Questions on tents

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Tue May 04, 2010 1:48 pm

gyre wrote:The big question is how does the Kodiak drape?
How taut is it?
The Springbar seems perfect.

Drapes just like the Springbar.

None of the Cabela's tents I looked at draped properly.
Very important in wind.
And harder to make than it would seem.

You also did not see any Kodiaks at Cabellas.

My 10x10 went through the high winds of both 2008 and 2009 without any problems and my 10x14 in 2009 on the Playa and the 40 to 60mph flat line winds we had at the regional that got flooded out last year using the 12" metal stakes that Kodiak supplies with the tents.

A good heavy rainstorm will do wonders in washing off the playa dust too.

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Tue May 04, 2010 1:51 pm

Badawg wrote:I bought mine at Cabelas too. As I have said it has been set up about 8 times now on everything from grass on the central coast of California (Rain and fog) Sandy Borrego desert wash with high winds, to, the sloping side of a rocky desert canyon and I have been very happy with it Calling it the Tent Majal.

I have checked out friends Springbars and the two tents are very similar. Main difference I can see is that Springbar has a bolt rope all the way around the floor with stainless wire stake loops.

With the 100 buck cheaper Kodiak I also got set of awesome playa ready stakes, 3 inside organizers(Crazy hat loft), the awning off the front and poles for that. 10 x 10 is HUGE and HEAVY to pack though.

Adding the 4 feet makes the Kodiak palatial inside. =)

Its definitely a car camping tent due to size and weight.

Badawg · Post by **Badawg** » Tue May 04, 2010 3:32 pm

[quote="gyre"]The big question is how does the Kodiak drape?
How taut is it?
The Springbar seems perfect.

None of the Cabela's tents I looked at draped properly.
Very important in wind.
And harder to make than it would seem.[/quote]

Well, It was nice and taught after I sprayed it down with a hose like it says to do in the instructions. I have mine in 50-60 MPH winds and it was rock solid and had no breeze inside. We played cards and hung out with 6 friends inside that night...

Another friend liked mine, bought one and took it straight to BRC last year and had no issues. It is in every respect as good workmanship as a springbar. Just not mormon built...

StevenGoodman · Post by **StevenGoodman** » Fri May 07, 2010 2:36 pm

A few updates on Springbar vs Kodiak; since my Springbar and Cpt Smashy's two Kodiaks were in the same camp last year. I am only going to discuss differences.

The Springbar 10x10 (older Traveler 5) vs Kodiak 10x10

The Springbar has one door, the Kodiak two. I haven't seen an advantage for two doors, but there could be. I do think the Kodiak door "shape" is better. The Springbar door is on the left, the Kodiak is on the right.

The new Springbar canopy is detachable (mine isn't). I don't use the canopy, so being able to remove it would be nice. I think the Kodiak canopy may be 6" bigger.

The loops on a Springbar might be stronger, but I didn't look close. I use military stakes, not the ones that came with the tent.

Mostly, the differences are pretty minor.

If I was buying one new, I would buy the Springbar Vagabond 7. Same construction, but less features (no canopy, less windows) and lower cost.

Martini Steve

peachandpapa · Post by **peachandpapa** » Fri May 07, 2010 4:35 pm

I'm willing to spend big bucks on something as essential as a tent at BM. We have four Reliable (https://www.reliabletent.com/) wall tents varying in size from 10x12 to 16x20. They are extremely well made and have withstood all the elements over the past five Burns. Easily the best investment for BM I have ever made!

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Fri May 14, 2010 6:22 pm

Soooooooooo I thought I would build a tent. I started to just make an over sized pup tent.....

Never having built anything like this or using a sewing machine in my life I thought I would keep it simple............ BRAIN STORM (partly cloudy with a chance of fog)......... presenting............. the QUONZIYURNT.............

I left this set up for a week so the pvc retained the bow in the ribs. The ribs do not get glued, but the backbone and bases do. This made it easy to take apart and put together..........

This skeleton was easy to put together in the shell.

The dark strips are 5ft zippers stitched to vinyl and glued in place. When I got the zippers installed, I opened one zip a little and stuck the end of a leaf blower in....lol.....it blew up like a balloon and started to float without the skeleton inside. I still need to put the wimdows in either end, but so far I like the progress.......

.............FIGJAM..............total cost $55 and about 5hours labor......comments, questions, critic, all are welcome.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri May 14, 2010 6:31 pm

That's the kind of shape I was sugesting.
There are heavy precurved pvc pieces.
Work great on the playa.

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Fri May 14, 2010 6:45 pm

Yea, but those round ends were a bitch to sew in as you can see from the slopy seams, but I went for function not style. Someone with experience sewing could do alot better. Oh, and for those that didnt see the earlier posts, its made of billboard vinyl.

curiousgnate · Post by **curiousgnate** » Fri May 14, 2010 7:18 pm

just turn it inside out!

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri May 14, 2010 7:22 pm

I always bring a backup tent, eg a small backpacking tent, yard sale type.

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Fri May 14, 2010 8:28 pm

I like the white interior cause a little light will work really well.

thesandman · Post by **thesandman** » Sat May 15, 2010 1:26 am

wow different looking tent figjam, i am going to test my new rei tent in 2 weeks up by usery mountain park to see how it and a new stove on ordered hold up to heat wind etc.

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Sat May 15, 2010 6:20 am

Its not a tent, its a quosiyurnt. I built it so I get to name it............lol........

MisaBlue · Post by **MisaBlue** » Sat May 15, 2010 12:40 pm

Fuck you are good FIGJAM

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Sat May 15, 2010 12:46 pm

Aw shucks, twernt nothin. Besides, I havent tested it in the wind yet, but if all the information ive read on this forum about billboard vinyl are true, im pretty confident.

sambojones · Post by **sambojones** » Sat May 15, 2010 9:40 pm

is it possible to somehow rig up a ac unit to a kodiak tent?

sambojones · Post by **sambojones** » Sat May 15, 2010 9:49 pm

anyone have any experience with trek brand canvas tents i was looking at this one trek canvas 10 x 16 it seems like a good price i'm just not sure if it's up to the same quality as kodiak or springbar

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sat May 15, 2010 9:52 pm

sambojones wrote:is it possible to somehow rig up a ac unit to a kodiak tent?

anything is possible........just depends on your dexterity and budget........
Improvising, too............

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat May 15, 2010 10:49 pm

sambojones wrote:anyone have any experience with trek brand canvas tents i was looking at this one trek canvas 10 x 16 it seems like a good price i'm just not sure if it's up to the same quality as kodiak or springbar

There's a thread.
In canvas, buy the springbar.

I have a nylon trek I'll sell.

Snow · Post by **Snow** » Sat May 15, 2010 11:06 pm

a swamp cooler uses much less power (but uses water) and works even better than AC as it adds moisture to the air. The AC dome in our village (glitter camp) uses a swamp cooler.

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Sun May 16, 2010 7:20 am

sambojones wrote:anyone have any experience with trek brand canvas tents i was looking at this one trek canvas 10 x 16 it seems like a good price i'm just not sure if it's up to the same quality as kodiak or springbar

For that price, I'd add a few bucks and order the 10x 14 Kodiak from Cabellas.

Are you heading down to Flipside? If you are, look for the big red school bus with the deck on top of it. I'll have at least one of my Kodiaks set up next to it.

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Sun May 16, 2010 7:21 am

Snow wrote:a swamp cooler uses much less power (but uses water) and works even better than AC as it adds moisture to the air. The AC dome in our village (glitter camp) uses a swamp cooler.

Yep. We ran a swamp cooler in our Kodiaks the past two years and it had awesome results. It felt damn near chilly in there after waking up from afternoon naps a few times.

Badawg · Post by **Badawg** » Sun May 16, 2010 2:35 pm

So how did you hook up the swamp cooler? Got any pics? I have a portable swamp cooler and a 4kbtu AC I can tale and used the AC with the Eurka, but need to come up with a more "dust resistant" setup than last time.

sambojones · Post by **sambojones** » Sun May 16, 2010 5:37 pm

CapSmashy wrote:
sambojones wrote:anyone have any experience with trek brand canvas tents i was looking at this one trek canvas 10 x 16 it seems like a good price i'm just not sure if it's up to the same quality as kodiak or springbar
For that price, I'd add a few bucks and order the 10x 14 Kodiak from Cabellas.

Are you heading down to Flipside? If you are, look for the big red school bus with the deck on top of it. I'll have at least one of my Kodiaks set up next to it.

yup i'll be down at flipside I'm gonna bring my hexayurt with me hopefully it will work alright just a bit worried about rain... i'm gonna pick up a big coleman cabin tent from sams club as a back up... I'm still undecided if I want to build another hexayurt or just buy a big kodiak i'm just trying to figure out how feasible it will be to hook up an ac to it and still keep it as dust free as possible

sambojones · Post by **sambojones** » Sun May 16, 2010 6:06 pm

does anyone have experience with any of the kodiak tents that seem to be discontinued like the model 6133 or 6121 there are some good prices on some of them on ebay and was considering either as good options

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun May 16, 2010 6:42 pm

You might want to look for them in the outlet caves at cabela's.

As a chinese based tent, the warnings about fakes would especially apply too.
Check on the warranty on anything you find on ebay.
No fraud protection at all on ebay now.
If you can't find one at cabela's, find out what they closed them out for, and how much markup is on ebay.
They commonly put outlet north face stuff up at very high prices.
North face outlet goods have no warranty, a very bad deal on a tent.

sambojones · Post by **sambojones** » Sun May 16, 2010 6:51 pm

i didn't even think about someone knocking off a tent i'm not sure that they are both discontinued models i just assumed they were cuz they not on kodiaks website anymore and some of the auctions seem like a good price for a 12 x 9 at $420 less 8% cashback from bing so around $386 shipped for a good size kodiak seemed like a good deal to me still on the fence tho

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun May 16, 2010 6:58 pm

6133 specs
Appears to have no relation to the later springbar copy Bright Path tents.
**This tent is not built for severe winds

6121 specs
Two adults required for assembly.

MisaBlue · Post by **MisaBlue** » Mon May 17, 2010 11:38 am

Sorry to rape your discussion, but I have to

Here is something about tents I have seen today.

This is line for theater tickets sale 24 hours before it actually starts. It was 11Â°C/51,8Â°F and raining at 2 p.m. - you can imagine the night. But it works, even police tolerate that

, and tomorrow some of them will be happy with their tickets in hand

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon May 17, 2010 11:49 am

I've noticed you can camp a lot more casually in europe.

That can be frustrating here.