In addition to what has been said, I would add a bit from my experience in a Seek Outside 6 man tipi.
1. First of all, love the huge space and stand up room for the four lbs. weight of tipi alone. For backpacking I'd not carry a pole nor stakes, but have not yet backpacked with mine. It made a great cook and yarn time tent on a moose hunt way up north, separate from sleeping tent. Have used it on multi-day deer hunts always near a vehicle so far.
2. I do not always use a center pole but hang it from a limb or outside poles, freeing inside space.
3. Condensation IS a problem without a stove if used in moderately wet to extremely wet climates. I.e. on the Olympic Peninsula you could not get the inside wetter with a lawn sprinkler. In the Interior of BC in -25 temps hoarfrost from breath and body vapor grew over an inch thick on the inside of the tipi and rained when thawed by a stove.
4. You can increase edge space use by pitching the tipi higher and letting the sod skirt become a short vertical wall. Depends on wind, snow outside, etc. as to how practical this is. In mild weather, it is how I pitch the tipi.
5. My tipi has I believe it is 19 tie out spots around the edges. Pain in the neck. Especially on rocky or frozen ground, or loose gravel. I lay logs blocked by rocks to keep from rolling, and tie several points to one long log. Also tie to rocks and scoot out to tighten the pull on the tipi.
I bought mine after two consecutive extreme winter condition late Fall backpack hunts with a son and grandson. We did more than survive with our tarps, but as an old codger I decided to bring along a little more comfort next time.
