BWCA CCS Lean 3 for a family of 5 Boundary Waters Group Forum: Canoeing with kids
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      CCS Lean 3 for a family of 5     

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08/06/2017 11:27AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I'm thinking about getting a Lean 3 from CCS because I'm tired of my 12 pound tent. A 5 pound tent sounds amazing. Also our poles for the 12 pound tent are very long. In my younger days I use to hike and climb mountains so I have 2 high end mountaineering tents. I'm thinking of selling those 2 on ebay to help pay for the Lean 3. We are going to see the lean 3 next week at Dan's house. I read this review and it looks promissing. Does my plan sound reasonable?
 
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paddlefamily
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08/10/2017 01:27PM  
Let us know what you think. Wondering if it will hold 5 adults? Just thinking long term as the kids get older. My 2 teens are taller than me and the third is getting close. :) But I agree..dropping the weight by more than half would be really nice.
Looks like it's roughly 10x10?

 
08/10/2017 09:50PM  
I went down and looked it over. I'm going to sell one of my Mountaineering tents and buy a ccs. It looks like it would easily fit us. I'm hoping to have it purchased and ready to go by October. I'll keep you updated. I love that there is 100s of ways to set it up. Yes it is 10x10 but you can make it wider or smaller if you need to depending on how you stake it and how high you want it... it's a very unique design.
 
08/10/2017 10:17PM  
I kicked the same idea around a couple years ago before I bought my tent. Please let us know how it worked out.
 
08/11/2017 09:20AM  
I think you should get it in Sept. and bring it to wingnight to set it up and show it off ;)

The ducklings have been talking about your kids and littlemnlindsey and wondering if they will be at the fall wingnight.
 
08/11/2017 05:46PM  
Yes we will be there but not camping. I am aiming for around 2 this year so a little earlier than year's past. I have no idea what to bring for food, maybe a watermelon?

I need to sell a bibler tent first before buying an lean 3... I hope it goes fast
 
08/11/2017 05:50PM  
Yes she is going to be there as well. She is the one that reminded me of it
 
paddlefamily
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08/11/2017 05:59PM  
I really like the design. You'd have to pitch it carefully so water doesn't run in, even with those bottom flaps and a waterproof tarp. But I like all of the configurations too. Plus you wouldn't have to bring a separate tarp to hang elsewhere unless you wanted to - just hang out under the awning.
 
08/11/2017 07:24PM  
Excellent!!!! Hoping that soccer schedules allow us to make it.
 
08/23/2017 09:29PM  
quote Canoearoo: "Yes she is going to be there as well. She is the one that reminded me of it"


Yep we'll be there. We have a race in the morning, and then we'll come on down.
 
08/26/2017 08:09PM  
My mountaineering tent sold for a lot more than I was expecting so I'll be getting my lean 3 sooner than I expected :)
 
08/26/2017 09:36PM  
I hope you get this for the wingnight because I would love to see it in action. I've been thinking of the lean vs. tent option. My only concern has been if it has the typical washtub floor sewed into it. I understand it's an option that you can order. That would probably seal the deal for me. Glad your tents sold!
 
08/27/2017 08:42PM  
I have researched single wall silnylon tents a lot and from I read condensation is the biggest problem. I searched the backpacking.net forum and think I have a plan. I'll keep you all updated. I'm not worried about the bathtub floor because the grass flap things fold in and then the ground cloth sits on top of that. Then the backpacking form says to buy 2.5-3ml poly plastic (a little thicker than window wrap) to lay over all that and you will be dry. The plastic packs down to nothing. They backpacking website says because there isn't a 2nd wall you will see the condensation on the inside (but this happens to all tents, you just can't see it). They say bring a small quick dry rag to wipe it up or just leave it. They say the main fix is ventilation. However the lean 3 is one HUGE door, so I'm not sure if ventilation will be a problem. Dan did mention to me when there is a still foggy day it will have condensation. But I think all tents are like that on those days.
 
paddlefamily
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08/30/2017 08:13PM  
Yes, I agree...even with good venting it's hard not to have condensation here and there. I have a small microfiber towel that I use to wipe off the condensation before I take down my single wall, solo tent. Works really slick.
 
12/06/2017 04:36PM  
Well I decided to give myself the lean3 for Christmas. I just got it today and it is to cold to test it out outside. I'll keep this post updated over 2018 and let you know how it goes.
 
04/26/2018 07:41PM  
I got it all seam sealed up and customized. Its supposed to be windy tomorrow so i set it up to see how it handles in the wind.
 
05/01/2018 05:17PM  
How did the wind do? More pictures please - especially what you decided to do with the floor! Thanks! Love the yellow!
 
05/03/2018 08:39AM  
It did great in the 40-50 mph wind. But then the dog ran outside and ran into the back guide out ropes and pulled out the stakes. Note to self... Don't let dog run wild around tent. But the front polls held strong. I modified the lean3 a little to make is a family tent. I'm adding a thin plastic 10x12 sheet under the floor that I can roll up near the front to seal the entire tent bottom tight. I added little ties on the 4 corners of the tent stake loops so I can tie down the sod cloth so it wont shift. I added 2 tie downs that i got from amazon to stake down the screen nice and tight.. It held well in the wind. I added a hanging tent pocket at the top to store our hats and sunglasses. I bought a quick dry small pack towel to wipe up any condensation (single wall tents condensation is expected... I reads hours and hours of tarp tent tips on backpacking website). Also the plastic is suppose to help prevent condensation because some of it is caused by the ground plants.

I also lucked out in that a small storm blew up and I was able to go in during it to check waterproofing and how everything heald up.

I picked yellow because the tent I sold was yellow and it reminds me of all those fun backpacking memories
 
05/27/2018 01:03PM  
We went canoe camping this weekend. The lean 3 made it though 2 thunderstorms and one hail storm and was completely dry.
 
thistlekicker
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07/12/2018 11:40PM  
Thanks for the review...we are leaning (get it?) in the same direction in terms of backcountry shelter for our family of 4.
 
07/17/2018 11:23AM  
 
07/17/2018 11:23AM  
I have been customizing it. I added tie down points below the screen in the front using these tarp clips .Then, when camping the green sod cloth kept pulling away so I texted Dan and he said it was rip stop so to take a knife and put in a small hole and stake it down. This works great, so to make it look nicer I order these plastic grommets and put it thought he holes I made. Now, with staking the corners down and the middle the green sod cloth does not move at all. I place a plastic drop cloth under it all to stop vegetation from condensating into the tent and we have been super dry. We are very happy with this set up
 
07/17/2018 11:34AM  
Oh and it was super foggy last weekend when we went camping in Carley State Park but we had no condensation in the lean 3 at all. There was a lot under the plastic I put under the sod cloth so I dried that
 
07/29/2018 10:42PM  
Just got back from the Bwca and we were nice and dry
 
em8260
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08/08/2018 11:54PM  
Nice
 
08/28/2018 04:13PM  
Just for back from the Savanna State Park. We had a huge storm, trees falling in the campground (thankfully not ours), the works. We had no trees to tie to, so had to use poles and the lean 3 held strong. It made a little noise in the wind but never budged. Stayed nice and dry.
 
05/27/2019 08:19AM  
3 days solid rain and wind and we stayed dry. I moved the middle pole to the inside and that fixed the wind flapping noise
 
05/27/2019 01:28PM  
Nice, I have never seen this setup. Is there no mesh inside and obviously no floor right?
 
05/28/2019 10:01AM  
There is a huge door that is all mesh. I bought the floor from Dan (it is called a sod cloth) and I read online on the backpacking forums that main reason for condensation inside a single wall tent is from vegetation (and lack of ventilation, but the lean 3 has a giant door) so I picked up some thin big plastic. So I set up the lean 3, then lay out the plastic then put the sod cloth on top. I then stake down the sod cloth so it won't move. Dan told me how to put stakes though the flaps on the lean 3 so it stake the floor to the lean 3. This makes a very solid floor that really only moves if the kids or dog move it on purpose.
 
05/28/2019 10:36AM  
Canoearoo

What would you say are the pros over this Tent

I see yours is 5lbs and that one is 7lbs but outside of that. Just trying to wrap my head around it.
 
05/28/2019 04:29PM  
3 kids (2 are teens and taller than me), and 2 adults would not fit in a 4 person. I have a 5 person tent and it is to squishy for us. I bet if we wanted to squish we could get 6 people in the lean 3. but the 5 of us and our dog fit in the lean 3 very comfortably
 
THEGrandRapids
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09/05/2019 10:04AM  
Canoearoo-

Do you still bring a tarp? Or has the Lean adequately covered the needs of a tarp?

I've been looking to shed weight as my canoe party gets bigger (only one kid at this point) and thought maybe a bug net under a 10x14 CCS tarp would do- but after reading your 2 year review of the Lean 3- it looks intriguing
 
10/02/2019 11:56AM  
Yes we bring a tarp to get out of the rain. You could easily use the lean 3 as a screen shelter. We have all our tent stuff in the lean 3 so can't use it that way
 
THEGrandRapids
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04/27/2020 10:50AM  
Caneroo- With #2 on the way and my old tent almost sold- I'm "lean"ing closer to this tent- Another follow up question-

Any draw backs up to this point?

Have you found the size a difficulty as to placement? 10x10 seems huge, but isn't all that much bigger than a tent with awnings stretched out.

What's your all in weight with additional features, poles, sod clothes, etc?

We are thinking of going white (already have a large yellow- though we do love it.
 
07/27/2020 11:41PM  
We have not had problems finding a place to set it up. The only draw back I can think of is if a campsite is all rocks. You need stakes to make it solid. I am adding pics on how I stake the green sod cloth to the Grey flaps. This keeps creatures out.
 
07/27/2020 11:48PM  
Our last bwca trip it rained 24 hours strait and we stayed nice and dry.
 
07/27/2020 11:50PM  
Last I weighed it including the plastic drop cloth and other accessory was 7 pounds
 
07/28/2020 12:45AM  
 
08/09/2020 12:28PM  
Our lean 3 survived a severe storm this weekend. The wind speeds of over 60mph and hail. Everything stayed warm and dry. Here is evidence of our grand adventure..
 
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