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Small Cabin Forum / General Forum / Semi-permanent tents?
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WILL1E
Moderator
# Posted: 28 Sep 2020 12:18
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Anyone have experience with any sort of semi-permanent tents like canvas wall tents or something similar that could be left up for weeks/months on end?

Something like this would be a great solution for me while i'm getting my land situated vs. putting up and taking down a regular nylon tent everytime i go up. Plus, if i built a small platform for it, it would make for a cool place for guest to stay or if i just wanted to rough-it for a weekend.

Look forward to your input!

Irrigation Guy
Member
# Posted: 28 Sep 2020 15:41
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I had a boat guy shrink wrap a frame I made of pvc pipe. It is 12x20 I use it to store items at my shop. It is almost ten years old and still holding strong. Snow slides right off.

SE Ohio
Member
# Posted: 29 Sep 2020 19:51
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Here’s what is used at some scout summer camps. Tents left up several months each year. There is a wooden platform and a frame support.

Canvas- some get the occasional leak. Awning sealer works pretty well.


https://www.diamondbrandgear.com/scout-tents/

SE Ohio

Nobadays
Member
# Posted: 29 Sep 2020 21:55
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Here's another site with semi permanent bungalows.... HERE

KinAlberta
Member
# Posted: 29 Sep 2020 22:50
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How about those temporary garages? Cheap, big...

darz5150
Member
# Posted: 29 Sep 2020 23:21 - Edited by: darz5150
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Quoting: KinAlberta
How about those temporary garages? Cheap, big...

That's a pretty good idea. I would imagine it would be really easy to make your own stove pipe thimble for a wood stove.
I have a 8 or 9 year old shelter logic brand. Still solid and weather proof. Except for a hole in the roof from a kamikaze tree limb. But even that was easily repairable.

WILL1E
Moderator
# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 10:57
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Thanks for all the links and ideas guys! Guess i didn't realize the price range these tents were in, especially for a framed unit

Ozark Trail make a non-canvas copy cat that has pretty good reviews. Just not sure if i should bother spending the money or just deal with what i have an put that cash towards the getting the camper in and/or the future cabin build.

SE Ohio
Member
# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 18:57
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You might consider tent materials vs embers. Nylon will melt a hole with a tiny ember, canvas, while more flammable, needs a huge ember to make a small hole. Arrange fire pits etc. accordingly...

SE Ohio

txDave
Member
# Posted: 21 Oct 2020 14:20
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Similar situation, we purchased the land, and will be building a cabin in a few years. Wanted a camp to enjoy now. I set up a canvas wall tent (12x14) on a platform, and added a metal roof over it for rainwater collection. Built outdoor shower and toilet on the platform behind the tent. We'll enjoy the raised / covered deck and shower without the tent once the cabin is built. Tent was a bit pricey, but a lot less than an RV. Try a search for glamping tent images for ideas.

WILL1E
Moderator
# Posted: 21 Oct 2020 15:48
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@txDave which tent did you go with?

mj1angier
Member
# Posted: 21 Oct 2020 16:39
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Here is a long thread by one guy that is doing that:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/Outdoors/Better-LATE-than-never--One-Year-in-Idaho-/19-69 4998/

txDave
Member
# Posted: 22 Oct 2020 08:06
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I went with a Wilderness Tents from wall tent shop, and built the frame with 2x4. In hindsight, the emt metal pole system would have been easier.
CDD5C1F4429840118.jpeg
CDD5C1F4429840118.jpeg


Brettny
Member
# Posted: 22 Oct 2020 08:38
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Is it really even a tent any more when you have a metal roof over it?

We where in the same situation..new property, plans to build a cabin in the future but wanted to be a bit more comfortable than a tent and didnt want to buy a RV. We bought a 10x14 shed that we semi converted to a shabin. Complete with dry kitchen, wood stove, bunk beds and a solar system.

One really nice addition to our property everyone enjoys is a outdoor hot shower.

WILL1E
Moderator
# Posted: 22 Oct 2020 13:04
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@txDave .. that's an awesome setup you have there and even better view!!

I'm taking our 5th wheel up next weekend assuming gravel goes ok this weekend. Unfortunately our 5th wheel feels to much like home and not like up north so i'm trying to figure something out to give me that feel. I think a tent would do that but that's a decent chunk of change i could put towards a cabin.

So i'll have to ponder what my next steps will be.

WILL1E
Moderator
# Posted: 7 Jan 2021 10:01
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After this past weekend at my place i'm back to this idea as staying in the 5th wheel pains me even more now that we have our own land for it to sit on.

Building on KinAlberta's suggestion, i can get materials and a 10x10 shelterlogic garage for pretty cheap. My question is how to deal with condensation in the winter?

I could build or buy an inexpensive wood stove for heat, but these shelters aren't vented like a traditional camping tent would be. While the woodstove would dry it out a bit, ventilation would still be key. Would i just cut in some vents near the peaks of the gables on either end?

I would be especially concerned about condensation after i leave and come back a few weeks later and fire up the wood stove...seems like it would be a mini rainstorm in there at that point.

Nobadays
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2021 10:32
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Will.... Is the 5th wheel currently on the property? If so.... what is the issue staying in it?

A 10' x 10', no floor/or platform, all plastic tarp covered metal frame with no insulation, opposed to a 5th wheel with the comforts of home? Eventually you can build the cabin of your dreams. Why do you want to suffer when at your property?

WILL1E
Moderator
# Posted: 7 Jan 2021 12:55
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Nobadays...are you my wife in disguise?! Sounds like the exact words she said to me!

Yes, the 5th wheel is on the property.


The issue, really isn't an issue but a personal preference. I go to my land to get away from home. Do i like the amenities of home...sure do. But I like being in nature and roughing it (wife calls it suffering as well) sometimes as well. It's the reason i've backpacked the Appalachian Trail...it's the reason i've backpacked the Ice Age Trail...hell, it's the reason i got dumped off 40mi north of Dick Proenekes cabin in Alaska and solo bushwhacked my way over a mountain when i could have gotten dropped off by a the float plane 30ft from his front door.

So long story short, that self inflected suffering is my comfort.

I would be doing an elevated platform. If i eventually build a real cabin and no longer need this shelter, well i can repurpose the platform wood someplace else i'm certain.

gcrank1
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2021 13:25
Reply 


Build an adirondack or plow-point shelter with an open front at a scenic spot without a view of the 5th-w.
A deck underneath would be nice but pt wood is pricey now, if you can find it.
Sawmill slabs and 'cant's' (the last board cut on a mill saw that they cant get another board thickness out of) will be the cheapest.

Nobadays
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2021 13:39
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Will.... got it... We too backpack... the AZ trail, half the CO trail so far, the Teton Crest, the O-Circuit in Patagonia, the base of Fitzroy, the West Highland Way and a 7 day trek in Nepal.... along with numerous trips into the Winds and other areas of Wyoming, Montana and all over southern Utah.

Lots and lots of nights in a tent.... our cabin, nah not so much roughing it... and don't want to!

Carry on... the world would be a boring place if we all looked at things the same way!

WILL1E
Moderator
# Posted: 7 Jan 2021 13:52
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Quoting: gcrank1
wood is pricey now

I just ordered a Timber Tuff chainsaw guide...could cut my own boards/beams but unfortunately they would be green assuming i could even find enough trees to take down...and obviously not pressure treated.

Nobadays very nice list you've got there! I need to get out west and try those trails sometime.

Quoting: Nobadays
Carry on
I know common sense wise it's a waste and what not, but i've found baby stepping my way towards something usually get's me to the final destination sooner vs. taking a direct flight.

toyota_mdt_tech
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2021 17:23
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Quoting: WILL1E
I need to get out west and try those trails sometime.


Yes, out west, we call your mountains "mole hills"

WILL1E
Moderator
# Posted: 8 Jan 2021 08:05
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Quoting: toyota_mdt_tech
mole hills
I would say that's a generous term even! After being to Alaska i chuckle ever time now when i climb an "incline" here in WI and get winded

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