Why are hot tents so expensive?

[madtom]

I cut a 8-10” piece of an arrow and attached it to the zipper with some p cord. Much easier to open and close the zipper

That's genius

 

[Fire_9]

That’s what smart people do - find solutions to problems. Me? I grouse and mumble under my breath as I get on my belly and slide face-first toward the end of the zipper

I didn’t come up with it. Someone smarter than me told me about it lol

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

That’s what smart people do - find solutions to problems. Me? I grouse and mumble under my breath as I get on my belly and slide face-first toward the end of the zipper

Literally I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have things to complain about.

 

[Irrelevant]

Literally I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have things to complain about.

It's the America way

 

[Elkmagnet]

Everything has its place. A ultralight hot tent is pretty marginal at the truck. I would use canvas with a heavier stove.
In October on a backpack trip use a 3 season backpack tent.
Somewhere around November 15th through February 15th above 7000k in Idaho it can easily rain on you all day and hit -20 that same night.
I have been on two hunts where this happened. Ill say that in December when you are wet and the 15 hour long night is going to drop to -20 you would gladly pay for Brazos to air drop you a hot tent 7mi into the wilderness.
Ask yourself what do I really plan to do. Then ask if your partner will make you drive to a hotel if the forecast is challenging.

 

[Elkmagnet]

When you were almost picked up and thrown by the tent I started to get concerned.

Oh bother!

 

[MTLabrador]

View attachment 162849
Oh bother!

I wish we took photos of the damage that night, but we were not in a laughing mood. Pro tip, if you leave the tent door open in case wandering a prairie grizzly decides to sniff around the tent, don’t face the open end into a wind tunnel.

 

[rtraverdavis]

This thread has been informative as hell. I'm glad I read it. I may stifle my urge to buy a hot tent setup for now.

Dude, yeah. I was really kicking around the idea of getting one for next year’s backpack hunt. Now I’m thinking I’d be better served buying a warmer sleeping bag and a pad with better insulation.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Dude, yeah. I was really kicking around the idea of getting one for next year’s backpack hunt. Now I’m thinking I’d be better served buying a warmer sleeping bag and a pad with better insulation.

Same. Xtherm pad and a good zero degree bag.

 

[FI460]

Same. Xtherm pad and a good zero degree bag.

X3. Good thread.

 

[huntnpack]

I'll leave this here. I basically did this with an old canvas tarp I inherited for truck camping. So far I've used a lil buddy heater instead of messing with a wood stove, though.

 

[Shangobango]

After spending 11 nights in a 12X12 Alaknak with temps ranging from 75 to 12 degrees, a few inches of snow, a little rain, and winds of 20 MPH with higher gusts making for a couple of nights of zero or sub-zero wind chill, I feel like I can chime in on this.

Pros- Warmth obviously. It was nice to be able to get up in the morning and start a fire, crawl back in the bag for 10 or 15 minutes and then get ready for a days hunt in the warmth of the tent.

I did not have condensation issues anywhere but in the vestibule. This was due to me boiling water in there on the Coleman Stove to use for coffee and Mountain House more
than likely. The inside of the main tent never dripped on me once during the trip and was never even wet to the touch. Maybe due to the fact that I got the stove hot enough for
long enough in the evenings and throughout the night to keep everything dry?

Room- Between the tent and vestibule I was able to keep all my gear, split firewood, plus a way to boil water for coffee and grub, both warm and dry.

Cons- Set up and takedown kinda sucked alone.
Size and weight to haul
Takes a pile of wood to keep things warm and dry at 12 degrees with snow.
Floor- I think I would prefer a shelter without a floor


I had no issues with the wind, rain, or snow. The tent handled them like a champ.

 

[Shangobango]

I agree that they're more expensive than they should be. I ended up biting the bullet on a SO 4-man tipi and stove 3 years ago. These were my considerations:

1. Always wanted a wall tent, but 80% of my hunting is alone and I've used them enough to know it'd suck to set it up myself.

2. 5' pickup bed doesn't easily accommodate wall tent poles. Definitely not buying a trailer just to bring my tent along.

3. Fits on the back seat floor of my truck as opposed to wall tent taking 60% of my bed.

4. Set up/take down in 5 minutes to move camp.

5. Stove is great to get a little heat before you get up in the morning. Also like it for drying boots at night.

6. Condensation easily mitigated with liner or allowing some ventilation under the tent perimeter.

There are certainly cons, but overall it fills my niche pretty well.

Definitely considering Seek Outside for my next hot tent purchase for use when I am alone.

 

[NoWiser]

An Alaknak is a totally different beast than the shelters discussed here. We’ve run ours in all kinds of conditions and absolutely love it.

 

[rmyoung1]

An Alaknak is a totally different beast than the shelters discussed here. We’ve run ours in all kinds of conditions and absolutely love it.

They’re nice tents but not perfect either. My dad has an Alaknak tent, and we were camped one week at 11,000 feet during a first rifle elk hunt in CO. The temperature was right in that 30-35 degree range with wet snow/sleet mix. We fired up the stove and it practically rained inside that tent. Challenging conditions, obviously, but all synthetic materials will provide some condensation-management challenges. Dad’s is an older model and perhaps the newer ones are vented better.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Dude, yeah. I was really kicking around the idea of getting one for next year’s backpack hunt. Now I’m thinking I’d be better served buying a warmer sleeping bag and a pad with better insulation.

Honestly I think now that this thread exists I don’t have to bash them anymore... basically I was just tired of the fan-girling that was going on with 0 reviews or critiques.

Essentially was looking for “why my tent sucks”, but every thread seemed to suggest that the magical farting unicorn wolves came out of a special pouch in the hot tipi tent and then acted as your spirit guiding, leading you along an illuminated path to booner elk and meadows full of rams.

They’re f-ing tarps with a 1.5 lb stove there’s gonna be some issues.

 

[rmyoung1]

Honestly I think now that this thread exists I don’t have to bash them anymore... basically I was just tired of the fan-girling that was going on with 0 reviews or critiques.

Essentially was looking for “why my tent sucks”, but every thread seemed to suggest that the magical farting unicorn wolves came out of a special pouch in the hot tipi tent and then acted as your spirit guiding, leading you along an illuminated path to booner elk and meadows full of rams.

They’re f-ing tarps with a 1.5 lb stove there’s gonna be some issues.

Hater. Just wait till you buy one and get a farting unicorn wolf of your own. Then you’ll see

 

[Franky'sFolly]

Totally it's a lot of $$ and probably something that wouldn't get a ton of use, as it has a pretty niche use case.

My assumption is that a single person can set it up in 10 min, just based on the pics and my experience with m 6p tent. I've never set up a wall tent, but I assume more of a project ?

The 6p SG looks to me like it will be marketed to guides in Canada and Alaska who are accessing country by plane and will be living there for an extended period of time while clients fly in and out.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Hater. Just wait till you buy one and get a farting unicorn wolf of your own. Then you’ll see

I opted for the ultra light model...

 

[rmyoung1]

View attachment 162919
I opted for the ultra light model...

Cheap skate. Those short-legged pooches only come in REI tarp pouches. If you want rainbow farts and booner bulls, you’ll need to pony up (and crawl on your face to open the door). Everyone knows that.