northernmadman
FNG
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2023
- Messages
- 24
Need to up my posts before I am allowed to shop so here we go.
I have only had the opportunity to use this tent a handful of times so far. So far it's onky use has been ice fishing, but it was purchased for hunting in the mountians, Argo and truck camping, not backpacking this into the bush.
The pegs supplied are not good for mounting on ice. Even with a pilot hole the ice was cracking and shatters before the peg was set. I used some ice pegs from my wife's ice fishing shelter. They worked well, standing up to the 40km gusting wind 100' off shore, not much shelter out there lol. Tent shed the wind well, didn't realize how windy it was until I had to run back to the truck.
First time setting up the tent, including drilling pilot holes for the pegs, was under 15 minutes. Second time was just over 5.
First time outside temp was -25c. We had a small propane buddy heater and with vents open it was comfortable inside. Second time it was -15c with 25km winds with a wood stove. Too warm, had to open the front door.
The floor is just the lake ice, shoveled it all off to ice level for inside the tent, this also gave the walls roughly 4' of a snow bank so the wind only got the top 6-8 feet of the tent. Drill a hole 2' deep under where the stove will be set (ice was 5' or more) for the water to drain into. Spread sand on the ice and it helps with traction. The skim of water drains into the hole, leaving the sand. The ice looks really clear and you can actually see over 25' down to the bottom where your lure is through the ice.
Quality of build is great. The stitching was inspected and no loose ends found. The material around the base was nice as it didn't freeze to the lake. Added bonus of being dried out after an hour in front of the wood stove once we got home.
Both trips were day trips, didn't have the opportunity for an overnighter yet. We did have 6 people fishing in the tent with a decent amount of room.
The air venting system works really well. Was able to cool off the tent when we had the stove going by either opening the main door, or 2 vents at the bottom and the top half opened.
I did a fair amount of research before purchasing this tent. The cost is VERY high so you want to ensure you're not buying something that will fail on you when the closest shelter is 300km away. I am happy with the purchase as of now, buy once,
cry once right? Expecting this to last for over 20 years. So doing the math, if I spend 20 nights a year for the next 20 years it is only $10/night for a palace. Pretty good deal. My wife wasn't happy with the price, but sure loved fishing out of it in a short sleeve T-shirt when it is -15c and windy outside.
Was able to camp out for a couple nights in late May, no frost this year but cold mornings around 5c. With the exception of my whining dog it was an excellent sleep. My lab doesn't like it when a group of 30 bison decide to sleep 40' from the tent. You can hear them breath from inside the tent, pretty cool experience.
I bought this tent for hunting on the canol trail in the fall. Seems to be working well so far and setup is only getting easier and easier. 10 minute setup and 20 minutes to take down.
I will try to post some pics but it says they are too big for the server, need a youngster to show me how
More to come as the journey continues.
I have only had the opportunity to use this tent a handful of times so far. So far it's onky use has been ice fishing, but it was purchased for hunting in the mountians, Argo and truck camping, not backpacking this into the bush.
The pegs supplied are not good for mounting on ice. Even with a pilot hole the ice was cracking and shatters before the peg was set. I used some ice pegs from my wife's ice fishing shelter. They worked well, standing up to the 40km gusting wind 100' off shore, not much shelter out there lol. Tent shed the wind well, didn't realize how windy it was until I had to run back to the truck.
First time setting up the tent, including drilling pilot holes for the pegs, was under 15 minutes. Second time was just over 5.
First time outside temp was -25c. We had a small propane buddy heater and with vents open it was comfortable inside. Second time it was -15c with 25km winds with a wood stove. Too warm, had to open the front door.
The floor is just the lake ice, shoveled it all off to ice level for inside the tent, this also gave the walls roughly 4' of a snow bank so the wind only got the top 6-8 feet of the tent. Drill a hole 2' deep under where the stove will be set (ice was 5' or more) for the water to drain into. Spread sand on the ice and it helps with traction. The skim of water drains into the hole, leaving the sand. The ice looks really clear and you can actually see over 25' down to the bottom where your lure is through the ice.
Quality of build is great. The stitching was inspected and no loose ends found. The material around the base was nice as it didn't freeze to the lake. Added bonus of being dried out after an hour in front of the wood stove once we got home.
Both trips were day trips, didn't have the opportunity for an overnighter yet. We did have 6 people fishing in the tent with a decent amount of room.
The air venting system works really well. Was able to cool off the tent when we had the stove going by either opening the main door, or 2 vents at the bottom and the top half opened.
I did a fair amount of research before purchasing this tent. The cost is VERY high so you want to ensure you're not buying something that will fail on you when the closest shelter is 300km away. I am happy with the purchase as of now, buy once,
cry once right? Expecting this to last for over 20 years. So doing the math, if I spend 20 nights a year for the next 20 years it is only $10/night for a palace. Pretty good deal. My wife wasn't happy with the price, but sure loved fishing out of it in a short sleeve T-shirt when it is -15c and windy outside.
Was able to camp out for a couple nights in late May, no frost this year but cold mornings around 5c. With the exception of my whining dog it was an excellent sleep. My lab doesn't like it when a group of 30 bison decide to sleep 40' from the tent. You can hear them breath from inside the tent, pretty cool experience.
I bought this tent for hunting on the canol trail in the fall. Seems to be working well so far and setup is only getting easier and easier. 10 minute setup and 20 minutes to take down.
I will try to post some pics but it says they are too big for the server, need a youngster to show me how
More to come as the journey continues.
