White Duck Regatta Bell Tent Review: Gettin’ Dirty, Sleepin’ Luxe

I took the White Duck Regatta Bell Tent to elk camp and put it by means of all the trials of three hunters consuming, sleeping, and dealing for 10 days straight. Should you need one? In a phrase, sure.

Around midnight, the rain actually picked up. I lay on a cot at 12,000 toes and will hear the rain lashing towards the cotton material of the 13-foot White Duck Outdoors Regatta Bell Tent. And frankly, I felt like rubbish.

I’d already been elk attempting to find 6 days straight of a 10-day journey. My buddy introduced a chilly with him to camp, and sharing is caring, proper? I had a sore throat and runny nostril. But as I lay there on the cot, a Portable Buddy heater glowing at nighttime, I felt comforted to have a dry, spacious, robust abode to fend off the storm.

If you’ve by no means camped in a canvas tent or “wall tent,” these are a a lot heavier model of the frequent camp tent that most individuals use for backpacking and even automobile tenting. They’ve been round for hundreds of years. (Ever seen drawings from the Civil War with tents in them? They’re canvas wall tents.)

But with fashionable innovation and supplies, tents like these made by White Duck Outdoors present shelter like nothing else. Rock-solid, tall, and sturdy, these tents allow you to stroll round, use chairs, or actually have a hearth in a giant ol’ range. Welcome to “glamping,” even when that’s not your objective.

In quick: The White Duck Outdoors 13-foot Regatta Bell Tent ($800) is a rock-solid construction. It repels wind, rain, and snow with no drawback. The apparent draw back is weight. This tent suggestions the scales at greater than 70 kilos.

White Duck Outdoors Regatta Bell Tent Review

Tents from White Duck Outdoors scream high quality. Just unpacking the Regatta Bell Tent for the primary time, our crew famous heavy-duty supplies. The tent stakes are practically as thick as rebar however sharpened to a degree and curved completely to carry a rope.

The rope helps are thick and reflective however connect to the tent with elastic, a wise contact that reduces stress on the tent.

The tent material itself — known as “Dynaduck” by the model — is an 8.5-ounce military duck cotton canvas with a water-repellent, mold-resistant, and UV-resistant end. It feels powerful however delicate to the contact.

Two heavy steel poles, one within the heart and one above the door, hold the tent standing. Many guylines maintain the tent out and safe it to the bottom.

To check the tent, I slept in it for 10 straight days with two buddies whereas elk searching in Colorado. Nights dipped beneath freezing whereas days have been typically about 60 levels Fahrenheit.

We confronted rain, heavy winds, and sizzling solar.

The White Duck Outdoors Regatta Bell Tent we reviewed was practically flawless. We had no condensation inside, even after a protracted night time of rain. A Portable Buddy heater saved the tent loads heat sufficient to take away the coolness within the early mornings and late evenings.

We examined the 13-foot mannequin, which proved about good for 3 guys sleeping in cots. We additionally labored within the tent through the day, sitting at camp chairs whereas making calls and dealing on computer systems. It made for an excellent workspace.

Without a full-size wooden range, the 13-foot mannequin would work for 4 individuals sleeping on cots. Any extra individuals and also you’d most likely desire a bigger mannequin, particularly if in case you have gear to stow within the tent.

Regatta Bell Tent Awning

We additionally examined the non-obligatory awning ($200) for the Regatta Bell Tent. If you may afford it, this addition is very nice and versatile.

As the model notes in its directions, you may set it up in a “multitude of ways.” And we did, adjusting the angle and configuration relying on the wind, solar, and precipitation.

It gave us a big footprint to arrange a desk for cooking in addition to a dry place to retailer a whole lot of searching gear. This helped hold the within of the tent uncluttered, which was a pleasant bonus.

You can arrange the awning alone, with out the tent, due to the three included poles. The 13 x 8-foot entice gives a big, helpful house.

Camping Tent in a Storm

One night time, we handled significantly excessive winds. Camped at a go round 12,000 toes, a storm blew in and whipped the tent by means of the night time. This did reveal one attainable downfall.

Sometime in the midst of the night time, the awning caught the wind. We didn’t discover till we woke within the morning, however boy, did we discover then!

The awning had pulled a stake free and flung it about 20 toes throughout the campsite. The awning was in a pile on the bottom. But, due to redundancy within the traces, the tent didn’t come down.

Our main concern on this scenario is that if somebody was standing close to the tent, they might conceivably be hit by the stake. The giant, sharp, heavy stakes might do some injury if flying at excessive velocity.

This is a low-probability challenge, however one thing to bear in mind if you happen to’re tenting with one in all these tents throughout very excessive winds.

Outside that long-shot scenario, the White Duck Outdoors Regatta Bell Tent is darn close to good.

We didn’t use a wooden range throughout our journey, so we haven’t arrange the range jack but. But it appears like a straightforward course of due to the pre-installed sample on the heat-resistant silicone insert. I’ll replace this story as soon as we use the jack.

If you’re out there for a heavy-duty tent for searching, chilly climate, or as a glamping yurt, the White Duck Outdoors Regatta Bell Tent is a good choice.

It performs an analogous process because the REI Wonderland X tent however takes the massive abode additional with the flexibility so as to add a range, extra sturdiness, and more room.

And at $800, this USA-made product looks like a wonderful worth that ought to final for a few years.

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