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Wall Tents

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songdog33

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Howdy all. I have done a search with not much results here. I am new to the fur trade re enacting. I am looking for a tent that I can use at rendezvous for my family of 6. I would love to have a tipi, but lodge poles are an issue. My other option is a wall tent. My question being, who makes a quality tent? I have looked at Panther Primitives and Tentsmiths. They are both comparible price wise. What other companies are there and what one would be more period correct? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Tom
 
songdog 33,I have always had Panther and have had good luck with them.I have a 12'x18'with a wall partition to split living and sleeping areas.You will just have to read up on wether the tents offered by manufacturers are for living history.Some tentmakers gear their wall tents more for Hunters or Outfitters with zippers and velcro etc.You want to stay away from that stuff.Good Luck in your search.
 
This is where I got my wall tent, I am very pleased with it. I do suggest that you get the “sod flap”, it might cost a little more but it helps keep water from running in under your tent. I lay a waterproof ground cloth on top of the sod flap keeping any water from getting on top of my ground cloth.
http://www.fcsutler.com/fccanvas.asp
 
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I use Panther, and like the quality of their tents, though I am sure there are other good makers out there.

I sell Panther tents as a way of helping locals get into the hobby/sport. I don't pursue this as a business, and I AM NOT trying to sell you anything.

With that said, there are many considerations in buying a tent. From experience, I will offer a few:

I have been camping in a big wall tent for three years. I love the space, and last week it withstood a tremendous 2-hour thunderstorm that dumped 2" of rain on our camp and winds over 40 mph. One tent blew flat during the storm,and the camper spent the rest of the night in his truck. I remained warm, dry, and comfortable throughout the entire event. The only problem I have with the wall tent is that it takes a lot of time and effort to put up and down. Lots of poles, ropes and stakes. I do mean lots! Unless I am going to use it for several days, I dread all that work. I can erect it by myself, but it is much easier with a helper or two, which I don't always have. Maybe I am just getting lazy in my old age, but this is another consideration when choosing a tent style.

For shorter events (and when my 8 year-old son isn't with me) I camp in a Panther Medium Wedge. Like all wedges, regardless of their size, it takes less than 5 minutes to erect, and about the same to take down. It is simplicity at its' finest! (5 of my buddies also rode out the thundertorm in Panther Wedges with no problems.)

It all depends on what YOU want, and how much work you want to put into it.

The "period correctness" depends mostly on YOUR area and the time period you reenact. Here in KY, and most of the "old west" Tipis are not PC, but that changes as you move farther west.

Except for the strictest Rondys, a wall or wedge tent will be acceptable, regardless of added features. So, I highly recommend sod flaps, even though they are not PC. I also like overlapping door flaps to keep out wind, water and "critters". Brass grommets are another feature that add to the life of the tent. Keep these features in mind, because Panther's PC Military Wedge tents DO NOT come with any of them. They must be added during the ordering process. I also prefer both front and back doors.

With the Rondy season in full swing, there should be some great opportunities to pick up a good quality used tent at a local event. I have seen some real bargains since the economy turned downward. It is an added bonus to be able to see the tent and most will come with all the poles, ropes, and stakes. (Which will cost extra on a new tent!)

Happy hunting! A good tent will make great memories. Use it well, and use it often!
 
I have used Tentsmiths and find their quality and attention to detail to be very high. Their advice is also very good & when ready for another tent, I will again go with them. Two thoughts for consideration - a PC tent will be easier to resell as it can be used by both those who care and those that do not whereas a non PC tent will only appeal to those who do not care. Secondly, a wall tent big enough to hold six is going to be pretty heavy & could become a real test when you have to take it home wet & set it back up wet.

A good tip from an old vendor buddy of mine:

Get a couple of very large plastic storage bins for your canvas (you do not need to be able to put the lids on with the canvas in the tubs) but with wet canvas rolled & standing in the tubs/bins, when you get home you can dump out several inches of water that would otherwise be draining out of your canvas & into everything else on the bed of your truck or trailer.
 
Coot,good tip about using the tubs for transport.I have a large wall and when we fold it up after a event we put it on a large plastic storage lid.That way me and my wife can carry and slide it in the truck.Otherwise that big wad of canvas is like carrying a wet noodle LOL!
 
I have a strinz out of nebraska, bought it a couple years ago,comes with a sod cloth that i think is a necessity, bought a canopy from him last year when my homemade one self destructed in the wind,with the large stove its warm, use it also for hunting, as i,m looking out the window at the snow the 1st ronde this year is going to be chilly, it does get cold up here, looking forward to a good summer an fall
 
Is there such a thing as a PC wall tent? What I mean is that some wall tents have higher walls than others. Also on the door flaps, some seem to be sewn together near the top. On the grommets. I know a lot of folks sew in metal rings or leather tabs. There are sod flaps for a floor. In one pre-1840 diary a floor was used in a tent- they note that the tent leaked and the waterproof floor was holding puddles of water.
But what are period correct features?
 
For those in the 1775+ age if you can go to Yorktown VA and visit the battle field museum you can view George W's tent. A beautiful A frame. ( I have one custom made for me copied from Gen. W's,the original). I have enjoyed seeing Gen. w's tent many times. I would say it's PC for sure. I had mine set up the last time in a moose camp for 39 days. WONDERFUL
 
When referring to PC features, I was talking about the things I mentioned. (Mostly on Wedges should the OP decide to go that direction.) If I understand correctly, most features like overlapping doors, sod flaps, and grommets were not standard on 18th century tents. Some may have been in use, but most of the "copies" do not include these. I am confident that my "kit" could withstand the most ardent threadcounters, but my tent would probably be a different matter.
 
I wouldn't worry about the overlapping door flaps, sod cloth and grommets. Those are things that are used on most tents sold today. Those are small things not to even get worked up over. I've been doing this for over 28 years.
 
The whole "tent city" is a re-enactorism but a necessary one in todays world. For details of a pretty high end tent from the 1770s, google "the first oval office".
 
I agree with Wood Dweller Fall Creek makes a darn high quality tent, and they are a heck of a lot cheaper than anyone else I have seen. The wife and I have owned toe of their wall tents. Our first tent was their 8 x 10 small tent. Great quality tent but the wife wanted something larger so we recently bought their 10.5 x 12 large tent, and love it. and they make them even bigger if ya need it.
 
I have a 9 by 12 wall tent by Tentsmiths and am well pleased. It is just big enough to sleep three with cots. Most A frame tents will only sleep two on cots. You may be better served with a Marquis style tent. More floor space and no need to deal with long ridge poles. Pluss you can easily tie in privacy partitions, made from painters drop cloths. BJH
 
Thanks Wick for those images. The reason I asked about the height on the walls was that I never saw an image of a wall tent with people near it. I thought the tent was about 7' tall and the walls were only 1 1/2' but in looking at the images the walls tents are very tall and the walls look like 2-3' high. The doors all seem split to the ridge pole and no sod flaps but the one image with soldiers inside show a floor inside the tent. It seems the panels were rather narrow on most tents and the wall tents few- maybe more for the officers that needed room for a table to write reports, etc. Just some thoughts looking at the images.
One reason I asked was I've seen photos of guys in the Klondike and the doors didn't split to the top, the last 6" or so was sewn together.
 
Reguardless of which brand of tent you decide on, here is what we did. We got a 10' X 10' wall tent with a fly for the adults and the kitchen area and a wedge tent for the kids. The kids like their own space and so do the adults. Also the tents will last a long time, but the kids may loose interest as they get older and a large wall tent is a lot of canvas for 2 people to set up.

This worked for us.
 
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