- Banned
- #1
Newtosavage
WKR
Just wanted to share my experience this season - arguably the coldest 1st Rifle season in CO in many years (from what I was told).
In the past I had been hunting the muzzleloader season, which didn't require much in the way of a tent - whether at base camp or in the back country. However knowing I was going 1st rifle this year and that it could be much colder and possibly snowing (and it was), I decided to invest in a 10x10 Kodiak Canvas tent and a regular buddy heater with the propane bottle hose.
Short story - it worked fantastic. Easily the most comfortable elk camp I've had yet, even with the wet snow and single digit temps.
With me and my hunting partner each on a cot, there was room inside for my 4' table that had my 2-burner Coleman stove, plus my Coleman Northstar lantern. My misc. plastic tub fit neatly under the table and was easily accessed for food, paper towels, etc. Maybe the best part is that I'm 6'4" and I could easily stand straight up. In fact, I never hit my head on the tent and never even thought about it. For a guy who's had back surgery, that is a really nice feature.
When the temps got down in the 20's, we would run the heater until we went to bed, then just left on the pilot light. The pilot light acted like a night light, and was very convenient for when nature called in the middle of the night.
When the temps dropped into the single digits, we did leave the heater on low all night, with zero issues. I vented a window up high and another down low behind the heater. Neither of us ever felt sick or had a headache or any issues, but YMMV so I'd say do what you're comfortable with.
I'm pretty sure my Coleman Northstar lantern put off as much or more heat than the buddy heater, so in the morning I would get up and turn the heater to high and turn on the lantern. Within 2-3 minutes the upper half of the tent was easily 60-70 degrees. Warm enough that I was changing into a t-shirt and shorts. The lower part of the tent was still cool, but very comfortable. Even the coldest nights, I slept in my 20 deg. Sierra Designs down bag wearing just shorts and a t-shirt. I didn't even wear socks the last two nights even though it was around 20 outside.
We put up a couple hanging clotheslines inside the tent to dry clothes, and they were always dry every morning.
If we had needed to, a 3rd person could have fit in just fine, but we would have lost room to dress and stretch out.
Best purchase I made, aside from the tent and heater, was a 6x8' carpet that rolled out onto the middle of the floor. I can't tell you how nice it was to put my feet on that carpet each morning instead of the rubber floor. Best $16 of the trip IMO.
Setup of the Kodiak canvas tent could not have been simpler, which was a good thing since we had a total of three camp locations over the 10 days we were there. We set it up the first time, and took it down the first time, with some wet snow coming down. I used a shovel to scrape out a 12x12 space and then put the footprint down (well worth the extra $10 btw) and then put down the tent. Even through all that snow, the tent stayed very clean.
At the 2nd camp site, we got winds out in the open that would estimate were 25-30 mph, and the only issue we had was a pole on the awning came loose. I eventually rolled up that awning and left it that way. If there is only one thing I didn't care for on that tent, it was that the awning was too small and too low to be of any use. Rolled up, I never missed it.
I was concerned that I would regret buying the cheapest Kodiak tent, but I never missed any of the additional features of the more expensive models. I guess you can't miss what you never had, but there really isn't much I'd change about that tent, or the heater system. Before using this system, I had strongly considered getting a tent with a stove jack, or even putting a stove jack in my Kodiak Canvas tent. Now that I've used it with the buddy heater, I don't see the point.
Anyway, that's my experience for anyone that's considering this option. I give that tent and heater two thumbs up.
In the past I had been hunting the muzzleloader season, which didn't require much in the way of a tent - whether at base camp or in the back country. However knowing I was going 1st rifle this year and that it could be much colder and possibly snowing (and it was), I decided to invest in a 10x10 Kodiak Canvas tent and a regular buddy heater with the propane bottle hose.
Short story - it worked fantastic. Easily the most comfortable elk camp I've had yet, even with the wet snow and single digit temps.
With me and my hunting partner each on a cot, there was room inside for my 4' table that had my 2-burner Coleman stove, plus my Coleman Northstar lantern. My misc. plastic tub fit neatly under the table and was easily accessed for food, paper towels, etc. Maybe the best part is that I'm 6'4" and I could easily stand straight up. In fact, I never hit my head on the tent and never even thought about it. For a guy who's had back surgery, that is a really nice feature.
When the temps got down in the 20's, we would run the heater until we went to bed, then just left on the pilot light. The pilot light acted like a night light, and was very convenient for when nature called in the middle of the night.
When the temps dropped into the single digits, we did leave the heater on low all night, with zero issues. I vented a window up high and another down low behind the heater. Neither of us ever felt sick or had a headache or any issues, but YMMV so I'd say do what you're comfortable with.
I'm pretty sure my Coleman Northstar lantern put off as much or more heat than the buddy heater, so in the morning I would get up and turn the heater to high and turn on the lantern. Within 2-3 minutes the upper half of the tent was easily 60-70 degrees. Warm enough that I was changing into a t-shirt and shorts. The lower part of the tent was still cool, but very comfortable. Even the coldest nights, I slept in my 20 deg. Sierra Designs down bag wearing just shorts and a t-shirt. I didn't even wear socks the last two nights even though it was around 20 outside.
We put up a couple hanging clotheslines inside the tent to dry clothes, and they were always dry every morning.
If we had needed to, a 3rd person could have fit in just fine, but we would have lost room to dress and stretch out.
Best purchase I made, aside from the tent and heater, was a 6x8' carpet that rolled out onto the middle of the floor. I can't tell you how nice it was to put my feet on that carpet each morning instead of the rubber floor. Best $16 of the trip IMO.
Setup of the Kodiak canvas tent could not have been simpler, which was a good thing since we had a total of three camp locations over the 10 days we were there. We set it up the first time, and took it down the first time, with some wet snow coming down. I used a shovel to scrape out a 12x12 space and then put the footprint down (well worth the extra $10 btw) and then put down the tent. Even through all that snow, the tent stayed very clean.
At the 2nd camp site, we got winds out in the open that would estimate were 25-30 mph, and the only issue we had was a pole on the awning came loose. I eventually rolled up that awning and left it that way. If there is only one thing I didn't care for on that tent, it was that the awning was too small and too low to be of any use. Rolled up, I never missed it.
I was concerned that I would regret buying the cheapest Kodiak tent, but I never missed any of the additional features of the more expensive models. I guess you can't miss what you never had, but there really isn't much I'd change about that tent, or the heater system. Before using this system, I had strongly considered getting a tent with a stove jack, or even putting a stove jack in my Kodiak Canvas tent. Now that I've used it with the buddy heater, I don't see the point.
Anyway, that's my experience for anyone that's considering this option. I give that tent and heater two thumbs up.
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