View Full Version : a tent as old as the hills
It's a 10th Mountain Division tent, 1944 edition, reversible to an all-white side, still in fine condition. My son trotted it out of the attic, set it up on the lawn, and spent the night out there in 5 degree temperatures. NOT FOR SALE, just wanted to share the photos he took. On each end of the tent there are tunnels of tent material and netting that you simply tie closed when you're inside. There are also smaller air vents at the top. I've slept in this tent, too, but not in decades.
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Feral Bill
01-16-2012, 14:08
My grandfather had one of those. We enjoyed playing in it as kids. Great memories, thanks.
Hikes in Rain
01-16-2012, 20:42
That's just so cool!
wow, my uncle had one of these that I got to play camping with when I was 5 or 6 years old
It's a cool, warm tent, designed for cold-weather use. You feel very snug and secure inside. You can see a drawing of this tent on p. 19 of this pdf:
http://www.tenthmountain.org/membership_files/FM31-99%20Uniform%20&%20Equipment%20Guide.pdf , and photos here (scroll down on the first link): http://sites.google.com/site/10thmountiandivlhdg/training/tent-pitching
http://cdm16079.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/71297/rec/7
Man, that brings back some memories. When I was about 13 or so (around 1962), we used a few of these tents during my Boy Scout days. I am sure they were given to the Scouts as surplus equipment but we used them in both winter and summer. I remember that they were very hot during the summer use and we managed to use them with everything opened as much as possible. They were nice in the winter though. We also used wooden backpack frames back then and thought they were high tech. Thanks for the memory.
Sailing_Faith
01-17-2012, 13:48
UL too no doubt!
Man those guys were tough!
Thanks for posting.
rocketsocks
01-18-2012, 09:51
It's a cool, warm tent, designed for cold-weather use. You feel very snug and secure inside. You can see a drawing of this tent on p. 19 of this pdf:
http://www.tenthmountain.org/membership_files/FM31-99 Uniform & Equipment Guide.pdf , and photos here (scroll down on the first link): http://sites.google.com/site/10thmountiandivlhdg/training/tent-pitching
http://cdm16079.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/71297/rec/7 Tiptoe,thank you for posting very cool to see.Oh how gear lists have changed,and oh how they have not changed that much.Digging ditches around tents and wolf fur on the parkas,pretty neat stuff,them were some tough troops the 110th Mt.divisions
WingedMonkey
01-18-2012, 10:58
If you get ready to sell it, I'm sure one of those reenactors that like to play solider would love to buy it. If they could fit in the tent.
RetroGear
01-23-2012, 16:02
Jeez, and I thought I used old stuff ...
Not to hijack this thread, but did anyone else notice the similarity to Sierra Designs' Glacier tent? The round vent over the tunnel door, pole sleeves, side guylines, and the gussets at the sides so that the sides are vertical for 12" or so ... it looks like the Glacier was just an early 1970s update of this 1944 tent. Very interesting.
Rocketman
01-23-2012, 22:24
Nice to see this old tet again. I used to see some of the local Bou Scout troops camping in these or set up on parade floats for some of the summer parades. By the time I was in Boy Scouts, these tents were no place to be found. But, I kept looking for them for years afterward.
I never knew how heavy they were. The just looked absolutely wonderful.
Used these tents in the mid to late '80's for winter warfare training. Heavy but effective. Some stuff just doesn't die.
Tipi Walter
07-20-2018, 10:15
Several modern tent makers borrowed this A-frame design with the locking straight A-poles front and back.
My first backpacking tent was a North Face Toulumne which had the same kind of frame and tunnel entrance.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Gear-TheSevenHolyNylons/Tents-I-Have-Known/i-7N4ngr5/2/c9a3e938/O/another%20tslsls.jpg
Here's a better pic off the interwad---
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North Face Toulumne circa 1977. The same kind of front A-frame but with a single vertical pole in back. I lived in this kind of tent for 10 years.
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North Face also made a larger tent called the Sierra with double A-frame poles fore and aft---missing though the snow tunnel entrance.
Furlough
07-21-2018, 07:14
Wow. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane, had not seen or thought about the "Old Mountain Tent" as we young boy scouts referred to them back in the day. My troop had 2 of these and many more of the "newer" Army shelter halves. Remember those? 2 pieces that snapped together along the ridge line, designed that way so you could share the load. At any rate you counted your self as lucky if you were one of the pairs that drew a lucky number for one of the "Old Mountain" tents. I look back on those days and think of the "tonnage" we carried. Big old external frame backs, sometimes as big as the boy carrying it, strapping on a dutch oven, complete bails of binders twine for camp crafts, canned foods, big heavy sleeping bags, gallon jugs of water, etc.