Delux wall tent advive

[capper]

Hey guys, so me and my hunting/fishing buddy have decided to pull the trigger and buy a wall tent. 14*16, 10ft porch, wood stove, drying trays. The thing we need advice on is if we should get the insulated or the regular. Obviously the insulated is heavier and costs more but we do plan on using it a few times each winter on ice fishing trips. I guess my question is what type of weather have you gone out in with your outfitter tent and was it comfortable. Do you have a max temp you would not go out in. the tent has 2 options for the stove piping, One out the side and one out the top. Any thoughts on which is the preferred? I guess we could always put a second stove it in if we really needed to.

[Austin]

We are comfkrtable in a regular canvas Norseman Tent in -28 weather. We used an airtight wood heater from home hardware (Mfg is great west metal co). They have different sizes and we opt'd for the largest ~$140. Our tent has the stove hole in the roof. I'm not sure if there is an advantage to a sidewall heater hole. You'd think that the 90 degree bend could choke the airflow/ heat of the heater but I'm not 100% on that.

[mad mountain mike]

I log alot of nights in a wall tent at all times of the year. I've never had an insulated tent but with a good stove and a good sleeping bag I've always slept quite comfortable. This year I acquired an insulated tarp and that made a huge difference in the comfort level before Christmas during that -30ish stretch. In the future I'll continue to pack the insulated tarp for winter camping, it's effective, alot cheaper and lighter than an insulated tent.

[Prairiewolf]

Originally Posted by capper

Hey guys, so me and my hunting/fishing buddy have decided to pull the trigger and buy a wall tent. 14*16, 10ft porch, wood stove, drying trays. The thing we need advice on is if we should get the insulated or the regular. Obviously the insulated is heavier and costs more but we do plan on using it a few times each winter on ice fishing trips. I guess my question is what type of weather have you gone out in with your outfitter tent and was it comfortable. Do you have a max temp you would not go out in. the tent has 2 options for the stove piping, One out the side and one out the top. Any thoughts on which is the preferred? I guess we could always put a second stove it in if we really needed to.

There are better ways to retain heat than spending more money on an insulated tent (which take a lot longer to dry by the way):

*Use an insulated tarp as a fly
*Line the walls with bubblewrap insulation (between the tent and the poles)
*Use a floor
*Buy an ecofan for your wood stove
*Get a tent where you can get the stove near the middle, with the stove pipe vertical out of the roof - keeps more pipe inside to act as a heat exchanger

With my wall tent I do all but the last - and am looking to get a stove pipe hole put in the roof this year. I've been comfortable in -20 conditions, although we were diligent to keep the stove well stoked. A big well-made stove can make a huge difference.

Best of luck.

[Moo Snukkle]

Prairiewolf's recommendations are the most cost effective. And, they work! Get both stove jack locations installed. I like to use the centre hole in wall for stove and 2 45's in stack. Get them to put a bug screen with Velcro on the roof jack and use as a vent in milder weather. I also grabbed some scrap sheet stainless for reflectors. 4x4' under the stove and 2 3x3's behind. Quality of your wood is paramount for max btu's. Oh ya, remove the porch if using tent on ice. If you don't, the wind will do it for you.

[mad mountain mike]

Another thing worth mentioning is that you can't go wrong going with Deluxe Wall Tents. I have two and use them exstensively. In the unlikely event you have any issues with your tent Perry and the people at Deluxe will do everything they can to resolve your issue, even with an aged well used tent. I'm very impressed with their customer service.

[Griswold]

I have had my canvas un-insulated tent for 30 years and have endured all kinds of weather. We have always put a tarp over the half of the tent we sleep under, it keeps the heat in and the dampness out. For the last few years we have used clear plastic and the tent stays brighter inside during daylight hours.
The amount of wood you burn is directly related to the outside temperature. We put foam insulation in the one corner where our kitchen is to help keep things from freezing.

[Big Grey Wolf]

I have been in wall tent, just canvas in -40oC many nights. Only require a large heater and lots of dry wood, you will sleep like a baby. Nice to have some carpet pieces on the floor.

[capper]

Thanks a lot everyone! This kind of advice really helps me, I tend to learn everything the hard way so all the advice is much appreciated. None insulated is what we will buy. I'll post up some pics and story once we take it out on its first trip.

[Dean2]

Always go for the stove jack out the roof. Side mounted were a compromise to deal with heavy rains for tents used a lot in the summer and definitely don't work as well. It is also harder to keep the chimney up in high winds with a wall mounted jack.

Floor made out of plywood or an insulated tarp and a fly will do you more good than an insulated tent. For long stays, putting hay bales around the wind side of the tent walls helps a whole bunch.

If you can get good lump coal, it runs hotter and last much longer than wood. Particularly good for overnight.

[qmurphy]

Bubble wrap between the tent and the poles has already been suggested, just one small thing to add. Use R-FOIL insulation for your bubble wrap, shiny side in. Leave the rfoil a little long, so it can be rolled across the doorway when you go to sleep for the night. Not only does it do wonders for the heat, it makes your tent so much brighter when you are awake and have a couple of lights on. Single best improvement done to my groups tent. Lots of nights logged at -35.

[Sako300]

We just use an insulated tarp to cover the entire 14x16 tent, and we use an insulated tarp for the floor as well. I have a side wall hole, and I will be getting a roof hole cut out for next season as it just seems way easier than messing around with the elbows. Would love to see some pics of the bubble wrap idea, cant quite picture it.

Thanks!

[nimrod]

we use a military wall tent, comes in pieces, each roof piece is 8 by 16, i have 3, each 8x16 has it's own stove jack, very nice in cold weather, 2 stoves warm the tent nice, then we also have 2 end wall units, so I can have a 8x16 or 16x16 or 24x16 tent, we also made a internal tent frame, not a perfect fit but it does keep it up, works for us.

my advise if you do go with 24 x16 deluxe tent, get a couple stove jacks installed, say one at the 6 ft or 8ft then another at 18 or 20 ft, never know when you might need the extra stove, deluxe tents look great, just wish I had the money when i bought my military tent.

[Sooner]

-18 was the coldest in my old Norseman forestry tent. Not cold but comfy as long as we kept the stove full. This was with a 20 inch air tight.

Now I use a blue tarp that covers the complete tent front to back, back drapes down over the window so we can leave it open but no wind gets in. The front has enough for a small porch. The sides go out past the edge of the tent by 2 feet so any rain or snow slides off away from the side walls. Easy peasy to knock off a foot of snow, just slides. keeps more heat in too and the tent dry. I also hang a old bed sheet across the door peak and let it hang down covering the seams. We have the tie style flaps so not very weather resistant, the bed sheet acts as a buffer between the warm inside air and the outside air.

I would suggest buy the biggest stove you can afford. I wish i bought the biggest air tight back then. The bigger the wood you can put in, the less you have to re stock at night. I keep a pail of gravel at moose camp. Dump in stove when we get there, dump back out into pail when we leave. 20 yr old stove, bottom is still solid. I built my own chimney, used 2 - 4 ft sections of galvanized stove pipe, welded the diameter and tacked the seam. All of the seamless pipe sticks out of the tent, 1-2 ft section to get it over the peak. Now that darn creosote drips back in the stove without seeping out and smoking up the tent. I would love to have a bigger stove, plan to build my next stove.

Great ideas here. Going to do either the insulation on the walls or a least a heat deflector around the stove section. Always wanted to try some coal in with the wood for sleep time.

[lilsundance]

We have 2 five foot sections of 6" double heavy walled pipe (black not galvanized) my cousin grabbed out of a dumpster at a new house build when he dropped off a furnace and air conditioning unit. On top of the stove we have regular heavy stove pipe with the damper in it which slides into the double walled pipe. A normal stove pipe cap fits on top. Over the top of the tent we have a huge tarp that covers the whole tent and back. It extends out about 10 feet in front of the tent for storage of coolers etc out of the sun but not exposed to heat from the stove so frozen food stay's frozen the whole week.
And I might add we built this tent ourselves sitting on the driveway with a sewing machine on a table. lol Inside floor measurements are 16'9" by 28' 9" or we can remove a front 9ft section (door two side walls and roof that attaches to the main tent) With our homemade stove 16x18x 24 deep (made out of an old diesel fuel tank off a truck) we can get it so hot in there you have to open the door to cool it off. For any stove the best way to keep it from burning out is to put sand (or gravel as someone else said) on the bottom. This will keep the metal from getting cherry hot and warping and burning the bottom out.

[Maxwell78]

I have often thought of having one of those space/survival blankets on the wall behind the stove to reflect the heat.

Has anyone ever tried that?? Should work

[sageone]

We have the Delux 14 X 16 with side chimney jack. We run a tarp on the roof every time we set it up. Helps retain heat and keep the roof dry. Because the chimney goes out the side we don't have melting snow dripping down onto the stove like can happen when it goes through the roof.

We also have the custom porch but we had Perry sew a door in the porch before it shipped. Best idea we ever had. It's a weatherproof storage room for all kinds of weather. Firewood, Coolers, boots, garbage can recycle can all go in the porch. Also have the wood stove . It's great as well.

[LongRangebugler]

I just bought a 14 by 20 deluxe wall tent with the porch and there stove also. Works great . Had it out in minus 20 this past November . I would add a second hole for a stove pipe , something I didn't do .

Also tell them you don't want a tent pole in the middle of your window , and get them to have the windows open from the inside .... that's my only complaint . I still have to email perry to see why that is like that scince they apparently made it to order ... don't know why they would make the window in the canvas directly centre of the poles . And what's the point of a window if you can't open them from the inside .

But anyways the wall tent works great with lots of good wood and a sleeping bag in -20.

[LongRangebugler]

I also bought a induction fan that sits on the wood stove to circulate the heat better and it works great. 120$ at lee valley .

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by LongRangebugler

I just bought a 14 by 20 deluxe wall tent with the porch and there stove also. Works great . Had it out in minus 20 this past November . I would add a second hole for a stove pipe , something I didn't do .

Also tell them you don't want a tent pole in the middle of your window , and get them to have the windows open from the inside .... that's my only complaint . I still have to email perry to see why that is like that scince they apparently made it to order ... don't know why they would make the window in the canvas directly centre of the poles . And what's the point of a window if you can't open them from the inside .

But anyways the wall tent works great with lots of good wood and a sleeping bag in -20.

The reason the windows open on the outside is for waterproofing. Rain will come right in the screen and leak down the inside of the tent if the Canvas flap is on the inside. As far as tent pole in middle of rear window, I don't see the problem, there is one in the middle of the doorway too. How would you propose they eliminate that other than moving the window off centre?

[klondiker2017]

Lots of info so this may have been mentioned already. A heavier steel stove is far better than the oval type of 'air tight' wood stove. The latter heats up quickly but loses its heat just as fast. A stove made of say 1/8" steel holds its heat far longer. Deluxe Wall Tents sells such. It should go without saying, but if your tent gets wet, make sure it's totally dry before storage or else it will mold and rot. Hang and spread it out as best you can for good air circulation all around and through the tent. I've done four tents per season for 15 years. A couple of sleeping people generate a large amount of damp air. Good to keep a window or door cracked to keep drier inside air when the stove goes out.

[DOGFISH]

As previously mentioned above un-insulated and biggest air tight stove. I also use my Ridgid Hybrid fan which works great in the wall tent as well in the ice fishing shack.It runs off 18 volt batteries or 110 volt.

[Roebag]

I also bought a 14 x 20 with a 5' porch. We found that the guys in the back didn't get enough heat from the largest pot belly/air tight we have(26" stove) in the -25 and colder, so I bought a stove flange kit from Cabelas US and made a barrel stove for ~$120 buck all in. No issues temperature wise with the barrel stove even with the big tent in -25 and colder


I use my campfire grate over top of it also just to warm things on and for the Ecofan







Nothing Like -25 outside




I have spent dozens upon dozens of night though in a 14 x 16 with a 26" pot belly in -25 with good wood and everything was good.

[Bald Eagle]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Always go for the stove jack out the roof. Side mounted were a compromise to deal with heavy rains for tents used a lot in the summer and definitely don't work as well. It is also harder to keep the chimney up in high winds with a wall mounted jack.

Floor made out of plywood or an insulated tarp and a fly will do you more good than an insulated tent. For long stays, putting hay bales around the wind side of the tent walls helps a whole bunch.

If you can get good lump coal, it runs hotter and last much longer than wood. Particularly good for overnight.

A LUMP of COAL!!!!
My god......shame on you......you know how dirty that coal is. Damaging our environment.
I can't believe it. Hahahahahha


My vote is uninsulated. Insulated are major bulky to try to haul or pack anywhere.

We use to use coal all the time during the night. Spent many nights with the door open. Stoked er a bit to much. Lol

[sirmike68]

I never had a good sleep in my 12 x 14 with a wood stove on a cold night. My sleep was always limited. I was either sweating to death because I was stoking the stove up full to make it last as long as possible or freezing to death because I was sleeping until it the fire was out. Any kind of breeze on a cold night and it was a nightmare. After a 4-5 day hunting trip I was like a zombie. Then I bought a diesel fired stove and had constant heat that let me sleep comfortably through the night and I started to like the tent again. It costs more to operate but it is worth it. Not having to deal with wood and getting full a full night of sleep is well worth it.

[Xbolt7mm]

Originally Posted by capper

Hey guys, so me and my hunting/fishing buddy have decided to pull the trigger and buy a wall tent. 14*16, 10ft porch, wood stove, drying trays. The thing we need advice on is if we should get the insulated or the regular. Obviously the insulated is heavier and costs more but we do plan on using it a few times each winter on ice fishing trips. I guess my question is what type of weather have you gone out in with your outfitter tent and was it comfortable. Do you have a max temp you would not go out in. the tent has 2 options for the stove piping, One out the side and one out the top. Any thoughts on which is the preferred? I guess we could always put a second stove it in if we really needed to.

I used the normal tent and threw an insulated tarp over the roof

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

We have had our DWT - 16x20 with 8' porch for 7 years now...been a great tent. FIrst year we used my wood stove I had in my 14x16 wall tent . Some guys still found it too hot as the fall hunts have been on the warm side up until this year.

In the second year we bought the Prospector Diesel heater. This was the first year since the purchase we had to turn up the temp.

Nice thing about the diesel heater is its a consistent heat and keep the wall tent warm.

You will love your new tent. Don't go the INSULATED model IMO, you do not need it. Just get the tarp to cover the roof from DWT.

I used my other tent witht he wood stove sledding in the mountains for years and it was good.

FOr your new tent, I will suggest getting a few more windows cut out/sewn in on the side walls and if the back wall doesn't have one, a good sized one here as well. Also maybe another stove pipe location should you not like the back middle. We have another one in the front corner in the roof as this is where the wood stove went the first year.