My friends and I made a canvas tent together, but sometimes there is competition for the tent. As a result, I am thinking of sewing another. I am considering making it out of nylon. I have a couple questions for anyone who has heated a nylon tent:
1) do you have significant problems with burn holes?
2) Does it hold heat as well as canvas

Thanks

I think condensation would be the biggest issue. Nylon does not breath well! That and the fire hazard. I do have a few burn holes in one of my nylon tents from a windy evening in the BWCA. nylon seem to melt more than burn. I have never heard of fire treated nylon, though that does not mean it does not exist. I was reading on another post about Kifru tents that people are using wood stoves in, they are of the nylon sort. I would check out what they are made of on the web site. As far as holding heat you will not get the same performance as canvas but you will save lots of weight. Others on here will know much more than I do, I assure you. Good luck on the tent and let us all know how it goes!

"Holding" heat in tent is somewhat of a subjective topic, in my opinion.

Neither nylon nor canvas tents are going to "hold" heat very well. Neither has any insulative qualities and we wouldn't be discussing R values. Besides that, you want both types to be well ventilated, in order to vent steam from cooking, water vapor from breathing and any smoke.

Once your fire dies down, they will both get pretty chilly, pretty fast.

Can you provide a picture of the tent you made?

I attended an interesting Midwest Mountaineering Expo session on lightweight winter camping and they provided instructions on sewing a hot tent - intriguing! Led by the folks from SkiPulk.com. They may have an answer to your question.

hey Arrowhead,

A guy over on the myccr.com forum and I think wintertrekking.com as well, has made one with a canvas back where the stove sits, combined with a nylon front 2/3's or thereabouts. Might be something that would work for you. If I see it again I'll post it here.

Moonman.

I made a pyramid tent 2 years ago out of nylon. I only get 2-3 days on trips so I just heat with propane instead of wood. Probably doesn't hold heat quite as well as canvas but not bad. Never had a problem staying warm even on the coldest days. Condensation is not bad and drains down the walls.

Many manufactures make nylon tents with wood stoves. Never heard of any burning up. Ti goat sells the port system for your stove pipe for a nylon tent.

Check out titanium goat
kifaru
wyominglostandfound


I would definately go with a nylon tent. Mine is a 10' x 10' x 8'tall mid and the tent itself weighs 2 lbs. With a center pole stakes and tent your under 5 lbs. As long as I have to haul the gear myself I will stick with nylon.

quote canucanu2: "Can you provide a picture of the tent you made?
"

This is a picture of our tent, essentially a wedge tent. We now have nylon snow flaps. The metal frame has also obviously been shortened. Making it was a pretty simple process. We ordered canvas from Snowtrekker, cut three rectangles and sewed them together for the walls, and then cut four triangles for the doors. We added loops for tying out guylines. When the guylines are all in operation, it pulls the walls out nicely and makes a lot of room inside. However, it is quite ugly, and has earned the nickname "The Bloated Porcupine."

Thanks for the ideas and input everyone. The weight savings with nylon sound huge compared to the cotton duck stuff that is the only option now that Snowtrekker doesn't sell canvas by the yard anymore.

I am not so sure about the ugly part. that is a great looking tent! Nice work!

That is a nice looking tent. Great job.

Thanks for the picture! Excellent looking tent! And appreciate details on how it was sewed.

I have a nylon Whelen lean-to that I have used for overnight ski trips in the Sierras with a fire in front. It will definitely burn although most holes are very small. It is not as warm as canvas but much lighter.