So if you like camping, you may have been like me and for the longest time purchased your nylon tents at the local sporting good stores or even worse, the local ChinaMart. These tents may last a couple of years depending on how little you use them. The nylon rips, the cheap fiber poles break, the seams leak and so on. They're cheap crap!
But for a family like ours who camps every year at least a week at a time, we finally decided to get a "GOOD" tent. Something with great reviews that was 100% water proof and built to last.
So began our search and we finally settled with what we found to be the best reviewed tent online. And when I say best reviewed, I mean it. By far the most glowing reviews were for this tent and brand, Kodiak. This is the Kodiak 10x14 Flex-Bow VX.
Packed up the tent weighs about 80 lbs so it's not a lightweight tent like the ones you will find in most camping stores. Canvas is heavy!
The tent comes with a ground tarp to help protect the floor of the tent. The floor of the tent is VERY thick but the extra ground tarp included was a nice touch. We quickly spread it out.
One of the things I hated about the cheaper tents you buy in camping stores is the silly little stakes they give you. The are very thin and usually bend when hammering into tough soil. THESE however were very different. 12 inch (foot long) heavy gauge stainless steel stakes that can take a pounding!
The instructions say to stake the tent first. So we rolled it out and staked it down tight.
And just like that, EASY! The tent goes up. There are only 3 major poles to put this tent up. They recommend to watch the video put out by the manufacturer before hand. It's actually very easy to put the tent up but its almost so easy that it can fool you. It just kinda pops into place.
The Kodiak Canvas Flex Bow 10x14 VX is a true four season tent. Reviews we read claim that it has seen use in some of the harshest camping climates out west and up north. It handles heavy winds with ease, are the claims by past customers.
The tent is waterproof out of the box. The canvas threads are woven together with silicone. It will handle heavy downpours no problem and you can even touch the inside of the canvas during storms and it will not leak or wick water. The manufacturer does recommend that you "season" your new tent by getting it wet and then letting it dry. This is to expand the seams of the tent to ensure a water proof seal. However, all the reviews we read claimed that the tent and seams are waterproof right out of the box. You should never have to re-treat your tent.
This week will be our first camping outing with our new Kodiak. We are very excited to use it for the first time. The last few years, we have been using a cheaper nylon tent and it did leak. It will be nice to not have to worry about that concern any longer.
Do you have a Kodiak Canvas tent? Do you have another favorite tent? Leave a comment below and tell us all about it!
ENJOY THE VIDEO!
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Wonderful post
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My parents have a Kodiak canvas tent from the '80s that we borrowed a few times. The poles were barely functional the zippers were broken and I'm pretty sure we weren't setting it up correctly, but for a tent of that age to be still functional is pretty amazing. We stayed dry through some big storms, even though there are some patches in the canvas.
We have considered reconditioning it with new zippers, new poles, etc. But we ended up in the end purchasing a Walmart special mostly because of the size and weight. This thing is BULKY and HEAVY.
I can see the new models are vastly improved. You are going to get a lot of years out of that Kodiak! I think you made a good choice. @ironshield
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Wow! Amazing!
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I still wish we could figure out how to set it up right. I think part of the problem is that the bungees attaching the tent to the frame have stretched with age and no longer hold the canvas body tightly to the frame. Reconditioning it would definitely be a big job, but after becoming more familiar with our cheaper tend I keep wondering if it might be worth a shot. I definitely rolled it carefully and prepared it to be kept well on our last trip with it...
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That's one solid looking tent. My favourite brand is Hilleberg. It's Swedish. They are handmade, extremely durable and lightweight. They are made of nylon but they are seriously strong and 100% waterproof. I've got mine 20 years now and it's still like new. They are not cheap though. Great post. Have a fantastic camping trip.
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Cool. Much better than a Eureka. :) I like the pole design, very smart. Doors on both sides and strong zippers are another big bonus. Looks like great quality that will hold up well. If you use a tent a lot and for extended periods of time, the quality is definitely worth it.
I went through several cheap nylon tents in the 1980s growing up. Our family did a LOT of camping in addition to my boy scout outings. So they got a lot of use from a young lad who was probably hard on them.
I finally got lucky with a Greatland 2-room tent I bought in the early 90s. It got a lot of use the first ten years (3-4 weekend camping trips per year), then sat in its bag for a number of years. The last 5 years I've started using it again several times with no problems. It looks like the one below.
There is a divider down the middle which makes it 2-rooms. I liked that to better keep the bugs out of the sleeping area. Happy Camping!
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Thanks for the review! I too am a little sick of the nylon tents--before I was a parent, I used to lead camping trips with teens...and few things are as miserable as waking up, shivering, in a puddle at 2am!
Now that I've got a family, the camping-with-other-people's-kids days are (somewhat blessedly?) over, and I can't wait to give my kids the same/better experiences. I can imagine a tent like this would be awesome fun for Sukkot! Don't need to drag it 15 miles in the woods, and can enjoy the starlight that we have been blessed with right here on our land!
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Thanks for sharing @mericanhomestead .
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looks like an excelente tent!
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You can not bet a canvas tent. I spent many a night sleeping in a Army tent through monsoons in Panama and Honduras.
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Forgive me my slight bit of jealousy!! I've been tent searching and shopping trying to find something similar but a bit bigger seeing as we have a little larger family (the dog takes up most of our space!) We opted for a larged ozark trail this year and I applied 2.5 cans of waterproofing to it, but it would have been awesome to have a canvas tent. We are lucky this year won't be too cold for our 8 day camp adventure, but I hope next year to be able to find a true 4 season canvas tent with a chimney!! #goals
Thanks for sharing, Hope this camp trip is as amazing as your previous years!!
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Thanks for the review and sharing! I will be packing our Coleman tent, that everybody and their cousin bought at Costco, into our van tomorrow night for some camping in the Los Padres National Forest. So I will definitely be looking to upgrade soon, especially after seeing this. That is very cool that it comes with its own patio shade!
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Wow wow you have given me some great advice.
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Shared for others to see a great tent!
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