When was the last time you slept in a canvass tent?
- Thread starter Roy
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ppine
Forester
September 2011 for a week in elk hunting camp in northeast Nevada. The tent is 30 years old and in perfect condition.
They can't be stored wet or even a little bit damp.
A clean canvas tent that is aired out once in awhile has a faint, pleasant odor of woodsmoke and memories of a lifetime.
The woodstove makes it magic, and the canvas holds the heat much better than lighter nylon.
Nylon tents are for fooling around. Canvas tents are for living in.
I used to have an 18 foot canvas tipi, that was old when I got it and rotted out. It made for the best winter parties. Everyone loved that thing. We used to watch the moonrise thru the east facing smoke hole. It had a liner in it which made it much warmer with the fire going. The fire light reflected off the canvas so that no other lights were necessary. People still talk about the party in freezing fog with 2 feet of snow and a high of 28 degrees. The tipi was toasty and we fit nearly 30 people in it.
They can't be stored wet or even a little bit damp.
A clean canvas tent that is aired out once in awhile has a faint, pleasant odor of woodsmoke and memories of a lifetime.
The woodstove makes it magic, and the canvas holds the heat much better than lighter nylon.
Nylon tents are for fooling around. Canvas tents are for living in.
I used to have an 18 foot canvas tipi, that was old when I got it and rotted out. It made for the best winter parties. Everyone loved that thing. We used to watch the moonrise thru the east facing smoke hole. It had a liner in it which made it much warmer with the fire going. The fire light reflected off the canvas so that no other lights were necessary. People still talk about the party in freezing fog with 2 feet of snow and a high of 28 degrees. The tipi was toasty and we fit nearly 30 people in it.
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I wish I could say the same. My folks had one from my childhood. Last time I was at their place I pulled it out because I thought it would be fun for my nieces and nephews to play in for the week they were there. That thing was rotten and there was no saving it. I'm not ashamed to admit I actually shed a tear or two when I realized we'd have to toss it. :tinysmile_cry_t4:That old tent had served our family well for a lot of years.
Pathfinder1
Well-Known Member
Hi...
In the Arctic, sometime in the mid-70s. A tent about the size of the one Grandpa mentioned. I had to set it up by myself. Lots of fun.
In the Arctic, sometime in the mid-70s. A tent about the size of the one Grandpa mentioned. I had to set it up by myself. Lots of fun.
Judy Ann
Active Member
I last camped in my canvas tent this past summer. My sister brought my neice and another little girl up to camp with me for a couple of nights and I let them stay in the big tent. Someone sprayed a lot of perfume inside and it smelled good afterwards. I make sure that it is dry before putting it away.
Eaglescout 49
New Member
It was probably 1965. Our scoutmaster had managed to acquire from the local National Guard a dozen-or-so pairs of Army shelter halves. The mere memory of buttoning those d----- things together in a rainstorm or 20-below weather and then spending the night crowded inside them makes me ever so grateful for my new Big House 6 from Big Agnes.
firedancer
New Member
High school, in the 90's - my best friend had this huge tent we called "the White House tent" because it was so big and took FOREVER to put up - but we could sleep 6 girls comfortably.
I guess this also qualifies - we slept in these canvas tents on a horseback trip in the Canadian Rockies a few years ago
I guess this also qualifies - we slept in these canvas tents on a horseback trip in the Canadian Rockies a few years ago
briansnat
Platnium Member
Probably the early 80's. A friend had a Sears Hillary tent that looked very much like the one pictured below. We used it for a few years then someone threw a rock through the side of it during horseplay and that was the end of it.
Saw this thread revived and thought I'd throw in again. Slept a few nights in neighbors Springbar tent this summer at a scout encampment. Our scout unit now has several canvas kodiak tents but us adults have to find somewhere else to bunk. Good thing Matt brought his springbar.
ppine
Forester
Last hunting season. My wall tent is still up in the backyard. I was in it yesterday. A cold front moved in with a high in the 40s today, so the girl and I with 3 dogs will build a fire this afternoon and be out there enjoying the smell of canvas and woodsmoke. After I go celebrate Diwali the Hindu Festival of Lights with my neighbor.
stm1957
NotMy1stRodeo
Does this count???
An ex-GF and I spent two nights in a very decked out 24' canvas tipi at a resort outside of Santa Fe the fall of 1999. It stood on a redwood platform with a fire pit in the center.
It was furnished with a queen size brass feather bed, night stands, a wash stand with pitcher and bowl, a fully stocked wood-clad cooler, two reclining Adirondack type chairs, a large steamer trunk, two antler coat racks, four brass kerosene lanterns, and two "thunder mugs" under the bed.
It didn't have electricity, so no TV, radio, or phone.
It was truly Glam-ping and included breakfast and dinner at the lodge's restaurant, unlimited use of the health club, and 24 hr. access to the changing rooms which were about 100 ft away at the end of a lit path thru a grove of evergreens.
It was actually quite an odd experience... and very expensive (~$400/night).
Thankfully it was a bonus rewarded by my GF's employer so all we were responsible for was tips.
Before that it was an 8 day elk camp on Rabbit Ears Mountain in the fall of 1988.
An ex-GF and I spent two nights in a very decked out 24' canvas tipi at a resort outside of Santa Fe the fall of 1999. It stood on a redwood platform with a fire pit in the center.
It was furnished with a queen size brass feather bed, night stands, a wash stand with pitcher and bowl, a fully stocked wood-clad cooler, two reclining Adirondack type chairs, a large steamer trunk, two antler coat racks, four brass kerosene lanterns, and two "thunder mugs" under the bed.
It didn't have electricity, so no TV, radio, or phone.
It was truly Glam-ping and included breakfast and dinner at the lodge's restaurant, unlimited use of the health club, and 24 hr. access to the changing rooms which were about 100 ft away at the end of a lit path thru a grove of evergreens.
It was actually quite an odd experience... and very expensive (~$400/night).
Thankfully it was a bonus rewarded by my GF's employer so all we were responsible for was tips.
Before that it was an 8 day elk camp on Rabbit Ears Mountain in the fall of 1988.
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CaverGroupie
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I can't give away the year, because then you might think I was old or something, but it was before the 70's. It was raining, and our parents had told us NOT to touch the canvas. So of course we had to and I was just mesmerized that the tent kept the rain out everywhere except the little dots where our fingers had touched the roof.
Deer season, I still have a Coleman 8'x10' wall tent with sewn in floor. Nice size for a surplus Army Cot, chair, field table and propane heater. Twenty years ago I have a 16'x32' Army GP medium with two pot belly stove that was kitchen and dining in front and bedroom for 6 in the back.
There is still very much a place for them in the right situation.
There is still very much a place for them in the right situation.