up in a big opening (huge footprint), it's hard to avoid the sauna effect. I was getting ready to pull the trigger on a Courthouse and was networking with Beau Baty when he advised me to wait a little bit. He was in the process of developing a lightweight canvas tent with Snowtrekker. He had (& maybe still does) several Courthouse tents that he was using in his llama guiding/trekking business. He pointed out several issues with the Courthouse, mostly related to the sil-nylon material, not the tent quality. I bought the Continental because I have llamas. We have been trekking into the backcountry and setting up a base camp since 1998. The Beau/Snowtrekker setup is the best tent, by far, that I have ever used and I've had Davis and SO tents. It goes up in about 10 minutes and has a very rugged internal Easton aluminum A-frame (can hang wet clothing along the entire length under the ridge). It has minimal guyouts (guyout system is ingenious) and will withstand any weather without any windslap, condensation, heat issues, etc. I think if you split up the components the Mountain Den might be packable without stock, plus I believe you could set it up by cutting your own frame or using the loops sewn into the ridge at each end. Anyway, it might be a little heavier but it is a lot more rugged, stable, and comfortable in bad weather. Hard to beat canvas if you can pack it!
