2 person hot tent - new or custom?

[RobeKinn]

Good morning beautiful people,

I'm wondering if anybody can help me out. I am after a 2 person hot tent for winter camping, for use with a small wood stove.

I have trawled the Internet and found nothing that seems to do the task. What I need is a tent which:

1. Can fit 2 people comfortably ( 6'3 and 5'11)
2. Has an inner lining section
3. Footprint allowing it to be put up in a forest
4. A stove jack and space on the inside

There are a few online but after the addition of the liner and stove it looks like you lose a person's worth of space. So I think a 3 person hot tent would do the job, just difficult to find.

My other question is am I better to find the tent I want and install the stove jack myself. Is this safe / a done thing?

Thanks for your help

 

[Barney Rubble]

I suspect you might stuggle to find a tent to suit your list of requirements. I am curious though, why do you need the inner?

If you remove the inner from the list then the world is your oyster and you can choose from all sorts of brands to suit all sorts of budgets. Pomoly and OneTigris at the lower end, Luxe somewhere in the middle and Tentipi at the upper end.

The one tent that might come close to your requirements is the Luxe Megahorn XL with the family inner. You're looking at 600 quid for that though.

 

[RobeKinn]

Thanks Barney, my other half is not the biggest fan on small winged or crawling beasts. It's not a phobia , I can work on it. Definitely going to take a look at those..so your saying lose the liner and life will be easier?

 

[JonathanD]

Have a look at the Onetigris Iron Wall.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Thanks Barney, my other half is not the biggest fan on small winged or crawling beasts. It's not a phobia , I can work on it. Definitely going to take a look at those..so your saying lose the liner and life will be easier?

Fair enough with the phobias (my wife is the same). One of the large 3-4 person Pomoly tents might also suit your needs as they have a half inner with the other side catering for the stove jack and storage. The half inner will most likely accommodate the two of you with no issues and you can choose between a canvas or lighter oxford fabrics.

Personally, I'm yet to be convinced about the Pomoly/One Tigris brands. They seem ok and are very reasonably priced, but most of the reviews online are from people who have been given them by the companies.

If I was in your position, and you intend on using the tent a lot, I'd consider saving up for a more reputable brand and thinking carefully about whether you really need the wood stove in the UK climate. I've spent time in a few hot tents and they get ridiculously hot. For instance; you might just be better off using the money that you'd spend on the wood stove to buy some good quality sleeping bags and mats and maybe even a Tentipi (an Olivin 2 or Safir 5 would be cool)? That way you get good quality kit that you can rely on in the harshest of environments and if you want to be a bit hotter still then you can install a candle lantern (you'd be surprised how much heat they produce in a small space) and/or cook a nice hot curry to heat you from the inside out!!

 

[RobeKinn]

Thanks guys, will look at all of these.

Yeh I totally understand what you are saying Barney. So we like to go up to the Highlands often, at the moment using the usual set up , tent / hammock. We love a fire, who doesn't but with the way things are now can't really have them in the woods up here, risks of forest fires...ect. been using a firebox through this summer but will need something more robust/safer for winter, planning on going further north. The heat won't be an issue for her, shes part lizard.

I tend to have a 2 stage buying process, buy cheap on amazon , if it works save up for the big brand. Might just go for the good brand on this one though.

 

[Erbswurst]

The Tschum 4P here is constructed to ignite a well sized campfire inside. You don't need a stove although they also offer stoves. With a usual fire you can produce long lasting embers and feed it during the night without leaving the sleeping bag. You can cook in a pot that's hanging at a chaine under the tip.

That is the modern version of over centuries developed patterns and works very well of course.

Insects flee the fire or get burned, midges avoid the smoke, your stuff and firewood will dry very well.

Instead of a mesh inner that would trap you in unlikely cases of emergency you have 2 entrances and also could leave it everywhere between ground and fabric if needed.

As ground sheet I would use 2 German army ponchos and leave the rest of the floor uncovered.

Tschum 4P KATUN - Trekking Tent out of Cotton

Tschum 4P KATUN

tschum.de

Things that you can imagine but not buy usually aren't made for good reasons. The best constructions usually follow the principles that were developed independently everywhere in the world and stood the test of time.

 

[RobeKinn]

Thanks for all your responses. Still looking into it. Can I ask what your knowledge on the safety considerations would be, if say I were to customise and existing tent and install a stove jack. Obviously have the chimney at the correct height away from the canvas, and the right ventilation( always carry a CO alarm in my bag anyway) but are the hot tents treated with anything special or standard materials used for tents? I'd love to not set myself on fire.

 

[Erbswurst]

I would ignite a fire only in a 100 % cotton tent of minimum 280 g/m2 material weight that is treated with fire retardant cotton tent impregnation.

The impregnation you can buy as a wash in solution in a bottle.

You mix that with water and submerge the tent in your bath tub or wherever and dry it afterwards at the washing line.

With the rest that's left over you can impregnate your cotton military jackets.

 

[Robson Valley]

How far from the vehicle will you strike your camp? Cotton tents are heavy as grunt to carry but the only ones safe enough here for any size of stove.

As far as I'm concerned, I need a floor. I have got to get out of the wind to save my sanity in cold WX. One weekend at -10C and I was satisfied with the whole experience.

Looking at the door flap gives you an idea how effective an AirTite stove can be.
We had one in the log cabin. Several nights, it needed a dipper of water to calm it down.

 

[nigelp]

Thanks for all your responses. Still looking into it. Can I ask what your knowledge on the safety considerations would be, if say I were to customise and existing tent and install a stove jack. Obviously have the chimney at the correct height away from the canvas, and the right ventilation( always carry a CO alarm in my bag anyway) but are the hot tents treated with anything special or standard materials used for tents? I'd love to not set myself on fire.

If you use a spark arrestor and as you say have enough height to the chimney you should be fine. I have a Luxe Megahorn and apart from the odd smudge mark it seems fine. Most non cotton tents are made with a fire ‘retardment’ fabric and tend to melt rather than burst into flames. I often use heat logs if I’m not walking very far and they don’t spit or spark and just burn into ash. They give out a lot more heat than wood alone.
I have a CO alarm and just make sure that when I open the stove door the area beneath is not combustible and that wood is not spitting too much first. If I’m canoeing or car camping I fill a bucket with water and keep nearby if required.