Sell the Wall Tent

[hunt1up]

So a few years back I sprung for a 16x20 Davis wall tent with all the fixings. It’s been used on two 10 day hunts and it’s been great, as expected. Last year my partner and I split a SO 6-man tipi for a hunt where the wall tent couldn’t go. We really liked it and it performed great. This year we added a used SO 12-man for this years hunt with a bigger group. So now we have two tipis and I have the wall tent too. Our next three hunts will all be tipi hunts, so the wall tent will be sitting for at least 3 more years.

Hauling my wall tent, poles, and stove from IL takes a ton of space and weight in my trailer, and either tipi can fit under that back seat of the truck. When I think of the effort required to store, transport, and set the wall tent, the tipi always seems more appealing.

Has anyone converted to tipi exclusively after having a wall tent? I’m leaning toward selling the wall tent altogether.

 

[amp713]

I was gonna go spring bar wall tent from Kodiak, after running a backpacking tipi from luxe I plan to get a octo peak for family and horse back trips. 3 pounds for an outer shelter beats what the spring bar is rated at. Throw in some.of their accesories and you can have a really nice set up....

 

[mtrecon]

Certainly not looking to hijack your post, but have the same question.Been a wall tent person for more years than I care to count. Lots of horse/mule pack in hunts and plan on two this season. I'm considering a change as well. How many stay in the 6 man? How many in the 12?

 

[Brendan]

So - I can't tell you from experience yet because I haven't used it. But: I sold my 10x14 Kodiak Canvas and replaced it with a 12 Man Seek Outside Tipi. Reasons were pretty much the same. Packs smaller and lighter in the truck. Dries out easier. Easier to put up and take down solo if I need to relocate. I prefer no floor. And, I can still use my propane Nu-Way stove. Still have to see how it works in practice though.

 

[camping1601]

Different systems for different hunts. There's no way I'd choose my tipi over the wall tent for my local extended hunts.
I wouldn't want to haul my wall tent across the country either.

 

[tom338]

I have a 8 man SO tipi. Don't know how they figure 8 guys can sleep in it. Last year was my first year in it, bow hunting in 18 inches of snow. Was really worried about even trying it but... shoveled out a spot and set it up. Biggest problem was finding dry wood for the stove and then cutting it up, saw I had sucked. Took a while to figure out where to set the damper and the stove needed to be stoked every 2 1/2 hours if you wanted it warm all the time so buy a big stove. We bought it as a package. This year 3-4 of us will be headed in, 3 in the tipi for sure, so some gear will be outside under a tarp. You do loose usable space with a tipi, but the ease of set up and the light weight more than make up for it

 

[hunt1up]

Certainly not looking to hijack your post, but have the same question.Been a wall tent person for more years than I care to count. Lots of horse/mule pack in hunts and plan on two this season. I'm considering a change as well. How many stay in the 6 man? How many in the 12?

We did three guys with gear in the 6-man on ultralight cots. It wasn't too tight, but it wasn't overly roomy either. I have no experience with my 12-man yet other than setting it in the yard. We're planning on 5 guys in that thing this year and we'll probably leave our packs/gear under a tarp or in a cheapy tent to save space.

 

[Trial153]

I can see ditching the wall tent. Space is huge issue in storing those things, never mind the transport room it takes.

I love floorless tipi type shelters for all the reasons that been stated on here. If you going to use it as a wall tent replacement better plan on going up two or three sizes. They just don’t have the useable area that walled shelters have. The good thing is you can bring another whole tipi for cooking and gear and you still be way ahead weight and space wise.

 

[VernAK]

The wall tent is certainly a great piece of traditional comfort but I sold both of mine after trying the 12 man TiPi 13 years ago. Since then I've added the Sawtooth also. Two 4-Dog stoves make for some very comfortable camps that fit into a Supercub easily.

 

[hunt1up]

I can see ditching the wall tent. Space is huge issue in storing those things, never mind the transport room it takes.

I love floorless tipi type shelters for all the reasons that been stated on here. If you going to use it as a wall tent replacement better plan on going up two or three sizes. They just don’t have the useable area that walled shelters have. The good thing is you can bring another whole tipi for cooking and gear and you still be way ahead weight and space wise.

I think that would be the plan now that we have two tipis. Use the 12-man for sleep, 6-man for eating and such.

 

[IdahoElk]

I used a wall tent for years and now use 2-4 man tents exclusively and haven't looked back.It sure was nice to sleep on cots, have a stove but I just got tired hauling all the stuff that goes with wall tents into the backcountry.

 

[ianpadron]

So - I can't tell you from experience yet because I haven't used it. But: I sold my 10x14 Kodiak Canvas and replaced it with a 12 Man Seek Outside Tipi. Reasons were pretty much the same. Packs smaller and lighter in the truck. Dries out easier. Easier to put up and take down solo if I need to relocate. I prefer no floor. And, I can still use my propane Nu-Way stove. Still have to see how it works in practice though.

Make sure you post some pics of the 12man Brendan. Not enough pics floating around of those.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

 

[Brendan]

Will do - only had it set up for an hour or so to do an initial check out, and it takes up more real estate than the 10x14 Kodiak.

 

[ChrisS]

Those pack stoves aren't designed for 4-6 hour burns all night. They're good for a couple of hours to take the chill off while you're out of the sleeping bag.

I like my 8-man tipi, It goes up quick and I can fit two standard cots in there with a table and big buddy heater if I'm near the truck or my HPG woodstove if I'm packed in (but then the standard cots and table don't come).

Wall tents are just iconic looking though ...

 

[campingalan]

New forum member......watching these kind of topics as I'm trying to decide between a comfy wall tent, a single layer cabelas alaknak or Big Horn 3, or a tee pee and stove.

 

[JCooper]

I’m also new to being able to post. Have read a ton of great information here over the years. I am also wondering which way to go, as now I have an old 9.5x9.5 Alaknak that we use packed in. Been thinking about getting a bigger tent. Haven’t decided on 12’x12’ Alaknak or the 12’x16’ Extinct Outfitter tent. This would be for 3 on cots with a stove.

 

[rbljack]

following as well

 

[couesbitten]

Used a large 16 x 20 wall tent with 10 ft awning for 10+ years, loved it! Comfortable, warm, spacious, and a MFer to haul, put together, dry out, store, etc. My hunting camp has changed in number of people and I sold the wall tent 6 years ago and have 3 different tipis that I use now. I don't ever miss that giant behemoth of a wall tent!

 

[jjolg]

Im looking into the same thing and wondering how does the seek outside courthouse compare to say a 12 man tipi?

 

[hunt1up]

I'll respond since I started the thread. I did end up selling the Wall Tent and I don't miss it one bit. We used the 12 man in Alaska this year and it was great for 3 guys and plenty of gear. We still have the 6 man as well and will use either one(or both) depending on the hunt.