4 season mountain tent for Kodiak

[backyardsniper]

I'm doing some research for buying a tent for an upcoming trip to Kodiak. I have had a few good reccommedations but I wanted to run them by you guys and see what your thoughts were. My buddy already has a trango 3 person that will be our base camp. I'm going to be purchasing a lighter weight 2 person for us to carry for spike camps or emergency situations. It will also double later as a casual camping tent for me and the wife and also for future DIY hunting trips for myself. The ones I'm looking at are
The trango 2 person, but its heavy!
Mountain hardware EV2
The Kuiu mountain star and storm star

Those are the ones I like so far? Any other recommendations are welcome as well as the pro's and con's of any of these choices

Thanks

 

[TonyQ]

I have the trango 4 and it's bomb proof I love that tent. Here is one to look at I think I would like to pick one up for my self. When are you doing your trip just curious why you needed the 4 season. https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/132712/mountain-hardwear-tangent-2-tent

 

[backyardsniper]

We're going in April/May of next year .Would you say that a 4 season might not be a necessity?

 

[Winkfish]

I have the the Mountain Hardware EV3 and have been using that as two person tent. I don't mind the little extra weight given the extra internal room you have. It has held up well in high winds, heavy snow and ice. I would purchase it again.

 

[TonyQ]

I can ask around work and see what the temps and conditions will be like down there. I just moved to Anchorage so I not sure what the temps will be like down there. I know having a four person would have been nice in early condition in CO to keep some warmth in the tent. Three season tents with all the mesh suck for keeping in heat.

 

[backyardsniper]

I believe 20's to 50's but they're heavy on the rainstorms and wind there

 

[TonyQ]

After taking to people who lived in Kodiak they said to use a 4 person tent. Temps will still be cold and snow on the ground. Hope you have a good down bag.

 

[Pdvdh]

Winds on Kodiak can vary from calm to 100mph, and can change in short order, with very little notice. You might get no wind, but you'd best prepare for some breath taking winds.

I was trying to set up my Northface 2-man tent on the island late one night after having killed a 10.5' brown bear. The wind was averaging 50mph and was gusting up to 100mph. I was three miles inland, but a commercial fishing boat anchored in protected waters recorded 96mph on a wind speed gauge that night. While I was attempting to set the rain fly (all by myself), the wind caught it and ripped it free of my grasp. That thing took off horizontal - I kid you not - and shot across the full length of a frozen beaver pond - me sprinting after it. If there hadn't have been some brush growing at the downwind end of the pond, I'd have never recovered it. It hung up by the nylon cords in the brush.

I gave up on installing the rain fly and crawled into the tent for the night. The only thing that kept the tent from flying away that night was my weight, in it. All the tent poles were bent by morning. Not a single one was salvageable. The tent tried to lift off multiple times during the night with me in it. It was a sleepless night.

Hunted in Alaska for 40yrs now. Never seen the winds change in a moment's notice, with the ferocity that they blow on Kodiak Island. The gusts that come down off the mountain sides will literally shake and shudder the log cabins I've slept in.

PS: Yes, you should take a 4-season tent.

 

[backyardsniper]

Thanks a lot for the help, I assumed that was probably the case but I wasn't 100% sure, but it definitely sounds like a case of you might get away with it a few times but if luck isn't in your favor you might get bit. Better safe than sorry. I will be going with the 4 season.
It sounds like you have a lot of experience with this kind of hunt and I would imagine , therefore, a great deal of knowledge about them as well. I would certainly be interested in any other information you might have to offer.
Thanks again

 

[Pdvdh]

We're going in April/May of next year .Would you say that a 4 season might not be a necessity?

Brown bear hunt? Where on the Island? N - S - E - W. Not asking for the specifics. I'll be on the NW side of the Island in late April 2019. In Uganik Bay. It's adjacent to Shelikof Straight, which has the well earned reputation as a windy hell hole.
Send me a PM if you want. I have one general, yet valuable, tip if your spring bear hunting. Maybe more if I happen to know something about the area you're hunting. Guided hunt?

 

[backyardsniper]

My buddy that I'm going with is a resident so we're going no guide. He is doing the hunting since he drew the tag, I'm just going as an assistant. Since I'm a non resident I would imagine this is as close as I'll ever get to shooting a Kodiak bear, just getting to be involved in hunting one is exciting enough. That stuff is crazy expensive for non residents. To be honest I'm just super excited to be getting to go on a hunt like this. He drew a red lake tag. Olga bay and red lake, spring tag. I think it was tag 241.

 

[Pdvdh]

Guided brown bear hunts are through the roof now.
I've never been to that area of the Island.
In my spring hunts, bears were much more active from daylight until about 9am. For example, one morning shortly after visible light we saw 10-12 different bears moving on the opposing hillside. By 10am, none were visible.
You could see one any time if day, but morning would be my preference. If you snooze-in, you may lose.

 

[Danehunter]

Look at the Tarptent Scarp 2 and some of the Big Agnes too person tents.
Also Sierra Designs and the very expensive Hilleberg expedition tents are nice.

**Try to get a tent that permits the inner tent to ALWAYS be connected to the fly so you can put it up in the rain without getting the inner tent wet!! Tents that require you to set up the inner tent first and then the fly are outdated and a PITA.

Also lighter tents like all the Tarptent ones are made of "silnylon" which is much lighter than urethane coat nylon and will last longer. i.e. The silicone waterproofing won't peel off like polyurethane will as it ages.

BTW, the Scarp II has optional "Crossing Poles" to make it freestanding and handle wind and snow load much better.
TIP: pre-rig your guy lines so you can snap them on the tent guy points quickly at zero-dark-thirty in a sudden windstorm.

Eric B.