⛺ Springbar, aka Kirkham Tent?

JBinAZ - September 15, 2022

Gear

We’re thinking about splurging on a Springbar tent and would like to hear real-world feedback on them.  Our reasons for wanting to get one are:

1. Heavy duty: we live in the Arizona desert and everything here is rocky. 99% of our plants and trees have thorns and thorns. Our desert eats up tents

2. 4 season:  we hit high temps (like 115) in the summer and can hit in the 30s in the winter. We need something that “breathes” in hot temps but can insulate in cold 

3. Storms:  We have a monsoon season, and that means wind gusts up to 80 mph and rain that lashes sideways

4. We’d like to be able to “hot tent,” i.e. use a small wood stove in the winter inside the tent, as you can do with canvas tents.

5. Durability: We’d like this tent to last more than a year (or, sometimes, a trip)

6. Color: We like that they have a color (“Suntan”) that really blends into our desert7. Critters: We need to sleep “zipped up” or mostly zipped up as we have rattlesnakes and scorpions…we’ve been stung by scorpions and our dog took a rattlesnake bite, last year.

8. Usage: For a car bug-out situation to our “base camp” as well as enjoying it throughout the year on our adventures.

Anyway, it doesn’t seem like anyone has written about this brand, yet, according to my searching on here. Would love to hear your feedback and experiences, or suggestion for an alternate option. ⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺

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I’ve set up and stayed in tents like this before as a boy scout.

Here’s what I remember

• They are very large when packed and rolled up because of the thick canvas
• Very heavy so not something to bug out with unless you had a vehicle
• Are much more durable, insulated, and safe feeling than a lightweight backpacking tent
• Don’t have a ton of ventilation so can get hot in the summer
• Probably more easily repaired and patched up

So looking over your questions again, I think it would be a good choice for your usecase of a basecamp, Arizona durable, multiple season tent. I would ask around some more about it’s breathability because from my memory it’s not the best at that, and I’m sure you can hot tent it with a wood stove as long as you have the correct flap installed that is heat resistant and will hug the stove pipe.

I would much rather live in something like this over a $50 Walmart tent if I had to evacuate my house.