If you’re like any hunter, you’ve got an assembly of gear ready to go when the season starts up again.
Unless a particular element breaks or wears out, there’s rarely a good reason to make a change or an upgrade. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — except in the case of your old hunting tent, camp system, or hunting blind.
Here are a few reasons why you should upgrade those vital shelter systems before hunting season begins.
1. Nostalgia Has No Value When It Comes To Hunting Tents
Your old hunting gear probably carries with it some fond memories. That elk you bagged 20 years ago, the time your son forgot to stake down one side of your hunting tent, or simply that you inherited your hunting blind from your grandfather and you don’t want to give it up.
Even though it makes for great campfire stories, there’s nothing warm and fuzzy about sleeping in a tent with holes.
Like a typical camping tent, your old hunting tent likely offers a minimal level of protection from unbearable cold weather. An old hand-me-down hunting tent is likely to invoke the bone-chilling experience. Waking up and realizing your sleeping bag is soaking wet after a night of rain showers. Or waking up to the heart-pounding encounter of a rattlesnake cuddling next to you for warmth.
New four-season hunting shelters made using high-strength frames, durable fabric membranes, and vector-proof flooring systems offer superior protection from the elements and keep out unwanted pests. They incorporate low-cube storage options that make packing in and out of your remote campsite quick and easy.
2. Create a New Tradition With Hunting Shelters
Maybe your grandfather invested in a hunting tent and passed it down to your dad; who passed it on to you. While that’s a wonderful tradition, the reality of older hunting tents is that they weren’t built to last. Repeated setup and take-downs, harsh weather, and years’ worth of use will take a toll on the canvas tent material and weaken the fiberglass poles.
A good way to ruin your long-awaited hunting trip is to rely on a fragile and old hunting tent. When your favorite hunting spot is remote and miles away from any help, the last thing you want is to start setting up camp and break a key piece of your hunting tent.
New shelter technologies and manufacturing methods have yielded spectacular results in the last five to 10 years.
Flimsy fiberglass poles have been replaced with high-strength and aircraft-grade aluminum or galvanized steel frame systems. The leaky fabric of typical camping tents have been replaced with weatherproof tensioned membranes that are rot-, mold-, and mildew-resistant.
While the term “high-quality hunting tent” conjures some ambiguity, ruggedly durable hunting shelters, field blinds, and hunting camps can be made to withstand 100 setup and strike cycles and provide unmatched portability, fast and easy setups, and decades of use.
Begin your own tradition and invest in a hunting tent your children will be proud to share with theirs.
3. Increased Flexibility and Hunting Shelter Design
When you’re camping for days, weeks, or months in remote wilderness locations; cheap canvas hunting tents can’t match the versatility and field-tested designs of high-performance tensioned fabric structures.
Unlike hunting tents available at most big box retailers, high-quality hunting shelters are custom-designed and manufactured to meet your specific needs.
Do you want a hunting cabin that can also function as a hunting blind, so you don’t ever have to step outside the comfortable space of your insulated hunting shelter?
While more expensive, custom-designing a hunting shelter will not only make other hunters envious, but will also give you options. Choose from a large assortment of building styles and a near endless number of options, including:
- Sizes
- Windows and doors
- Mosquito-proof screens
- Built-in gun ports
- Brush loops
- Camouflage designs
- Flooring systems
- Insulation packages
- Plug-and-play lighting and electrical systems
- Gas stove and heating systems
Custom-designed hunting shelters made using tensioned fabric structures can be quickly installed and securely anchored. Whether for extended year-round use or weekend hunting trips, our canvases provide a greater degree of flexibility — not only in design, but also in functionality.
[Related: Tired of Sitting and Waiting? Hunt From WeatherPort’s Ground Blind]
Portable Hunting Tents From WeatherPort
Born in the Rocky Mountains, portable hunting tents from WeatherPort® (a brand of high-quality outdoor event facility from Alaska Structures®), have the strength and reliability of a 50-year-old business behind them. They’ve proven themselves time and time again as rugged and tough enough to withstand the harsh elements that come naturally with life in the Rocky Mountains.
While not a typical “backpacker’s tent,” our custom-designed hunting shelters are easy to pack onto your ATV, can be designed to set up in less than 10 minutes, and — most importantly — are tough enough to thrive in those late-season elk camps at high altitudes and cold temperatures.
You won’t find WeatherPorts in your generic big-box sporting goods store situated among the thin fabric tents with the fiberglass poles.
Our hunting shelters employ a long-lasting and proprietary tensioned fabric membrane. This feature offers greater abrasion resistance than other PVC- or PE-based materials. It will not rot, is mold- and mildew-resistant, exceeds the fire safety requirements of the California Code of Regulations for membrane structures, is chemically inert, and is available in many colors, including camouflage patterns.
Unlike manufacturers of other tensioned fabrics, we go to great lengths to ensure that our membranes are built to last. We impregnate the fabric membranes with UV stabilizers, allowing our hunting shelters to be used year-round in high solar areas.
We offer high-strength galvanized steel and lightweight aluminum frame systems. For coastal areas or environments with high-humidity, we offer an optional powder coating for additional corrosion protection.
Have you ever tried pounding flimsy tent stakes into the ground only for them to bend half way in or break? Have you ever staked your hunting tent down only to come back and find it wrapped around a tree? Instead of using plastic ground spikes, our hunting shelters can be anchored using a ⅜-inch diameter steel stake. Try bending these with a hammer as you drive them into the earth!
WeatherPort hunting shelters can be securely anchored to virtually any surface type, including dirt, gravel, and sand as well as wood, concrete, or asphalt foundations. We offer many types of anchoring solutions depending on the ground conditions at your favorite hunting spot.
WeatherPort® is a brand of high-quality fabric buildings from Alaska Structures®. If you are interested in learning more about our fabric buildings and remote camp systems please contact us by calling +1-907-344-1565 or completing our online form to request a consultation.
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