Canoe Tents

[clemency]

Stole these pics from a facebook post in the Solo Canoeist group, which some here may follow anyway. Apparently Norwegians (I think) make and use tents that are outfitted to their canoes. Tent shown manufactured by Julie Rønne Aggerbeck, who is also on FB.

 

[kahel]

there is such a thing?!

That looks cozy.

 

[Boatman53]

That does look cozy.
Jim

 

[Pseudonym]

Very cozy! Do you think they must be extremely careful about paddle and boot drips, or perhaps they have a couple floor boards to deal with bilgewater?

 

[Punkinhead]

Very cozy! Do you think they must be extremely careful about paddle and boot drips, or perhaps they have a couple floor boards to deal with bilgewater?

That was my first thought too. I've never seen a canoe that was dry inside after a day of paddling. What would the advantage be of these over a regular tent on the ground?

 

[snapper]

I wondered about that too @Pseudonym. I would think you'd need to really sponge your boat out after a day's paddle before wanting to crawl inside for the night. That said, it looks like it would be a great place to spend the night during a storm.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[Steve in Idaho]

That was my first thought too. I've never seen a canoe that was dry inside after a day of paddling. What would the advantage be of these over a regular tent on the ground?

Hmmm... advantage.... advantage.....
No need for a ground cloth? No worries about rising waters in the night? Idunno.

Does look cozy though.

 

[deerfly]

wheels turning, i'm thinking traveling duck blind...

 

[Benson Gray]

Similar canoe tents were very popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s as shown on pages 14, 18, and 23 of the catalog at the link below.

Benson

King Folding Canvas Boat Co., Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A. | Adirondack Experience

 

[Punkinhead]

Hmmm... advantage.... advantage.....
No need for a ground cloth? No worries about rising waters in the night? Idunno.

Does look cozy though.

I'll give you cozy. And it does have an undeniable "neato" factor. But besides the obvious issue of water in the boat it seems like it would have an annoying side to side rock as I tossed and turned at night. I suppose you could wedge some branches along the bottom to prevent rocking.

It kind of reminds me of cartop tents. They seem clever and cool but I question why I wouldn't just use a traditional tent. A few years ago my group's annual Fall Ozark trip was later than usual and it got cold at night. One evening a couple in their 70's pulled into our campground on Jack's Fork in a minivan with a tent on top. I thought it looked cool, but they as night approached it got a bit misty then dropped below freezing. The ice encrusted aluminum ladder up to their tent looked like a death trap to me. And getting down to pee in the middle of the night looked like a trip to the emergency room. Watching them cured me of wanting a rooftop tent, regardless of how cool it looked. The canoe tent doesn't set of the same alarm bells for danger but it does strike me as something where the neato factor belies the practicality.

 

[Ripple]

Not getting up to go to the bathroom! Just had to put it out there.

 

[Johnny 5]

My son and his friend, unable to find a dry tent pad while paddling marshy backwater, have had to sleep in the canoe. They considered constructing a compact outrigger tent that can be carried in the canoe while traveling and attached to the canoe on shore for sleeping.

 

[Chip]

I have never slept in a canoe. Under a canoe, yes, but never in the canoe.

I've considered it. Mostly, as a bailout option when you can't find a place to camp. I thought I was going to have to try it when I got driven ashore by wind and waves on Lower Hoopers Island. But I lucked out and found a little hump in the marsh just big enough for a tent. In many marshy areas, there's no dry ground, and sleeping in the boat might be the best option. I'd have to sponge up water in the boat as best I could, and I'd be on a sleeping pad. The thwarts would be annoying. Happily, I've never had to resort to sleeping in the boat. Minus the tent, it might be a neat way to watch meteor showers.

I first saw car-top tents in Namibia. It seemed like a good idea to get up and away from all the creepy-crawling things. Then I started seeing them in the US. They must rock a lot, both when you move and when the wind blows. A ladder between me and the tent seems like useless work.

 

[lowangle al]

I could see it being a good idea for those rare times when you can't find a suitable campsite to set up a regular tent. But for the rest of the time I would find it too confining and not a place I'd like to spend much time. Also, it probably wouldn't work for a tandem team. Solo or tandem, a good rule of thumb would be "If the canoes a rocking, don't come a knocking"

 

[ppine]

Too much sail exposed to the wind under way. Canoes are not comfortable to sleep in. Seats and thwarts in the way. I don;t see the attraction. In summer a backpacking tent works fine. In spring and fall a canvas tent, like a small Baker, wall tent or Mason canoe tent with a stove changes everything. A Whelen lean to with a fire works great too.

 

[Punkinhead]

Who needs a canoe?

 

[boy&hisdogs]

It's a neat idea, but ultimately it boils down to the same thing as any other "novelty" camping device. Pitching a normal tent just isn't that hard.

I think the only time I'd want this is if I was in an area that is so swampy that there's zero solid ground to pitch a tent and no trees to hang a hammock. Then this would be a last resort. But that's probably not somewhere id want to be in the first place.

 

[lowangle al]

I met a moose hunter out in the bush who told me he slept in his canoe so he would be in place at first light. I'm sure he would have appreciated something like that.

 

[MyKneesHurt]

I scratched my head over something like this for a long time several years ago. My necessary was not that it was any easier than pitching a tent on land, but that it would allow me to sleep on the water (public right-of-way) without trespassing on private shoreline for a trip down the lower James into the Chesapeake Bay. I figured if I could rig up a tent like that then the potentially impossible 4-day run would become possible. I think I still have all the ingredients - silnylon, snaps, poles - somewhere but I never got around to getting a sewing machine to get it all in one piece.

I see them much more as a storm-shelter or emergency kit than anything designed to be comfortable; if god forbid you were flipped or swamped in the night for whatever reason, you'd probably be laying under at least a thwart and a seat that would make getting out a heck of an ordeal.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I scratched my head over something like this for a long time several years ago. My necessary was not that it was any easier than pitching a tent on land, but that it would allow me to sleep on the water (public right-of-way) without trespassing on private shoreline for a trip down the lower James into the Chesapeake Bay. I figured if I could rig up a tent like that then the potentially impossible 4-day run would become possible. I think I still have all the ingredients - silnylon, snaps, poles - somewhere but I never got around to getting a sewing machine to get it all in one piece.

I see them much more as a storm-shelter or emergency kit than anything designed to be comfortable; if god forbid you were flipped or swamped in the night for whatever reason, you'd probably be laying under at least a thwart and a seat that would make getting out a heck of an ordeal.

I had the same thoughts for a trip down the Snake here in SW Idaho. Lots of islands that would be great to camp on, but they're all either private or part of the wildlife preserve. No camping allowed. Given wind issues and the fact that stream flows are variable, sleeping on the water in the canoe just never felt like a good idea.