This Simple Canvas Tent Made Me Rethink Glamping Entirely

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Canvas tents are the big, burly older brother of everyday backpacking tents but they’re traditionally bulky, heavy, and difficult to set up. Worth the hassle if you’re a hunting outfitter or setting up a basecamp somewhere for a week, but for your average weekend car camper, it was hard to justify the expense and hassle.

I lusted after canvas tents for years for my hunting missions and vehicle-supported camping trips, but having set up a few friends’ canvas monstrosities, I couldn’t get past the complicated structure-building and thousands in upfront cost. Enter White Duck Outdoors’ stripped-down Regatta Bell Tent, which sets up in about the time of any of my backpacking tents, costs only a touch more, and gives you a weather-protected space you’ll actually want to hang out in.

What It Is

The Regatta Bell uses a center-pole support design which minimizes the bulk of frame poles that turned me off off traditional canvas tents and gives it a unique circus/gypsy tent feel while still giving you enough height to stand up like an actual homo sapien and stability to withstand weeks of weather when needed. The limited pole bulk also helps it pack down into a reasonably sized duffel that fits easily in the back of most any vehicle and can be lifted by a single person.

The design has a few compromises compared to larger, traditional canvas tents, but the lighter weight and smaller packed size open up luxurious canvas tent glamping to a whole new set of campers, from festival-goers to solo hunters.

White Duck Regatta Bell Tent Overall Impressions

My biggest reservation before I received my Regatta Bell Tent was setup and stability. Because of the simplified pole structure, the Regatta Bell relies on 360 degrees of guy lines as well as stakes around the circumference of the tent’s base to stay up and resist the wind. 

Thankfully, I set it up in my yard before taking it on its first mission and even without any experience getting it up, was able to get everything up and secured in about a half an hour. (Now with multiple years of practice, I can set it up solo in less than 15 minutes and break it down even faster.)

Unlike other canvas tents I’ve tried, there’s only one tool required: a lightweight rubber mallet included with the two types of stakes for pounding them into soil. It helps if you have soft, rock-free dirt and experience swinging a hammer, but you don’t need superhuman strength either. 

The central breakdown pole is substantial and peaks the tent roof in the center, which slopes down to a couple feet high at the edges, giving it the aforementioned circus tent vibe. The aesthetic is somewhere between hunting basecamp and festival dance hut and you can skew it to your liking by choosing between the eight colors. I went with the classic sandstone as my primary use case is hunting trips either solo or with a couple of other folks.

I chose the 13-foot size that falls in the middle of their five size options ranging from 8 to 20 feet in diameter. White Duck lists this as capable of sleeping six or “glamping” with three people, which tracks with my experience. I’ve never slept more than three inside and don’t think I’d want to. One of the benefits of this style of tent is that you get plenty of room to keep your gear next to your sleeping setup which goes away if you burn up all the floor space with six beds.

Key Features

I’ve dialed in a solo setup in the 13-foot Regatta Bell for hunting trips that borders on indulgent but the required gear doesn’t eat up much truck space. A 120-quart cooler serves as refrigerated food and ice storage and doubles as a bench, eliminating the need for a disappointing camp chair. My sleep system is a XL Teton Camping Cot with integrated sleeping pad, Hest Camp Pillow, and oversized (no restrictive mummy bag!) Klymit Cottonwood Sleeping Bag unless it’s midsummer hot. It’s not a Tempurpedic, but it’s by far the most comfortable I’ve slept away from home. My mess kit and cooking supplies travel in two Yeti Loadout GoBoxes and that’s about it aside from whatever packs I need for hiking. 

With my partner, it’s similar but I swap out the cot and pad for a Hest Dually Mattress. I’ve loaded it with three people for a high alpine bighorn sheep hunt with my dad and brother and for that arrangement it’s best to stick to narrower camping pads to leave plenty of room for everyone’s things. A folding table is nice for camp kitchen and multipurpose workstation. 

I’m not of festival-going temperament these days, but if you spend long weekends camped on a lawn with 10,000 friends (or just a few around the house) and want a sleeping space you can actually hang out in, the White Duck Regatta Bell is perfect. We took my 13-footer to a friends and family wedding campout on a lake and everyone sleeping in their truck campers and fluorescent backpacking tents wanted to come hang out in our “circus tent.”

I think the Regatta Bell is best thought of as a three-season tent and there’s no wood stove jack on mine, though later editions have one by default. That said, I’ve used it in temps around 0 degrees with no problem by bringing along an indoor-safe Mr. Heater Buddy Heater, mostly just to cut the chill before going to sleep.

My Regatta Bell has proven essentially weather-proof, holding up to sleet, pounding rain, and mud splatter. It’s also endured 70 mph winds at 13,000 feet and while it’s about as noisy as any tent in those conditions, well-staked guylines held firm for several days.

Pros

The biggest reason to upgrade from a traditional lightweight camping tent is space, specifically vertical space. Being able to stand up in the Regatta Bell is a massive luxury. Even a large “10-person” party tent isn’t really a place you want to spend much time since most barely allow standing if you’re 6 feet or taller.

Because of the sloped roof on the Regatta Bell, you can’t stand close to the edges and you have to duck down to walk in the zip-on front doors, but there’s peak height around 10 feet and enough room to walk around the central portion. I keep gear to the edges to preserve the center for walking around and working space. The center pole does create a divider so beds and tables and gear have to go to one side or the other, but it hasn’t ever stopped me from finding a good room arrangement.

The other huge plus in terms of comfort is the inside climate. If you’ve ever tried to take a nap in a regular tent with midday sun beating down on you, you know it’s more like a steam sauna than a bedroom. The Regatta Bell tent uses a lighter, thinner canvas, but it still blocks the sun and those infrared rays that create the sauna effect. It also seems to breathe better than synthetics and doesn’t feel humid. The short walls around the perimeter also unzip for hot day downtime to allow breeze to pass straight through. The doors also have a bug mesh behind the canvas which can be rolled back and pinned.

I already mentioned the speedy setup which is super-important to me. I have other tents and the ability to roll out a Hest mattress in the back of my pickup, so for a canvas tent to make sense, it can’t take twice as long as my other setups. Even if I’m hunting and potentially changing camping spots daily, I don’t mind the setup and breakdown process which takes no more than 15 minutes on either end plus another 30 for dealing with the other gear inside.

Cons

Though it’s very light and compact for what it is, the size and weight are the biggest drawbacks. You’re not backpacking anywhere with this tent and at 66 pounds minimum weight, you won’t want to walk with it more than a few hundred yards.

The size also makes it challenging to clean. After getting caught in a surprise storm that turned my campsite into a mud pit, the tent needed a full hose-down. Because of the overall size, it’s impossible to spot clean and you need to wait for a warm, clear day to set it up at home for cleaning and to dry out afterward. Smaller backpacking tents can be pretty easily hand washed in a utility sink.

A seemingly minor gripe is the total lack of hooks or loops on the interior. I like to run a string of backyard cafe lights inside so I can lose the headlamp once I’m in for the night but the only hook is a bracket at the top of the center pole. I’ve said for years I intend to sew in fabric loops for running clotheslines or paracord to dry gear but haven’t gotten around to it. This seems like a minor addition White Duck could make in this grade of tent.

You could certainly gripe as well about how the low walls and angled roof leave you with less usable standing space, but to achieve straight, tall walls which would require a lot more heavy steel poles for structure which would negate one of the biggest upsides — the lighter weight and smaller packed size.

Final Verdict

This is a cheap, spacious canvas tent for luxury glamping that’s as quick and easy to set up as a backpacking tent. For me, that’s enough to make it a key piece of my outdoor living equipment arsenal, but it’s still too heavy if you’re hoping to take it backpacking. It’s also probably not the most practical for big groups and events where a beefier, straight-walled tent would be worth the weight and hassle to give you more practical space inside.

Big canvas tents are awesome but can cost thousands. This simple option costs the same as high-end backpacking tents, packs down small for easy transport, and lets you sleep and hang out in a protected space without the claustrophobia.

Why You Should Trust Me

I’m a lifelong camper based at 10,000 feet in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. I spend at least a month in a tent each year and have camped in snow pits above 14,000 feet and on the beach in the tropics. When car camping, you can find me in the White Duck Regatta Bell Tent. When backpacking, I generally use Nemo's Kunai 3-season tent.