Disclaimer: I’m not an expert, just a guy who’s spent his life outdoors.
Greetings all,
I figured what better way to launch this inaugural post than to document my tent’s inaugural event.
First and foremost, it should be noted that I’ve always (ALWAYS) owned Eureka brand tents; most notably Timberlines. That being said, I’ve always wanted a solid, four season, tent that could utilize a wood burning stove.
I know, I know, how archaic of me. After all, the market has leaned towards a vast assortment of different options. Many of you, I’m sure, are owners of Mr. Buddy indoor-safe propane heaters. I mean, with something like that going you could turn most any tent into a hot tent.
However, my desires for a wood stove are for simplicity sake. For starters, wood, in a camping area, is often abundant (assuming it isn’t so high traffic that the ground has been picked clean and assuming that the camping area does not have some prohibition on collecting firewood). Plus, it can be a bit more diverse. Your indoor safe propane heaters usually have some sort of sensor in case of low oxygen. This sensor is designed to detect when the oxygen level has lowered, presumably because propane isn’t being burned off like it should be. When this happens, the heater is shut off and rendered inoperable, for your safety, of course. While this is a worth while feature, you start camping at any sort of elevation and your heater is rendered useless. Enter the wood burning stove.
So! After much debate, research, trips around all the outdoor chains, and permission from my wife I purchased the Cabela’s Instinct Outfitter. Now, for those of you not aware of the tent I’m sure you are Googling it right now (Here, I’ll save you the time: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Instinct-Outfitter-Tent/2000356.uts ) . In a moment you’re going to see the price tag and go, “No way!!”. Yes, it’s pricy. However, comparable to wood burning stove capable canvas tents, it’s a downright steal. Why? Good luck finding a canvas tent that can take a wood burning stove at any price point less than $1500.00. Plus, if you do find that price-point you have to be careful because they often omit that they don’t come with things like, oh, I don’t know, the frame. Sure, an American made canvas palace would be nice, but this tent is a good entry point for sure; not to say it can’t stand on it’s own two feet.
PRO’S:
First and foremost this tent is solid. It doesn’t look like much in the picture, but the materials used are thick, with heat shields in the right places, as well as having very tight, rugged seams. One thing that struck me right off the bat is the front and rear vestibules are built right into the fly, unlike the prior Big Horn III and Alaknak tents, also made by Cabela’s.
Again, the pictures can be deceiving, but this tent is HUGE. It’s listed as 10×14, and it is, but it’s tall as well. I’m pretty short, and it is so tall that I had to get a stool just to install the stove pipe through the appropriate opening.
Speaking of the stove pipe: The tent’s roof can be zipped completely shut, or to a screen only, or completely open to allow a stove pipe to reach the stove jack in the rain fly. Now, the rain fly can also been zipped and sealed completely shut, or a stove pipe can be fitted through the jack. I’ll warn you now, it’s a tight fit getting that pipe through the jack. The jack is a rubberized ring, surrounded by heat shielded materials, that is adjustable and contracts to fit snugly against the pipe. After all, you wouldn’t want rain/snow coming in the hole that is supposed to supply you with the comfort of heat in your tent.
And, still on the subject of stove(s), the floor of the tent zips out to allow for a stove to be placed without the floor taking the heat. This is nice, but I imagine it could lead to some trouble in a wet season as a good chunk of the center zips out. If the ground has been muddy it could have been a pig sty inside that tent. In the future I’m going to invest in a stove mat so I don’t have to open my floor to the ground. But, for the cool weathered, warm weekend we took it out, opening to the ground worked out fine, save, of course, the litany of dead plant life that ended up all over the tent. Oh well.
I kind of took a leap of faith with this tent. After all, I had never seen it set up before. Internet pictures were just not cutting it. Plus, there is not a lot of information out there about them yet, because they’re relatively new. That being said, I’ve seen a plethora of good reviews for its predecessors, namely the Big Horn III and the Alaknak series. I had faith it got better, and it did.
One of the biggest complaints I saw concerning the Big Horn III is that the stove’s proximity to the wall would often cause damage, over time, to the tent material; drying it out, cracking it, discoloring, etc. In the Instinct Outfitter the stove is dab smack in the middle of the tent, giving the entire interior even heat. Now, this also spawns a con, but alas, that’ll have to wait, I have a con section, stay tuned.
One of the biggest complaints I saw concerning the Alaknak series was due to its large size and shape. They’re reminiscent of the GP series tents the Army used to use. They are blocky, and I’ve seen mixed reviews concerning their ability to deflect snow. The Instinct forms a shell shape. While I haven’t had the opportunity to test this against snow, I imagine that not much sticks to the top. Plus (and there’s more!), there are convenient little straps on the interior that attach across the tent to provide additional tautness in case of heavy snowfall. Neat.
Another thing I liked about it over both prior iterations is the fact that the vestibule is build into the fly. Both other tents require the additional purchase of a vestibule. Now, that being said, the Big Horn III or Alaknak vestibule is significantly larger, but it’s also $300 more. But, that larger size allows for more utility. I’ve seen people use that vestibule as their kitchen without having to set up a secondary tent/structure for that purpose. In winter camping, I could see how this is advantageous.
The Instinct Outfitter (and there is a reason I type out the full name. Cabela’s also offers a plan ole Instinct which is smaller and no wood stove compatible) also has a front and rear door. This is great. Nothing is more annoying to me, well I’m sure I could find something, but few things are more annoying to me than a tent of that size with one door. I mean, if you shove that many people into a space and have to climb over each other to hit the head, that’s a problem. In our case, it was my wife, my kiddo, me, and our two hounds.
Now, you’ll notice in the pictures that I don’t have all the guide lines set up. That’s because we were using it somewhere that was protected from wind, for just one night, without any expectation of weather. That being said, we got lazy and just did the bare minimum and it stood just fine.
Speaking of standing just fine. This tent is EASY to set up. Even as tall as it is, and as short as I am (5’7″), I was able to make the connections and set up the sections with ease. One you clip the poles in and get the poles to there designated anchors, the tent practically stands up by itself. Not to mention, that as you go through the steps of putting the tent up the various poles, snaps, anchors, clips, etc. are all color coded. You literally can’t put this tent together wrong. THAT is huge in my book. I was very intimidated by this tent (having always preferring an A-frame) complete with flashbacks of horrid Coleman dome tents my Boy Scout Troop once purchased. (Disclaimer: Coleman makes many wonderful things. I’ve just never cared much for their tents). Alas, we had this tent up within twenty-minutes despite having never seen it set up before.
Also, being made out of nylon and other materials that are not canvas, the amount of treatment require is a fraction of what would be needed if it were canvas. Canvas tents are a lot of work.
But, unlike its canvas brethren, this tent has a built in floor. Short of dropping the multiple K’s on a Barebones tent, you’re pretty much going bottomless in the Canvas world.
I could go on all day about why I like this tent. At the risk of sounding like a Cabela’s sales person, let’s move on to what I don’t like.
CON’S:
I mentioned the con earlier when discussing the stove. Well, even though it reduces the direct exposure of heat on the walls, the stove is centrally located which in turn reduces the area you can inhabit. Since it sits in the middle of everything, you have to give it a wide berth in every direction. This eats up a LOT of space. Additionally, since without some kind of mat or protection for the floor you have to zip out the floor leaving a large gaping area open. This exposes the interior of your tent to the ground, directly. Now, while you can easily clean off your tent site in some instances, in other areas such ground clearing would be prohibited and we ended up with all sorts of dead vegetation all over the tent. If that had been mud, it would have been a mess as there is pretty much no way to avoid the ground.
This tent is HEAVY. Now, of course, someone will point out that it isn’t as heavy as it’s canvas brethren. While that’s true, the weight saved is no where near enough to change the dynamic of the tent. You’re still not carrying this tent in, anywhere. This tent, unless you are of the pulk persuasion, is pretty much always being driven in. Which, can be a Pro if you have no interest in any other form of camping. If you’re like me, you own several tents for different purposes.
This tent has an odd footprint. Depending on your requirements when it comes to ground covering this could be problematic. Yeah, we tried setting up on the wood platform at our local campground and the back end hung off. Plus, tarps, ground clothes, are either too big, too small, or the wrong shape. At least in what I’ve found thus far.
Also, because of the size and shape, we had a TERRIBLE time finding a camp sight that could accommodate this beast. Now, someone, somewhere is going to point out that it’s not designed for family camping, blah blah blah. Yeah, that’s true, but I paid a lot of money for this sucker. I wanna use it.
I mentioned the built in vestibule. Well, it can be seen as a con as well. Due to the size and shape, and the permanent nature, of the vestibule it isn’t as versatile as some of the other Cabela’s outfitter tents. And, since it is permanently attached, you have no after market options, at all.
Like everything ever made, the instructions kind of suck, but because of the color coding it’s nearly impossible to do wrong, in my opinion. However, if you aren’t a visual learner, like me, then you might find the lack of explicit instructions disturbing.
NOTES:
I’ve only taken this out once, and most of the opinions are just based on my observations and experience as a camper/outdoorsman. That being said, I will have future, subsequent reviews on this tent, as well as other gear, as I get the chance. Thank you for reading.
-Reaver
Reaver Outdoors 