ok all your horse camping folks. which wall tent is the best and why.?

I don't think the brand of a tent is so important as the features.

Decide what you want and shop to find that products.
Consider
Size
Weight of the tent
How tall are the side and how tall is the ridgeline
Does it have a Window(s)
What fabric is it made out of.
Zipper, snap or ties for the door closing
Sod cloth
Ridge Pole Sleeves
Do you want a rain fly or not

A standard square or retangluar wall tent made of 10.10 canvas will last years. Your biggest worries will be mildew. Make sure you dry the tent out before rolling it up.

We choose our size because I didn't want to exceed the 80lbs. That is the max I will put in one side of a panier. And it offset the 80lb stove we put on the opposite side of the horse.

Since we pack our tent in many miles, I don't carry poles, So our tent is set up with a poleless set up. We cut sapling around the camp area to support the tent and string a rope between two trees to support the ridgeline

This is exactly the information I am looking for,, here in NZ we don't generally take a tent horse camping as we have huts scattered all over but to me its nice to be able to set up a summer tent camp away from others, to enjoy the solitude,
You have given me valuble thoughts in what to look for, and like you weight is something I give consideration to in horse packing, as we too will be asking our horses to cart this gear over mountian passes and out to our camp site. Thank you..!

We always camp with canvas tents. The other kinds don't shed water as well, or at ALL. We have never had to put a plastic tarp on top of our tent to keep us dry.
We bought our wall tent, the 2 A-frames, the Sibley, and Baker's Tent and the 2 dog tents from CW Reenacting Sutleries. Couldn't tell you where else to get them.

Again, thank you for your post, and recommendations..

Probably like in your country, we do have elements of weather that do test us..

Winds can be gale force in spring early summer, and with every southerly weather change snow can fall anytime of yr in the mountain areas we ride in, so the tent we buy will need to be strong enough to withstand these conditions.

Here in NZ, there are any amount of light overnite hiking tents available, but when the chips are down, many either blow away, or simply collapse..

So hence why I am asking question in this forum, as I know many of you folks have tent camps in your winter and in harsh enviroments..

Cheers Tony

It's not to keep dry, But rather to get the snow to slide off.
When I leave a tent set up for 6 weeks, there may not be anybody around when the snow gods dump 36" of new snow overnight.

For me it's a 2 hour drive in the truck then a 90 minute horse ride to get to my tent after leaving work on a friday afternoon. I really hate arriving at my camp site for a weekend of hunting to find my tent has collapsed under the weight of a Monday snow storm. Because if it does, I don't care how good the canvas is, A tent laying on top of cots will leak water and you will have wet sleeping bags. Not what I want to find when it's dark and 10°F outside.

If I was staying in camp, I could go out and shake the snow off after a heavy snow and the canvas would be just fine.

I don't use the wall tent in the summer months. Too much and too heavy to pack. I do just fine with a nylon dome tent for summer camp outs. But in October during hunting season. We can have 70° days or 0° nights. It can be warm and sunny or blowing blizzards of snow. We pack in a cylinder stove to keep the tent warm. Cots to get us up and off the frozen ground to sleep on. I want a place to come into and warm up after spending 12 hours tramping around the mountain looking for elk or deer.

I can open the window and let a little air in if we get to hot a fire going in the stove. Or I can let the smoke out if the fire gets smoky, wet or green wood or something.With a ridge pole, I can hang wet cloths up to dry over night fromt he heat of the stove. And of course I can cook a hearty meal on the stove. If a storm blows in and we have to hunker down and stay put for a day or two. At least I can standup and move around while we play cards or pass the time. In a small dome tent, You get feeling really cramped fast if you have to stay put.

Painted Horse.(sorry I don't know your real name ) I agree entirely with your post,
I would also in a heartbeat cover the tent in a slippery cover to help aid snow to slide off the roof when not in camp.

I don't want a tent for camping in winter as winters here have often a couple metres of snow on the ground in some areas and often the only way in or out is over mountain passes, its too risky to travel..

But in later spring summer autumn, its fantastic to get away from life to camp.

We would need to take poles for our tent as much of our bush/ forest is of mature style trees with little saplings that are usable as tent poles..

Just talking to my riding mate, he suggested packing the tent and poles in a wrap and throwing it out of his plane at the camp site... not sure on that one..

Thank you all the folks who read and willing to post their thoughts and experiences ... I appreciate it..(smilies)

Tony

You can get 2 and 3 piece pole kits. But they add to the weight and all of sudden you need a extra pack horse. But if wanted to pack the poles in and leave them and then just bring the canvas when you travel each trip

This tent is setup on poles. Notice no sleeves for a ridge pole to protrude thru.



A Snow covered tent as we come back from a week at work

Looks like a good practical set up you have..

Funny you should mention bout stashing the poles up in the bush over winter, again just talking to my mate, he suggested the same and also leaving our heavier firebox up there in the bush as well over winter..

We will probably shift camp every year but its not too much drama to take in another empty pack horse at the start of the camp to shift the poles and firebox onto the next camp site..

As I am semi retired I seem to be spending more and more time away in the mountains and just love it with a couple of mates.

There is still so much area to explore in our country here, even thought I have lived in the area all my life....

On the last ranch we worked on, a good friend leased the hunting rights and had guided hunts. He had a couple of tents setup during the spring, summer and fall. The main tent was an old army surplus tent. It was the cook tent and the guides sleeping quarters. If I had to guess it measured 50' long and maybe 12' wide? Just a guess, he bought it from an army surplus store. Then they erected tarps over the top to keep the sun from damaging it and aided in the snow slideoff in those early snow storms.

We have bought a couple of range/cowboy tipis from Sheriden Tent & Awning in Wy.(I think I got the name right) Never had them long as range tipis make good trading material for bits and such..lol. I did buy a bedroll from them and still have it 10+ yrs later. It has been in some inmaginable places, the dogs have slept on it, the horses have ran it over and it has spent many miles on the flatbed or strapped to the fron of the gooseneck trailer. I think it is 12oz. Canvas... as with the range tipis.

Again, thank you.....

I can't help thinking of all the poor office workers etc who sit behind desks all their lives and never see or experience what we (horse folks) do..

To me its such a neat way of life, simple....and such a pleasure..!

I am enjoying looking and reading of your way of horse camping over there, as its quite different to our normal ways..I have gained some valuble tips that will adapt to our camping..(smilies)