Military 5 & 10 man Arctic tent

[Twodogs]

This is one for you bell tent fans ,,,

A 1970s issue Canadian Army five man arctic bell tent , been after one of these for ages ,,,

These tents seem to have been on issue to the US army ,Canadian Army and the British army in five and ten man configeration,

Megga tents with all the bits you would expect on a full on arctic tent

Snow valance ,

roof vents with mossie protection,

The pole is sooooooo over enginered with a base plate to stop it sinking in the snow ,

Dated 1975 ,

A zipped cover over the stove jack , I dont know what stove the British and Canadians used but the Americans used the 1950 yukon stove ,

The door has mossie protection ,

I havent used ye-olde wooden mallet since I was a a very young Cadet in the ACF ,,, love it .

And the old locks on the guy lines ,,, these will be changed for para cord and line locks ,,

Yep well happy with this critter ,

Heres a couple of utube bits to get the feel ,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2wOqoT2Lk8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1CLubTUzeg


OK mine a five man most seem to be ten man arctic when I started hunting the net I found an interesting blog about a chap moding a 10 man arctic to use as his family camping tent some cracking mods to make a good tent better for normal use ,

http://blog.shappyhopper.co.uk/?tag=british-10-man-army-arctic-tent ( press the show more at the base of the page and it starts at the begining )


All good stuff , fitting a zip , fitting the stove , good man ,, ,

I am blagging some of his ideas dont you love the net its all been done before ,

Twodogs

 

[sasquatch]

As said before, lovely tent that! I can't wait to actually see it sometime as it'll bring back memories. Hard to believe your tent is a year older than I am but in better shape...looking forward to seeing how you mod it. Keep us posted Cliff and enjoy using it!

 

[nolightweight]

Fantaaastic.

Cracking bit of old school tentage there, mate.

 

[Dannytsg]

Cracking piece of kit. Not made like that anymore

 

[jimbo75]

Nice one cliff! I knew you'd get one eventually... What a shame the one we had will never see use anymore! I don't recommend using it in wet conditions however!!

 

[Twodogs]

Yep got one in the end ,, Its been out in the rain since Saterday still dry inside wouldnt want to pack it away yet though ,,

Starting a few little repairs and mods now

Twodogs

 

[rik_uk3]

Nice one Cliff

http://www.tentsplus.co.uk/10abip.htm 10 man there, new £450 but no groundsheet or liner

 

[Twodogs]

Cheers Rik
I would like to see the ten man see how much bigger thay are ?

Thay crop up on ebay every now and then but even in service thay were rare AMF Norway only really .

bet it cost more than £450 new .

Twodogs

 

[rik_uk3]

16' 2" diam by 8' 6" high in the link http://www.tentsplus.co.uk/10abip.htm

Good tent shots in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hpvm-w4u10&list=UUOnokVCrKrlsQbsLIzV-Y4A&index=5&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QabnkINGgc0&feature=channel&list=UL

 

[Bodge]

A true canvas man cave there Cliff.

 

[Bushcraftsman]

That. Is. AMAZING! would it be possible to modify the old 2 man polish issue lavuu into
Something like this? By using a let's say 2.5-3m pole instead of the normal short one raise the tent up, guy it out so that it's at full spread. Take a measurement from the edge of the canvas directly down to the ground, after that attach some more canvas (perhaps by sewing it on) or if you can think of a temporary means of fastening it on that would be even better for transporting it. And finAlly peg that out and you've got it! Would that work?? Obviously it wouldn't look as good as this here piece of kit but it would provide the same level of practicality right?

Cheers

 

[Twodogs]

Bushcraftsman , yep it could be done im sure someone allready has have a look back at the earlier posts .

Twodogs

 

[Bushcraftsman]

do you mean on the actual polish army lavuu thread?

 

[Twodogs]

Yes mate some time last year ,

 

[Bushcraftsman]

I'll have to check it out, I knew I couldn't be the first to think of it! even its just a case of raising up the lavuu and then pegging a tarp all the way around the bottom as an extra "skirt" type of thing

 

[Andy BB]

Karl did one which looks awesome. But not exactly ultralight!

 

[Twodogs]

Meanwhile back at the tent

You cant expect a tent of this age not to want some mods and repairs ,

First a repair , the zip on the white inner was broken and needed replacement luckerly it removable on the five man so out with the unpicker get a new zip and get sadle stiching ,

,

Laces back in ,

Its a bit dark in the tent this morning but you get the idea ,

,..

Then a Mod just to make it a bit more userable.

Off with the old ,

Replaced with para cord and lineloks ,

.

More to come ,,

Twodogs

 

[MartinK9]

Nicely done Cliff.

 

[Karl82]

awesome tent Cliff. bushcraftsman here is the link http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87865&highlight=polish+lavvu+steroids

 

[TinkyPete]

Great looking tent Cliff can't wait to try it out later this year