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       My new hot tent - modified hub shelter
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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 11:50AM
My new hot tent - modified hub shelter

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
MNLindsey80 12/16/2016 06:59PM
What a beauty!
tg 12/16/2016 12:35PM
Bringing this thread back from the dead...


I am looking to sell this shelter with the stove jack BUT converted back to the original pole system. If anyone is interested let me know. Would like to get $80 for it which is ~what I paid for the tent and stovejack, not including labor. Because these are no longer in production and I purchased it at steep discount I am not depreciating its value much.


<--email me for quickest response


tg
rightsideup 12/19/2015 08:28AM
I used M77 to install a stove jack through the roof of my Eskimo 949 Fatfish, went through the window in a 6120. It is holding strong after 2 seasons. We did get condensation, the outside temp was -18, inside 60 or so. Much less condensation when outside temps were warmer. Keep the zippers at the top, down low they froze on us. The shelter will be warm enough to spill some heat/moisture through the flaps or doors. We used the shelter for fishing and cooking. Boiling water added to the condensation. We slept in a Snowtrekker.
ArrowheadPaddler 12/10/2015 05:39AM
quote JustinLinnell1: "I have been thinking of making a hot tent out of a six man Eskimo house (7'x 14' & 38 pounds). I was hopping to have a local place sew a purchased stove jack in the roof to accept the stove pipe. My only concern was that the fish house material won't let out the moisture like canvas would, leading to condensation issues despite the 5"x5" vents on either end of this style fish house. Any thoughts or advice? I appreciate your help!



Thanks........Justin "



You could do it yourself with a Speedy Stitch sewing awl, they cost about $20. I've used one to sew stove jacks on two different tents. They are really easy to use, no sewing experience necessary.
Speedy Stitcher Sewing Awl
PortageKeeper 12/09/2015 10:26PM
quote JustinLinnell1: "I have been thinking of making a hot tent out of a six man Eskimo house (7'x 14' & 38 pounds). I was hopping to have a local place sew a purchased stove jack in the roof to accept the stove pipe. My only concern was that the fish house material won't let out the moisture like canvas would, leading to condensation issues despite the 5"x5" vents on either end of this style fish house. Any thoughts or advice? I appreciate your help!



Thanks........Justin "

I'd bet there wouldn't be any issues, unless you're camped on the ice. Some of the fish houses that I've seen are made from breathable fabric... not sure if yours is though. Hold your mouth up against the fabric and try to force air through. Sometimes you can tell. Either way, wood stoves do an excellent job of dragging any moisture out with the heat. As soon as the stove isn't running though you notice the difference.
JustinLinnell1 12/09/2015 09:52PM
I have been thinking of making a hot tent out of a six man Eskimo house (7'x 14' & 38 pounds). I was hopping to have a local place sew a purchased stove jack in the roof to accept the stove pipe. My only concern was that the fish house material won't let out the moisture like canvas would, leading to condensation issues despite the 5"x5" vents on either end of this style fish house. Any thoughts or advice? I appreciate your help!


Thanks........Justin
tg 12/01/2015 03:34PM
I took the shelter to the bwca for fishing last year and had it set up in my yard and everything seems to be holding up just fine. I don't think I would go thinner on the poles for fear of buckling in the wind. Setup in the wind is a bit of a wrangle-but i think the key is setting an anchor upwind.


HTH!
tg
48125 11/30/2015 03:36PM
Is you tent still holding up? I have the same set up and was thinking of replacing the poles as you did. Are they working okay? Would you change anything (thinner pole?)
PortageKeeper 12/17/2014 12:58PM
Cool! I couldn't figure out what you were talking about... D'oh!
Congrats! I didn't know.
You do need someone to watch you on those trips though ;)
butthead 12/17/2014 11:46AM
Quest is a great source, still prices can be up there. Been looking at spares and such myself, E-Bay is another source.


butthead

PS: Congratulations on the "addition"!!!! bh

tg 12/17/2014 11:14AM
Thanks Nick-someday I hope she'll be able to help out on portages. But for now I've got an extra 13# to carry;) This is my Weezy (aka Louisa)
amhacker22 12/17/2014 04:33AM
New portage monkey?


I don't think I knew that...congrats!
tg 12/16/2014 10:04PM
tony-I thought about doing the same but with this tent the windows are not Velcro-ed in or removable so I had to do some sewing. The sewing job looks good from far, but its far from good;)


spoon-you are right the bowing out walls are great! I bought the pole sections from quest outfitters (they sell a lot of DIY gear). I will warn you that I spent quite a bit more on the poles than I did on the shelter. A cheaper option might be to buy fiberglass poles or repurpose some from an existing or retired tent.





spoonman 12/16/2014 06:03PM
that was my Hub tent at the Winter Camping Symp. nice modifications! I'd like to do the same. Where did you find those poles? A close up photo of the X connection would be great too. And what I like best about this tent is the room with the walls that go outward rather than sag in like most other tents. Thanks for posting!
ArrowheadPaddler 12/16/2014 07:05AM
Very nice tg, thanks for posting.
tonyyarusso 12/16/2014 01:02AM
I've been thinking of trying this with my Eskimo shelter. I wouldn't even need to cut a hole I don't think - the windows are attached with Velcro, so if they're big enough for a stovepipe to still have decent clearance, I could just take one out and attach a stove jack the same way.
tg 12/15/2014 11:38PM
Hey Joe-
It is very much a wedge style. Clam only made them for a few years but they were a part of a "ice fishing starter kit" so there are some floating around. The twin hub 1 is too small to lay down in so for anyone interested in one of these make sure you get the 2.


Interested to see this breakdown ti stove!


Hope all is well with you and yours! Not sure if this is the year with our new portage monkey but I want to do some winter camping with you.


Rich
PortageKeeper 12/15/2014 11:01PM
Rich
I've never seen a wedge style ice shelter... or am I seeing it at that kind of angle? Is it an older version? Good plan, btw.


I will soon post some photo's of a break-down ti box stove that I am making. Just got more ti to finish it but the holiday season will slow me down a little.
tg 12/15/2014 08:34PM
Thanks all! I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I was a little nervous cutting the hole for the stovejack but it wasn't too spendy and I'm glad I worked up the nerve.


MN-The stove is the smaller four dog titanium. I don't think its too big for the tent but you could probably get away with smaller. Considered a smaller stove like the snowtrekker solo but it wouldn't be much weight savings and would require more wood processing (cutting to even shorter lengths).


karola-that definitely crossed my mind-although once setup in the "big tent" it seems like a lot of hassle to disassemble


7/9-center height is roughly 7' at the top corners-dips a bit in the center to where I have to duck slightly to not rub my head (6'3"ish) on the roof. Still pretty comfy.


Rich
butthead 12/15/2014 08:22PM
Nice modification, looks cozy!


butthead
SevenofNine 12/15/2014 07:04PM
Nice modifications. I like how you took an inexpensive structure and made it better.


What center height do you have?
karola 12/15/2014 05:35PM
That's great! I have the same shelter I haul into the BWCA to spear out of. It would be nice to do something similar and use my stove for my canvas tent and then use it on the ice while fishing.
Minnesotian 12/15/2014 08:05AM

That is some excellent work. Nice modification. How about the size of your stove. Do you find that it is too big for that tent?
wvevans 12/14/2014 11:34PM
Wow Rich. I love it. You really do some nice work. I wish I could sew like you can. I was just thinking about something similar recently with that same tent. I saw 1 on craigs list for 100.00 this morning so you found a good deal.
tg 12/14/2014 10:08PM
I was inspired to try this after seeing a few ice fishing hub shelter in use as hot tents at the Winter Camping Symposium a couple years ago. In fact someone had one of these Clam Twin Hub II tents setup.

I found mine brand new in the box on craigslist and paid like $50 for it. Not sure if they're still making them. The twin hub II opens up to a 7'x7' footprint. Unfortunately when folded up it is >5' long! Beyond using it as a solo hot tent I had envisioned using it a packable ice fishing shelter for the BWCA. But at >5' in length it was not exactly packable. So I started thinking about ways to modify it.

So I removed the standard long, heavy fiberglass pole and metal hub assemblies. And I replaced them with aluminum tent poles (roughly the same diameter ~0.43"). 4 poles total (2/popout panel) at ~126" each. The poles collapse down to 26" which will make the shelter much more packable. When I take the shelter down I will get actual weights but I'm pretty sure I shaved 3# off of the 15# listed original weight with this change. I used some simple webbing and buckles to stabilize the poles where they cross and these also serve as panel pull outs. Last step was to sew in the stove jack I purchased from Snowtrekker. I played around with stove placement and arrived at the position you'll see in the pics. With it in this position I can lay down across the back of the shelter or along its length

I have no plan to part with my snowtrekker but I'm going to have some fun with this thing!

tg