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Colonel Townsend Whelen, noted
hunter and outdoor writer, designed a tent he called the
“hunter’s lean-to” in 1925. David Abercrombie ( of the old
Abercrombie & fitch fame) manufactured the style and marketed it as the
“Whelen Lean-to”.
It has been called the Whelen ever since, Colonel Whelen, as a
devout minimalist, hardly
believed in tents for shelter at all. He wished to be as close to his
natural surroundings as was possible and practical. The Colonel considered this
design, which almost has the appearance of half a tent, more than
adequate for anything short of -20 degrees or severe bugs. With a sloped rear roof, slanted
and splayed sides and a short fore roof panel, this tent is a relatively
dedicated specialized tarp.
Light and easy to pack.
We build to the Colonel’s
original specification: 5’ high, about 10’ wide to the tips
of the “wings”, 6’ wide at the rear of the body,
8’ deep and with a 30” panel in the front for a fore
roof. The Whelen is built to be
suspended from the ridge line with either a rope or a ridge pole. Loops are placed along the inner,
underside of the ridge to facilitate the addition of the curtain or
netting.
To see this tent is action take a
look at on your own in the wilderness BY Colonel Townsend Whelen and
Bradford Angier. This is a
good to have in your library for many reasons.
Perspective: Sometimes we are lucky, sometimes
we are blessed, this year it was in the form of Mr. Thomas Worthington. A
non-solicited phone call introduced Mr. Worthington to us one sunny
afternoon. Seems he had been
watching our evolution over the years and liked what we do and how we do
it. He trusted us. So much, it appears, he sent us
his prized and cared for Whelen tent for observation and repair. Not such a unique story until we
learned he had taken a train trip to New York with Colonel Whelen in
1947. Just to have the
Colonel pick out a tent for him.
He has used it every year since. His tent can’t talk, but he
can and if we are all lucky Mr. Worthington will finish getting all of
his stories in print for one heck of a read. We have constructed Mr.
Worthington a new Whelen to use and compare to his original. We’ll keep you posted (on
our website ) regarding his experiences and opinions.
$380
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