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surplus pup tents

theamazingdrew

theamazingdrew

Joined
Nov 18, 2009
Messages
1,258
I found some true surplus GI pup tents for under 20$ does anyone have experience with them? I would probably waterproof it with some spray on stuff. anyone know how much they weigh?

heres a pic:
tents4961.jpg
 
who's going to carry it? the reason for the two sections is that GIs each carried half.

for $10 more, or used to be, Wenzel's got a 3.5 pound floored pup tent style. Mine has held up astonishingly well.

er...?Campmor? I think
 
Yeah, you will be getting a big piece of canvas. Perhaps not the best tent, but if you are looking for canvas for something else that is a great price for just the material right there! As Kismet indicates you can find commercial pup tents in the same price range. There is the Coghlans tube tent, which is $5 for folds into nothing. I'd say $20 is better invested in a GI poncho or just a regular tarp.
 
theamazingdrew said:
I found some true surplus GI pup tents for under 20$ does anyone have experience with them? I would probably waterproof it with some spray on stuff. anyone know how much they weigh?
Click to expand...

I don't know what they weigh but I can tell you they aren't light. I'd guess each half is probably in the neighborhood of 7-8 lbs.....at least they sure seemed like it.

You should be aware that there are two parts to that, properly called a 'shelter half'. Each person would have one half in the field and combine them to make one 'tent'. That price may not be for the whole thing.
 
I have seen them for 5 bucks a half at some of the local surplus stores. They are worth that much for the canvas to cut up and use for other projects, as a tent they are worth less. Chris
 
The two halves, poles and stakes weigh 11 pounds all together.

They are treated before being issued, how much of that water treatment is left depends on the condition.

They work well for car/canoe camping, but you probably don't want to hike 20 miles with one.
 
Run away, far away from the shelter-half. We had a thread about shelter-halves a few weeks ago in W&SS. The overwhelming consensus from those of us who've had the absolute displeasure of being issued the shelter-half and tent poles and have had to use them is that the ensemble is heavy, un-weather resistant, and not worth $20. One guy said he was able to stay warm enough to survive in dry snow; and I used to use mine as a floor next to a cot.

Now, if you could get like 6 of them for $20, that might be a deal in rustic fabric that you could sew into a cool knapsack, haversack, or messenger bag. Other than that, I wouldn't touch a shelter-half ever again.
 
Like several others here, I have a lot of experience with them. If you're paying $20 for the canvas to use on other projects, then it may be worth it to you. If, on the other hand, you're paying $20 for a tent, you're paying $19.95 too much.

There are far better bargains in tents nowadays. Almost anything, including trash bags, are better than those things.
 
wulfshrunting said:
Now, if you could get like 6 of them for $20, that might be a deal in rustic fabric that you could sew into a cool knapsack, haversack, or messenger bag. Other than that, I wouldn't touch a shelter-half ever again.
Click to expand...

They have their uses but a good tent isn't one of them. :) I keep one in the truck in case I have to crawl under it to make repairs on the road.
 
shelter half was all we had when i was in the marines, they served their purpose. not sure what the military is using now.
 
I'll offer the same advice as others, there are better tents out there. If you are camping in fair weather and just need a cover over your head, they are functional. Though sleeping under the stars is easier in those conditions. The problem is that they are heavy, a pain to set up, have no room for one person (let alone two), and offer zero ground cover. If you expect rain, get really good at digging a trench around them. Doing that with an e-tool is a pleasure I could have did without... many times...

For nostalgia, they are worth having if you can get one really cheap. I have two halves that are brand new, I got them for next to nothing and they are for my son to use.
 
You better pitch on a hillside with a 12" trench dug around it to keep rain water from getting in. It will end up getting in no matter what, but at least not as much. Summer use in the front yard for kids until it gets dark.
 
wulfshrunting said:
Similar to my use as a floor.
Click to expand...

Yep. That's two uses. There are probably a lot of uses, but a tent isn't one of them. To be fair about it, I thought they were pretty neat to set up — and sleep in — in the back yard when I was a kid. Later, though, when I was older, I found out what they were really like. Understand, it's not just the weight: as young Marines we weren't even aware that there were alternatives. We simply used what was issued to us. The problems with shelter half's is that they simply don't work for their intended function: the snaps used to assemble them break; they tear; worst of all though, is that they leak. They leak a lot. Touch the walls during a rainstorm, and water comes pouring through at that spot. Okay, you have to realize that these things are pretty small, and two grown men are going to touch the walls a lot. Add to that two men breathing inside something that small, and just imagine the condensation.

To be honest, what I've already mentioned are the minor annoyances about shelter half's: things go downhill from there. Except for training here in the States, we never used them. My advise? Get yourself a good poncho, and be happy.
 
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