Best non-Kodiak commercially available tent?

[Strata]

Hi dusty lovelies,

At last year's burn, my trusty 30+ year old Eureka Wind River started giving up the ghost. The pole sleeves are starting to tear out, and the tent actually deformed slightly in the crazy winds. Nothing Eureka sells currently seems to have the kind of structural integrity the Wind River had, with 4 overlapping poles. A shift pod is far too rich for my blood, can't spend $1K on a tent right now, but I can certainly spend two or three hundred dollars.

I've heard good reviews of the Eureka Copper Canyon, but the fly hardly covers the roof, which seems like a recipe for dust. I never had to tape up the mesh roof of my Wind River because the fly went almost down to the ground, and the dust wasn't driven in by the wind. Their Tetragon 10 has a similar fly system, but only two poles total, which would seem to make a tent that can't handle Burning Man style wind loads.

What's out there that is at least 10-ft x 10-ft square (needs to hold queen size inflatable mattress for two), you can stand up in the center, and has decent support poles so it won't blow inside out or blow away on the playa? I've been doing a lot of web searches and am coming up pretty blank.

Thanks for suggestions,
BearHug / Strata / Comms9060

[some seeing eye]

There are many expedition tents and 4 season tents without the ubiquitous mesh and a fly almost to the ground. Mine is an off brand of a few years ago. You can add additional aftermarket poles cut to length and tie them to the other poles for strength. The outdoor industry has a whole series of past season retail outlets, online and physical stores. Maybe you can ask them to search their products/wait for and alert you of what you need. You may have some high altitude snow camper groups right in your area with used equipment for sale or advice. There are also all kinds of stylish and dust resistant tents in the creative reenactment world which may come up second hand.

[DoctorIknow]

Indeed, the options for
-----sturdy,
-----ample room to stand up in the middle, not just a "sweet spot" like some dome tents
-----steel poles vs. fiberglass
-----NO MESH ON THE TOP,
-----closeable mesh windows (no reason to ever open them unless you want the latent dust inside....)

are very limited if one doesn't want to spend as one would for a canvas tent.

Last year, my friend got a Trek 249 which experienced the near "alpha" conditions during the pre-gate opening (the worst winds of the 10 days) with no problems.
It is 10x20, which translates into a whole lotta shade needed. For that, he got the Black Rock Hardware 12x20 shade kit... a fine made by burners product you can find all over the playa. Last year, they delivered the units to Gerlach for pickup.

I see the Trek 237 8'x13' looks from the pictures on the Trek Tent site to be a good choice, also, their 240 10'x16' looks suitable.

He bought his thru opentip.com and saved money over amazon or ebay prices.

Start at the Trek site:
http://www.trektents.com/shop/

And BlackRockHardware for shade, although it appears they haven't made their site for 2016 active yet...send them an email with inquires:
http://wpstore.formandreform.com/blackrock-hardware-2/

I haven't experienced this Trek 237 (8'X13'), but it costs $180-$210 and looks like it seals up...call them and verify:

trek 237.JPG

[mudpuppy000]

You can stick just about anything inside a costco carport and it'll stay pretty dust free as long as you can seal it up reasonably well. I use a crappy $50 tent from target that would get totally destroyed if it was set up in the open. Of course that takes a lot of space/weight to transport the carport, but you can't beat the price. Plus you get shade and a living room for an inflatable couch/kitchen.

[gateway]

I'm also looking this year, since no RV for this upcoming burn.

Main thing a stated in the first post is no mesh , silly to have it and it just invites dust... It seems like all the Eureka tents now have some sort of mesh for airflow so those are out of the question. I also will try to bring a queen blow up mattress, gotta have some comfort on the ground

Any other thoughts..

[Strata]

My Eureka Wind River has mesh. Because the mesh is limited and only high up, and covered by the rain fly by several feet, it's not a problem.

[MyDearFriend]

I have a Eureka Copper Canyon that has been to 2 Burns and done very well.

I clamp a fleece blanket over the top (under the fly) to cover the vents & have no issues with dust (as long as I remember to shut the door yikes).

My dear old Eureka Sunrise has been to 5 Burns, inside a monkey hut & covered with a fleece blankee I do not need the rain fly (even when it rains). Starting to show a bit of wear now so, I feel your pain, Strata.

[Strata]

Thanks for the fleece blanket idea. This weekend I got my first chance to set up the new tent and I was aghast at how much more mesh it had than the photos seemed to indicate. I ended up setting up my old tent next to it and trying to see if I could fit the new air mattress into it and still have room for stuff. Long story short, will be using old tent this year, and searching for other options for next year. We'll use the new tent for non playa regionals and family camping.

[Token]

The best (and better IMO) non-Kodiac tent:

Springbar.