My new (old) canvas wall tent.

[Penns Woods]

I have been wanting to extend my camping season so I took advantage of a 10x14 canvas tent gifted to me from my cousin. His old tent was unusable with some rotten spots in it, but I was able to get enough good canvas to make this 6x7x6 high wall tent. I tried to make it as light as possible, the finished weight is about 24 pounds. I considered getting one of those new lightweight teepee hot tents but I read about condensation issues with them. I'm happy with the canvas tent. It just seems right.
I plan to use it this Fall in the Adirondacks with my wood stove.

 

[memaquay]

Nice job! Is your stove jack in yet?

 

[Robin]

Looks good, perfect size with that 6' height. What holds it up, a center pole front and rear with short wall poles?

 

[Penns Woods]

memaquay- I haven't installed the stove jack yet. I'm trying to decide where I want the stove.

Robin- Right now I'm using center poles. This way I only have the canvas and two telescopic poles to transport. I'll see if it works OK,
if not I'll try using an internal frame. For such a small tent it seems to be doing OK. The poles are recycled from another tent I had years ago.

 

[Barry1954!]

Good job! We have 2 old Green canvas wall tents and a New Ozark Trail 10' x 12' wall tent love'em for Elk and deer hunting . But for canoeing in the summer I don't know WHY no one offers a wall tent made of modern rip stop nylon , a 10 x10 with 2 poles wouldn't weigh 25 pounds !

 

[Boreal Birch]

I have seen a made of modern material wall tent on one of the European outdoor/camping supply stores on the internet, don’t remember which one though. I believe it was in Finland, maybe called a scout or scouting tent. If anyone runs across a site that has them please post it. Even a light wall tent the shipping cost might prove costly.

 

[Boreal Birch]

I found the tent that I was looking at.
It is a Savotta Naiger SF100.
Weight 5kg
Width & length 220x295cm
Center height 190cm with wall height 70cm
So, roughly the size of a 8x10x6 wall tent with a two foot wall at about 11 lbs.
scandinavianoutdoors.com
The downer part is they will not ship to USA or CANADA, so will need to get a friend in a EU country to get it for you or do like I plan go there and pick it up while traveling.
I suspect that some lawyer’s worried about fire danger and future law suits are to blame.
Color is dark, might be too warm, unless a tarp is pitched over it. Dark inside, which might be a plus if you are sleeping in it under the midnight sun in the far north.
I have heard of wall tents being made from bed sheets, if you are handy with a sewing machine and other skills. Definitely would need a good water proof tarp for that kind of tent. Value Village probably has cheap sheets.

 

[scoutergriz]

I've made multiple wall tents including full polyester and hybrids, I found that the poly tents wore very quickly, especially around the door and snowflaps from the constant abrasion, it was prone to spark holes (some rather large), and the constant high heat from the stove (yes, it had heat shields) made the fabric crispy and brittle. the hybrid versions, while eliminating that problem with canvas doors and 1st section of the sidewall had another, more serious one- each time the tent got wet the canvas would stretch then shrink as it dried again, putting huge strain on the seams and causing them to fail after a few trips.
I'd rather put up with the extra weight and bulk than risk a potential catastrophic failure

 

[Robin]

I'd rather put up with the extra weight and bulk than risk a potential catastrophic failure

Me too. I like my cotton canvas wall tent, it's held up well in spite of my half-arsed sewing job when I downsized it.
I was interested in this tent, Nordisk Ydun Mini Tent but it has been discontinued.

Nordisk Ydun Tech Mini Tent - Chocolate CampingWorld.co.uk

A neat and cozy ridge tent True to the values of the “Colour my Adventure” range, the Ydun Tech Mini (the little brother of the Cotton Ydun) packs much smaller and is considerably lighter than its big brother, yet it is spacious enough for two .... $478.00.

www.campingworld.co.uk

 

[Barry1954!]

I've made multiple wall tents including full polyester and hybrids, I found that the poly tents wore very quickly, especially around the door and snowflaps from the constant abrasion, it was prone to spark holes (some rather large), and the constant high heat from the stove (yes, it had heat shields) made the fabric crispy and brittle. the hybrid versions, while eliminating that problem with canvas doors and 1st section of the sidewall had another, more serious one- each time the tent got wet the canvas would stretch then shrink as it dried again, putting huge strain on the seams and causing them to fail after a few trips.
I'd rather put up with the extra weight and bulk than risk a potential catastrophic failure

THANKS ! I had thot along the lines of Sunforger "in stock" for roof ,then cotton muslin for walls . As commented above bed sheets also when used vertical would be OK ( I think) Also mite make a set of inner walls from screen mesh . THIS tent would be used for summer camping along Missouri's Senic Riverways as We have several options for HOT tent apps. For Deer and Elk season "camping" .

 

[scoutergriz]

THANKS ! I had thot along the lines of Sunforger "in stock" for roof ,then cotton muslin for walls . As commented above bed sheets also when used vertical would be OK ( I think) Also mite make a set of inner walls from screen mesh . THIS tent would be used for summer camping along Missouri's Senic Riverways as We have several options for HOT tent apps. For Deer and Elk season "camping" .

my only concerns with using bed sheets are- first the thread weight and count- those high thread count sheets use very small diameter threads which may do an excellent job of blocking the wind, but they not be robust enough to handle the wear and tear of bush life, and low thread count sheets may take the abuse but will be poorer in the wind and rain because of a more open weave. a possible remedy would be to purchase hospital grade sheets
And secondly those sheets are generally preshrunk requiring you to preshrink your canvas before even starting your patterns, and can actually cost substantially more than bulk canvas. You can buy commercial- grade painters' tarps of 6oz canvas for about $40 for a 12x12 and it only takes about 3 1/2 tarps for a 10x12 tent including ties and loops.
Throw in some thread, denim needles, and a piece of dark chalk and you're on your way for under $150. a huge benefit to using them is that you can sometimes find that the tarp is from a single 144" width, not sewn from multiple pieces of "60 or even 48" widths.

 

[Barry1954!]

As to sheets I was just thinking something lite and that would pack compactly as we move every day . We use Harbor Freight's economy painter's drop cloths as top bed covering ( Dogs) they launder well , easy to work with , and the weave closes with repeat washings . Also both of our GP med. CANVAS wall tents lace up the corners for ventilation , thinking about that also with the screen walls

 

[ppine]

Reminds me of a hunting trip with my Dad and two brothers. I still have a 10x14 wall tent purchased in Denver in 1980. We were hunting deer in Colorado at 10,000 feet above Rifle. I brought the tent and planned to cut poles to set up. All we could find were the shrubby canyon oaks. Our ridge pole had a splice in it and pole in the center of the tent. The weather was cold about 10 drinks below. Dad got up to take a piss. My brother was lying on his back drinking a beer. Dad lost his balance, grabbed the center pole and the whole works came crashing down. One of the center poles landed on my brother's chest collapsing the beer can. We remember it as the day my brother's life was saved by Budweiser.