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#172504 - 12/01/12 09:18 AM Help with tent choice for Minnesota
fallguy Offline
newbie

Registered: 11/30/12
Posts: 2
I need help choosing a tent/fuel combination for BWCA camping/ice fishing. My son and I were canoeing there in Nov and the water temp was 41. We had outriggers on the boat for safety. Wish I could have stayed in the bush, but wasn't setup for it.

Fishing/ice fishing in the cold can numb you up pretty bad, so I really want either a white gas stove with chimney or wood stove with chimney, but am open to other ideas as long as I can get the inside temp of the tent warm enough to dry wet mittens and heat up my feet.

I have a 2 man northface winter, but it is small and gets to 53 when it is 27 and windy outside; that isn't warm enough for my feet that were frozen at age 17. They need to hit 60 out of the boots once in a while.

I really like the ECWT tent, but doubt it'd work with woodstove inside...they were designed as blackouts and they have a place to set an 8500btu field stove, but no chimney port....perhaps a white gas stove with chimney would work in one? Or I could get the ewct to sleep in and a cheep tarp teepee for cooking and to warm up in with wood.

Or an expensive snowtrekker to do it all?

Or an expensive teepee for everything, but these don't have floors so not sure how you'd stay dry on a heated frozen earth floor..

Thanks for any replies. I'm really confused, but leaning towards the cheap tarp for a hotzone and no heat at nite.

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#172536 - 12/01/12 11:45 PM Re: Help with tent choice for Minnesota [Re: fallguy]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Go to www.wintertrekking.com and start by reading the section on shelters - it covers both hot tenting (Snowtrekker and similar tents) as well as cold camping. Best site around for info on deep winter camping. After reading the articles, go to the forums. The reason I say start with the articles is because I believe you will be ahead of the game if you have a knowledge base before you ask any questions. The fact that you know Snowtrekker says you already have an idea of your options, which is a good start.

There are cheaper tents than Snowtrekker, but they seem to be the best of the hot tents. The wintertrekking members can suggest cheaper alternatives that work about as well, plus stoves, including homemade ones made from all kinds of stuff. BTW, Snowtrekkers and most of the other hot tents do not have floors, but Snowtrekker does sell a tarp floor for their tents. Most of the photos I've seen of them in use are without a floor, but ask about that on Wintertrekking.

If you want something light, look at the pyramids made by Titanium Goat and their titanium stoves.
www.titaniumgoat.com


Edited by TomD (12/01/12 11:56 PM)
_________________________
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#172593 - 12/03/12 11:14 PM Re: Help with tent choice for Minnesota [Re: TomD]
fallguy Offline
newbie

Registered: 11/30/12
Posts: 2
Well, wintertrekking is a big help. I'm a little put off by the pricetag on the snowtrekkers and the weight...but I like the concept of a tent that won't rain inside if you heat it up and have wet pants..

I also learned that Tyvek could make a pretty good floor, although it'd get dirty fast.

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#172602 - 12/04/12 02:25 AM Re: Help with tent choice for Minnesota [Re: fallguy]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Yes, Snowtrekkers are expensive, but there are many alternatives at far lower prices. These tents are heavy.They are designed to be hauled in on a pulk or tobaggan, not carried in a pack. This is not UL backpacking. The closest thing to a lightweight version is probably a Titanium Goat pyramid and their roll-up stove (check their site out to see what I mean).

One of our members made a tent similar to a Snowtrekker using Silnylon and light canvas for the half where the stove was. It looks like a big Eureka, which he used as a model. If I can find his posts with pics, I will post the link.
update- I looked for Rick's pictures but couldn't find them. IIRC, his tent weighed only around 6 lbs. It was a really neat design.


Edited by TomD (12/04/12 02:43 AM)
_________________________
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