budismyhorse
01-08-2010, 03:46 PM
Since I posted a picture of my recently aquired Tipi in use, many members have emailed me to get some info about this particular set up and my experience with it thus far.....so many that I figured this may be the easiest way to get some info out.
This isn't intended to be a debate, and I would hope fellas with negative comments (unless you have experience using this product) would kindly keep it to themselves (however this is a free world).
I purchased this outfit (4 person tipi with small stove) at the beginning of September and used it on three different pack trips using my horses. The driving reason for me was the small size of the tent and stove when compared to a typical wall tent and wood stove used for horse packing. This way I can outfit 3-4 people and still have at least one riding horse in the case that we harvest something (I usually go with 2 riding horses and 1 pack horse). That means my entire rig, food and bedrolls all go on one pack horse....impossible using a typical wall tent.
The other reason is to use it for late season backpack trips (into late october/november) where a wood stove just makes it a little more comfortable and easier to dry things out instead of huddling around a fire and then straight into a sleeping bag.
Overall I was very pleased with the size and design of the product. 2 hunters have plenty of room for gear, wood and cooking.....when you start to add people, you just keep your gear outside and store your wood either outside or stacked near the stove. You could sleep 4 men if you really wanted to, but it would be tight, you'd realistically want the bigger tipi if you are outfitting 4 guys most of the time....but for a night or two...you can make it work. 3 or less is perfect.
The tent weighs 4.5 pounds (with stakes and pole) and the stove weighs 3.5 pounds (with everything, you can shave half a pound if you leave out the case).
During strong winds, the tent hardly moves....it is actually designed to be very aerodynamic and you hardly notice the wind untill you open a door. The walls go tight to the ground and absolutely no wind gets under and into the tent. This also ensures no rain or bugs gets into the tent either....which is nice.
I didn't use it in heavy rain so I can't comment. It is designed extremely well, so I would imagine it isn't a problem. Maybe some comes in the stove hole, but that is standard for any wall tent.
Moisture does build up inside the tent as typical of any single wall structure. However, the stove burns most of the moisture instantly in the morning when you fire it up.
The Stove is meant for hot burning for cooking and heating while you are awake, it is NOT meant for banking and slowly burning all night. You still have to have a good bag as after the tent burns out, you are on your own until morning when you can reach over and light it again. Typically you get 1 hour of burning with a stove full of good dry wood and 30 mins using damp or wet wood.
Bugs.....fortunately I don't live and hunt in an area that this is a problem during the hunting season. I will say that generally, you leave the door open when it is warm out to prevent moisture from building up so if you are planning on using it in buggy areas, they do sell a bug/mesh liner that would probably work well. As for coming under the walls, when it is set up properly, there is no way bugs can come under the tent walls.
Some drawbacks from my experience:
On our late goat hunt, we camped in 12 inches of snow and it was -10 or less the entire time. That night another 3-4 inches of wet snow fell. In the morning, the walls were coming in a little as the weight of the snow pushed them in. The material isn't meant to be kicked like canvas so clearing this snow is an outside "hands-on" job.
This also meant that the walls were sealed off and we had to sleep with the doors open for a bit more air.
large footprint: I found it tough to find good flat spots to spike the tent.....but I think I just need to practise different techniques for setting it up on uneven ground. Believe me, using this tent takes PRACTICE.
Couple Photos.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/Package_2.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/TIPI_1.jpg
This isn't intended to be a debate, and I would hope fellas with negative comments (unless you have experience using this product) would kindly keep it to themselves (however this is a free world).
I purchased this outfit (4 person tipi with small stove) at the beginning of September and used it on three different pack trips using my horses. The driving reason for me was the small size of the tent and stove when compared to a typical wall tent and wood stove used for horse packing. This way I can outfit 3-4 people and still have at least one riding horse in the case that we harvest something (I usually go with 2 riding horses and 1 pack horse). That means my entire rig, food and bedrolls all go on one pack horse....impossible using a typical wall tent.
The other reason is to use it for late season backpack trips (into late october/november) where a wood stove just makes it a little more comfortable and easier to dry things out instead of huddling around a fire and then straight into a sleeping bag.
Overall I was very pleased with the size and design of the product. 2 hunters have plenty of room for gear, wood and cooking.....when you start to add people, you just keep your gear outside and store your wood either outside or stacked near the stove. You could sleep 4 men if you really wanted to, but it would be tight, you'd realistically want the bigger tipi if you are outfitting 4 guys most of the time....but for a night or two...you can make it work. 3 or less is perfect.
The tent weighs 4.5 pounds (with stakes and pole) and the stove weighs 3.5 pounds (with everything, you can shave half a pound if you leave out the case).
During strong winds, the tent hardly moves....it is actually designed to be very aerodynamic and you hardly notice the wind untill you open a door. The walls go tight to the ground and absolutely no wind gets under and into the tent. This also ensures no rain or bugs gets into the tent either....which is nice.
I didn't use it in heavy rain so I can't comment. It is designed extremely well, so I would imagine it isn't a problem. Maybe some comes in the stove hole, but that is standard for any wall tent.
Moisture does build up inside the tent as typical of any single wall structure. However, the stove burns most of the moisture instantly in the morning when you fire it up.
The Stove is meant for hot burning for cooking and heating while you are awake, it is NOT meant for banking and slowly burning all night. You still have to have a good bag as after the tent burns out, you are on your own until morning when you can reach over and light it again. Typically you get 1 hour of burning with a stove full of good dry wood and 30 mins using damp or wet wood.
Bugs.....fortunately I don't live and hunt in an area that this is a problem during the hunting season. I will say that generally, you leave the door open when it is warm out to prevent moisture from building up so if you are planning on using it in buggy areas, they do sell a bug/mesh liner that would probably work well. As for coming under the walls, when it is set up properly, there is no way bugs can come under the tent walls.
Some drawbacks from my experience:
On our late goat hunt, we camped in 12 inches of snow and it was -10 or less the entire time. That night another 3-4 inches of wet snow fell. In the morning, the walls were coming in a little as the weight of the snow pushed them in. The material isn't meant to be kicked like canvas so clearing this snow is an outside "hands-on" job.
This also meant that the walls were sealed off and we had to sleep with the doors open for a bit more air.
large footprint: I found it tough to find good flat spots to spike the tent.....but I think I just need to practise different techniques for setting it up on uneven ground. Believe me, using this tent takes PRACTICE.
Couple Photos.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/Package_2.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/TIPI_1.jpg