Military Tents

It may interest you to know that the military has been using the same type camping tent since the civil war. I am a military history junkie and love to watch Mail Call on The History Channel. They had a show that discussed military tents.

Since the mid 1800's the military has issued its individual troops shelter halves or so-called "pup tents" for the field. These tents are no larger than 3.5 feet tall and are not very waterproof.

Shelter halves got its name "pup tent" from civil war infantry units. One story suggests that the 6th Iowa Infantry originated the name to go along with early military slang "dog tags", "dog face" and "dog biscuits".

Another story suggests that pup tents got its name from the 15th Chattanooga Infantry who started calling their tents doghouses around 1864.

Luckily for the troops, Eureka! is trying to get the military to look at their new camping tents called the Individual Combat Shelter or ICS. This tent is lightweight with modern materials.

The interesting thing about these new tents is that they can resist IR or infrared cameras and also night vision technology. These new tents keep the soldier drier and are much stronger than the typical shelter half. Additionally they are more portable and are much lighter.

Eureka! has also developed the Modular General Purpose Tent System or MGPTS. This tent is an upgrade to the old cabin tents seen in military units.

The MGPTS has 7.5 feet of headroom instead of 5 feet. It has mosquito netting built in to the tent. The windows and doors roll-up and during black out conditions can be rolled down and will not emit light.

The whole unit is modular. The system can be expanded indefinitely by simply adding an additional 18'x18' modular bay. To support these tents the system uses aluminum poles instead of wood, which are lighter, stronger and won't break.

The outer surface of the tent is coated in a vinyl polyester fabric that is extremely sturdy. The tent can be fitted with a liner consisting of saranex (similar to Syran Wrap) which can protect against biological and chemical agents. The tent even has its own environmental control ducts for heat and air conditioning.

The military wanted Eureka! to develop a tent that did not employ support systems in the middle of the interior space. They were able to utilize a corner arch that goes up the entire perimeter to the top and back down the other side. This freed up the interior by eliminating the need of the center pole.

Eureka! has always made quality civilian tents. It was very interesting to know that the military is using their expertise in outdoor gear to help take care of our troops in the field.