Sturdy screen houses to escape the bugs? Any good ones?

[mainer_in_ak]

This year I'm thinking of bringing a screen house to escape the bugs. I don't cook or eat near my sleeping tent but I certainly need a screen house to relax, stretch, escape the rain, and most importantly.........ESCAPE THE SWARM OF SQEETOS. I don't care how much it weighs, or costs. What I do care about is how sturdy it is. Since I've had such good luck with Eureka, I was eyeballing the the Northern Breeze Screen House. It'll see the Kobuk, Ambler, Yukon, and other tributaries of the Yukon this summer. I figured it would also be a decent screen house for dip netting season as a cook shelter to escape the wind and rain. It looks like all the sides fold down so you can selectively choose which ones you want open according to the direction of the wind and rain. Before I pull the trigger on this one, has anybody had good luck with another type or brand? I'm not crazy about the color blue (attracts bugs) but it would be nice to "tease" them while I escape their wrath. It'd be like that little yappy dog next door who always teases my buddy's Rotty, knowing fully well where his leash ends.

http://store.eurekatent.com/products...e_Screen_House

[andweav]

never seen one that was sturdy in the wind. gotta stake it like crazy, hard to do on gravel bars, often not worth the effort for just one night on the river if it's windy. course, if you've got lotsa wind, shouldn't have many bugs.

seems most need a tarp over the top to shed water if more than a sprinkle.

use one to cook in and relax in, don't remember the make, it definitely keeps the black flies and skeeters out, but needs a tarp as mentioned. we tend to only use it when the weather is calm or a light rain, or a multi-day camp as it's one more thing to set up and take down. the design is cookie cutter to the one you posted there.

the last thing i would call it is sturdy.

[AlaskaHippie]

Have used that same screen house for years







Took it in to AK Tent and Tarp and had them sew in some additional guy out grommets (2 per side along the top). Have staked it out on gravel sand, tundra, etc. As long as you use some form of bungee as part of your guy out, the added flex seems to help. Stake it down SOLID and use every staking point and all guy outs. We've had ours up in the Fall out West in some fairly good blows, while by no means bomb proof, the results have been positive.

[6XLeech]

We've used a screenhouse by Cabela's. Much sturdier than the first one we owned and not bad to set up.
I've had good experiences with Eureka though; find their products have simple design and well made.
Based on AK Hippie's experience, your choice appears a good one.

AK Hippie: Good looking river camp there. Curious about those yellow storage containers too. Like 'em?

Best of luck, Mainer.

[mainer_in_ak]

Well......looks like I'm gonna pull the trigah on a eureka sqeeto house. It'll probably make this year's trips much more enjoyable. Looking at the specs, the screen house appears to be made of that heavy duty 150D Stormshield material that my bombproof Eureka Assault tents are made of. Will be a good cook space. Thanks for the field review Mike, and as ususal.......your pictures are amazing. Your camp site looks "poster boy professional".

[fullkurl]

I'll be spending two weeks in remote northern Ontario, Canada in a couple of months and need one too.
Found this one at a great price:
http://www.hiltonstentcity.com/libra...creenhouse.htm

Walrus makes nice stuff.

[AlaskaHippie]

AK Hippie: Good looking river camp there. Curious about those yellow storage containers too. Like 'em?

6X Those dry boxes, I believe, we got from Cascade many moons ago and I love 'em. For dry goods/camp accessories they fit the bill. I'll see if I can dig up a better image or two and double check where they where purchased from.

[Tsiutoo]

Consider a tarp with attached bug netting?

I'm exploring the same thing - looking to replace my old, cheap screen tent. I too have looked positively at the Eureka brand.

But I'm also considering a Eureka rain tarp that has clip-in bug netting enclosure. A friend of mine has the tarp - I can speak to it's good quality. But I've never seen it used with the mesh netting in place.

See:

http://www.eurekatentscanada.com/products/view/43

[6XLeech]

That Backpacker VCS tarp is cool: 12 ft square, light (4.5 lbs) and should pack up real small.
Hmmm.

[mainer_in_ak]

That set-up would be suited to folks more weight conscious. It's a great piece of equipment, but not for me. I try to maintain some discipline with the weight of my gear, but sometimes I can make compromises. I need a space that is just tall enough to stand in, has a way to block off wind if I need to, and serves a multitude of purposes like cooking for four people in moose camp in the rain, getting out of the wind and rain during dip netting season, and getting out of the mosquitoes through the whole summer to cook and relax.

The first time I learned of the "tundra tarp" was a few years ago when I read the book "Expedition Canoeing". The author of the book is the original creator of that piece of gear. His needs are different than mine though, and he's only floated one river in Alaska that was slow and meandering. That particular author is quite innovative, but has no real experience running rivers in Alaska and subsisting off the land year-round, requiring different gear.

[6XLeech]

That GoLite ShangriLa 5 tent system, which Alaska_Lanche uses with the mesh "nest" is a cool system too:
http://www.golite.com/tents/pyramid-...ers/shangri-la