Kodiak canvas tents?

Bill Siegle

Bill Siegle

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Messages
6,731
Time has taken it's toll on our old Coleman dome tent :( Time to find a new family tent. Looked at a lot of em and I think I am going to go with the Kodiak 10X10 Delux canvas tent. I was wondering though if anyone here had any experiance with em before I commit to one.
 
Bill, I seriously considered getting one but instead was smitten with the canvas tent custom built by Buzzard and Sons in Albany south of you. They are a long time family business manufacturing canvas tents and produce an easy to assemble yet rugged canvas tent. Just used mine elk hunting for a week and a half and we endured wind gusts up to 40 mph and biblical proportions of rain. No problem. Internal metal fame. Fast and easy to set up. And you have plenty of options. I think it is affordable. One person set up. Wood stove for heat in winter. Mine has a bug screen door option or solid door or no door. And a nice window in the back. Mine was built out of fire resistant materials but you can save a few bucks and get it without it. And you can add extensions, rain fly and other items later on as you needs change.

They're not that far from you...you can drive down to the showroom and visit with Bill and/or Andy (father/son) and they should have a demo model set up for you.
 
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I'd love to have Kodiak Canvas' 10x10 6-person Flex-bow Canvas tent or Cylinder Stove's 12x12 wall tent.

No personal experience with either tent maker, but I have talked to customers who really liked their tents. I see both brands used here from time to time. Hiking past a campsite where someone has either brand of tent, the normal comment that we get from owners is "We like it." Or "aside from the pack weight, there great!" Also, they are both Utah based companies and Cylinder Stoves is located on the south end of the little community of Chester which is about 5-10 minutes from my house.
 
We used to have 10 X 20 floored tents made of canvas and if you had to break camp due to rain you dang near needed a forklift to pick them up and stow them for the trip home. Much older and almost as wise I bought a ripstop nylon dome tent with external frame and rain fly 16lbs dry but I bet a lot less than an = size canvas version.
 
I've spent a fair bit of time in wall tents (Montana Canvas, Reliable, etc), and they're awesome. I've heard the Kodiak tents are well made, though I haven't used one. But I prefer an internal frame - in my experience they tend to be sturdier. On the other hand, they also tend to be more expensive. Also, last time I looked, the Kodiak tents don't include a stove flap, so you'd have to have one sewn in, if you're want to use it with a wood stove (and I'd recommend at least having the option).

Last year, I decided I wanted to buy my own outfitter tent. I did a bunch of homework on various options, but I kept getting back to the fact that they are really heavy. Which is fine if all you're doing is car camping or horsepacking to a camp, but other than that, they're pretty limiting. For that reason, I ended up getting a Seek Outside 6-person tipi w/woodstove instead. The entire setup, with stove, is less than 10 lbs, and has 150 sq. ft. of space. It's really well made, and I can take it just about anywhere.

In the end, I think it really just comes down to what you want to do with it. If weight isn't a concern, then a traditional wall tent, like the Kodiak, etc. is great. And if most of your camping is going to be in mellower weather, I'm sure the external frame is fine. Good luck with your decision, and let us know what you end up getting!
 
For our needs, the floorless wall tents wont work. That's one big thing I like about the Kodiaks. Where we stay in the Summer is snake,spider,and scorpion country. Wife won't go without a floor even if it is not a real guarantee of no visitors :( I love the huge available space in the wall tents, but I am not buying for my own needs. The lack of a stove inside will be fixed with the Buddy heater I own. Weight is not really a huge issue as the places we will be using this are going to be close to the truck. For hike in trips, my wife doesn't go often so I tarp or bivy it :)
 
Bill Siegle said:
For our needs, the floorless wall tents wont work. That's one big thing I like about the Kodiaks. Where we stay in the Summer is snake,spider,and scorpion country. Wife won't go without a floor even if it is not a real guarantee of no visitors :( I love the huge available space in the wall tents, but I am not buying for my own needs. The lack of a stove inside will be fixed with the Buddy heater I own. Weight is not really a huge issue as the places we will be using this are going to be close to the truck. For hike in trips, my wife doesn't go often so I tarp or bivy it :)
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Bill - given all those considerations, I think the Kodiak tent sounds like a perfect choice. Love to see some pics in use when you get it.
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Smithhammer said:
Bill - given all those considerations, I think the Kodiak tent sounds like a perfect choice. Love to see some pics in use when you get it.
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^^Amen!^^ Didn't realize you needed a floor and the circumstances. Was only offering something locally as an alternative to consider. The Kodiak is a great traditional type tent. Please share pics!!!!
 
I have a 10x14 Kodiak Flex-Bow tent. Got it this summer, used it twice so far with my family of four. We needed something bigger than the old Eureka dome. It is really nice, well made, lots of stand-up room inside. Not hard to put up, I do it by myself. Heavy, but not too bad. The floor is thick and heavy duty, the awning over the door is real handy. Stood up to a good rain a couple times, but nothing real stormy yet. If you have any specific questions about it, I'll try and answer them for you.
 
I bought one of the Flexbow 10x10 tents several months ago. So far I have only set it up in the back yard to check it out. I was replacing a Eureka Sunrise 8 foot tent. I wanted a little more floor space, room to stand, good air circulation and easy set up. I found it in the Flexbow. I can set it up by myself easily. I really like the awning. It keeps the rain out when entering and exiting the tent. One think I changed was to use different poles for the awning. I had some adjustable poles that I was using to erect a tarp over the Sunrise as an awning. I use them to angle the awning to allow the rain to run off better.
 
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