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Above Timber's Link
I know this does not directly relate to elk but does anyone have any 1st hand experience with Kodiak Canvas tents, in particular the Flex Bow 10'x14' model. I went to a local sporting goods store and checked one out. However, when you are looking at the kind of cash they want for one of these ($500-$700) I would like some more input. I have read most of the reviews of Cabela's, they seem pretty positive. I am looking for something that will be warmer than a nylon tent for the family during the camping season as well as something that would serve as a base camp during archery season. I do not have room to store a camper and am too cheap to pay a storage facility to keep one there.
Only 2.5 weeks to go for opening day in Colorado is everyone ready???
I love my 10X10 I can quickly set it up by myself(longest part is driving in the stakes) and my heater buddy keeps it warm. want to add a 10x14 for a kitchen/lounge tent for late hunts. 2 people with cots and gear work perfectly in my 10x10. material and workmanship is great.the storage bag/wrap is awesome.
I agree with Elkivore. I have had my 10X10 for about 4-5 years and it works great for two people with cots. Excellent craftsmanship, very sturdy and heavy duty zippers. Very easy for one person to set up. Heavy duty rubber coated floor too. I liked the 10X10 so much that I recently picked up the 10X14 and used it for the first time a week ago. It is perfect for me and my two boys with our cots. Once you get over the price and the weight (they are about 80 plus lbs) you will be happy with your purchase. I recommend them highly.
here's a good thread. Do a search lots of good intel.
We just bought a 10' X 14' for a 3 man base camp setup. Seems like we got our monies worth.
I have one great tent . Worth the money.
Mine is awsome. Best tent I have owned. Completelt waterproof and extremely windproof and well designed.
Pulverizer
knothead if putting the tent up by youself how does the 10X14 compared to the 10X10.
I am going to get one myself before my fall hunts.I would like the bigger tent but 1/2 my hunts are solo and i am worried how hard the bigger tent will be to put up by myself.
thanks
the 10x14 goes up super easy with one. Drive the stakes, connect the top bars and then put up a side pole, walk around do it again and your done.
There really is no difference setting them up. They both have a very simple 2 leg poles and one bar across the top design that one person can easily do.
If I'm going solo, I will more than likely use the 10X10 otherwise I'm using the 14. Only because I'm trying to keep wear and tear as even as possible.
I recommend you put a tarp on ground first as it will keep the tent cleaner and avoids getting little holes in the floor. Tent will last longer too.
Best tents I have ever owned.
http://www.kodiakcanvas.com/
for the same money you could buy a wall tent, they are a true 4 season tent, i use a 14' x 16' and set it up easy by myself. a 10' x 12' wall tent is around $800 with frame, JMO.
Kevin
How are these tents in the heat of the day for a family camping trip. As I said in my original post the tent will have to pull double duty as a base camp for elk season and a family camping tent.
TxTrapper,
Did you have a stove jack put in yours? Seems I see a stove pipe sticking out over the top. If so, how does that work with the built in floor?
Yes, had the jack installed after I purchased it. I just set the stove on an oil drip pan and have had no problem. It does heat it up really well. Notice the hvy duty foil on the two sides this helped tremendously to keep the heat off the back wall and cot. It really shines when wet and need to dry stuff out.
That is a neat set-up Tx!
Good luck, Robb
You might want to look into a canvas pyramid tent. One pole or no pole set up (with rope and over hanging tree branch). Mine is 14x14 and I can have it up in less then 5 minutes.
Gee pukwudgie,
That tent looks familiar! How you been? Missed you at GORH!
I just bought the kodiak canvas 10X10 from competitiveedgeproducts.com. They were the cheapest that I could find and had free shipping at the time I bought it. I have not camped in it, but I did set it up. First time took me less then 15 minutes by myself while reading the instructions. Put my 2 cots inside and there is plenty of room to move around. I will give it a good test in a couple weeks when I head for the breaks.
Kent, I'm sorry I missed GORH. I have been good I hope all is well with you.
Tony
I have the 10X14 and really love it. Easy to set up but it is possible to pinch your fingers or hand with the poles. My son wears leather gloves when setting the poles. This is a quality product and is far superior to most tents on the market today. This is just my opinion. Many of the light weight tents today are absolute junk and can leave in a bind on an elk hunt. I love canvas tents. That is what we had when I was a kid and I was so happy to find the Kodiaks. We leave 21 days from today!
I could post 100 pics of this tent in action... bottom line, is you can't get an easier tent to put up. It will work. We use ours for everything from family boating trips at the lake to late season elk hunting. The thing is bullet proof, and you can't go wrong.
Camping trip just last week... 90 degree day.
The 4 screened windows and 2 screened top vents kept it nice and cool at night.
This is a 10 foot by 14 foot. The pop up shelter is placed at the end of the tent awning and secured with 3 bungie cords for some added shade...
Here is opening day bowhunting season last year....
A perfect tent. If I owned a tent manufacturing company, this is the tent I would make for my self!
This is copied from a Colman tent a long time ago I believe.
This is the Colman version and in this picture, the tent is close to 15 years old.
The Coleman tent was made with nylon and aluminum poles.... and at the tops of the aluminum poles that held the roof up, there was a plastic grommet that eventually broke... rendering the tent useless... this thing lasted for a long time though and only weighed 20 pounds or so.
The 10 x 14 Kodiak Canvas tent is close to 80 with the steel poles... but it is so much more tent and better made that it should last the rest of my life... and maybe longer....
Thanks for the pics and the insight. I think I will head down to Sportsmans and buy the tent in the 10x14. From the information I have gathered here I think it will be a great base camp tent as well as have enough room in it for myself, wife, two kids, and dog. Please do not let this reply stop the thread, there has been some great info as well as pictures.
Thanks
twojump: That is a good looking tent and an even better looking truck.
knothead... thanks... a few years ago I needed a truck and I always liked the 71 chevys. So I bought one in 4WD and kind of started fixing it up... then it took a life of it's own and like bowhunting it almost consumed me until I got it finished... couldn't have fresh paint and crappy old door handles... then the door handles didn't match the bumper... bumper didn't look good enough with the old grill so.... you get the idea...
It's done now and I take it hunting all the time. The thing runs too! lots and lots of fun and people can't believe I take it off road, but that's what it was made to do, so I use it. I just wish I'd have put air in it!
Good luck this season! Todd
Twojump,
That is a pretty sweet looking truck. I must need to buy a Kodiak Canvas tent and a '71 chevy to haul it around in. Although I could probably settle for something in the '70-'72 range.
Mule Power is correct on the snow load. If you are away and a hvy wet snow comes it will collapse. I read a story from a gent that that happened to. He was gone and came back to a collapsed tent. But for anything else and only light snow it is great. I have actually had a very heavy slushy rain rain on mine and it did fine but the build up was not that much and it did sag some. That is a good deal on wall tents that MP put up. I looked into that tent before buying my 14x17 Montana Canvas.
I'd think a tarp pitched tight and secure over the top of the Kodiak would be cheap insurance if the forecast calls for much snow.
Yeah if you expect a lot of snow, you'd need to put a tarp over it or run a heater in it all night....
I read a testimonial type thing somewhere, where some outfitter in Colorado uses them for his guide service. The thing works for 95% of the situations out there...
Will it work as a base camp for a couple guys at 10,000 foot in Colorado...? No, but it will work for a family tent with a couple kids and a dog at the lake for a week and then turn around and throw it in a truck to go hunt for a couple weeks early to mid season...? you betcha!
So what do I do when I want to hunt late season? I use this tent... but you are not going to put this one up with one guy in 5 minutes...
A guy can put up a Kodiak Canvas tent in 5 minutes with a beer in one hand....
Canvas is good, but not in any canvas tent you can use a stove. Wall tents are more reliable but almost untransportable.
Canvas is good, but not in any canvas tent you can use a stove. Wall tents are more reliable but almost untransportable.
Wow, you win a prize for the most random double post on a seven-year-old thread ever!
still a good looking truck. I stopped and admired it again for a while.
We bought the 10x14 last year for weekend hunts/camping trips, two adults and two teenagers. With two cots and the cam-o bunk cots for the kids, plenty of room to sleep and move around, and a little gear but that's about it. Love how fast I can put-up and take down this tent. I'd highly recommend it!
Bringing this 7 yr old thread back up for a question regarding the stove. I've bought a stove and a stove jack to put in my 10x14 Kodiak Canvas. If I put the stove pipe going out through the end wall, the stove is only about 18" from the tent - is that ok? I can move it out from the end wall and run the pipe through the roof - it just takes up quite a bit of room in the tent if I do that. I also bought an extra fireproof mat (3'x4') that I could have sewn in right under the stove jack so basically an area 3'x4' on the wall behind the tent would be covered - if that makes sense.
--Mitch
I think 18" would be fine.
Man that's a nice Chevy pickup.
I’ve git the 10x10 Easy setup. I hunt solo every year with. Very comfortable w all my gear.
Plenty of room for 2 when my hunting w my son.
Haven't seen it brought up here, but the original is the Springbar made in Utah. Kodiak is a great tent by all accounts but made overseas. If it was me, I would spend the extra hundred bucks or whatever and get the real deal made in USA!
I have the Springbar and it has been a great tent. I have four friends that have the Kodiak. Both are good but I'm glad I bought the American made model but it all cost you more.
Thanks for the response Kodiak - that's why I resurrected this old thread - for stove placement in my tent.
--Mitch
Yes they cost a bunch, but in 2015 I sold a 12x15, exterior poles, and small stove from Canvas Cabins for $750. I bought that outfit in 1984. Keep it dry and your grandkids will wear it out.
I always stored mine in the furnace/water heater room. Hung the bag from the wall. There is not a drier place in any house.
i bought the 10x14 flexbow - best investment ever for me.
plenty of room. a mr. buddy heater keeps it cozy warm. stood up great in high winds in NM last year!
My Kodiak 10x10 has been the best tent I've ever owned. Bought it in May, 2014 and to date I've spent 214 nights in it. It has never leaked, even in pouring rain or 7" of heavy, wet snow. It has with stood continuous 40+mph winds for a week.
Only time it came down was in an afternoon wind storm in Colorado last year that had gusts of 50-60mph. Fixed with gorilla tape and still going strong. Best $499. I've ever spent.
If the pics show up you'll see it under the 7" of snow 2nd week of Jan 2016
Pic under 7" of snow, previous post was inside looking out under awning
Love my 10x14. One of the best purchases I’ve made. 15 minutes by myself and it’s up.
Tent camping in January.!!! Your one tuff Mo-Fo
Has anyone tried Kodiak's cabin tents? I was prepared to buy a 10x10 flexbow, but my wife saw the 9x12 cabin tent with the 8' awning and thinks that would be better. I'm concerned about the extra weight and setup time. I have a 14x16 Davis tent, but it is overkill for 1 or 2 people in the early season.
A buddy has a Kodiak cabin tent with deluxe awning. In fact the quality of his tent convinced me to get my flex-bow 10x10. That said, his takes significantly longer to set up and is very challenging with one person. I can set up my Flex-bow in about 12 minutes - I've seen him take almost an hour to get it right by himself. 2 people about half that.
I've got a Kodiak 10x10 Flex-Bar Deluxe in EXCELLENT shape I just decided to sell --- SOLD!!!
Old school...I burn a 3-dog in my 10x14 and my clearance to the wall is less than 18"...more like 10-12"...so you're fine. I've had it so hot in mine you could hardly breath and she's still standing! I try to always put an elbow at the top of the chimney facing away from the prevailing winds to prevent any spark holes...once again so far so good! I love this setup and if I had any complaints at all is that for the type hunting I do I think the awning is worthless and could be cut off altogether; I can get by without it.
