I mostly use teepees when backpack hunting and I hunt in one of the wettest places around - Kodiak Island. A teepee and a woodstove allows you to hunt in the rain and get soaking wet and then DRY OUT. You just can't do that in a 2 walled tent that lacks a woodstove. I remember the days when you'd set up the ole double walled tent at the end of the day and then hunker down in your sleeping bag to stay warm. If it rained the next day you'd stay in the bag too. Tent bound.
No longer - now we all hang out and DRY out by the woodstove. Get up and go the next day even if it is raining. A couple of times we've pitched the tent on soaking wet ground in a driving downpour. We try and cut standing dead wood and split it with our machete to get the dry stuff in the center - once the fire is lit we pile the wet wood on top to dry it out (we rotate all the wood and create a dry pile). The inside of the teepee gets pretty steamy but eventually it all drys out and gets super warm. Even the ground dries out. All the gear hanging over the stove dries out too.
The trick is good ventilation. When ever I hear about 'condensation issues' I think there is a guy who probably has his tent edges 'stapled' to the ground. You have to lift the tent edge in multiple places and allow air to enter - yes it can be breezy but if you don't do it you will have condensation issues. You need to heat up the tent, get the moisture in the air, and then vent it. That is how you get water out of the tent.
I've found teepees to be bone dry in comparison to the double and single wall tents I've used (Hillenburg, Moss, Bibler, North Face, Nemo). The problem with tents with floors is that the water you bring into the tent stays on the floor! Everything eventually gets damp in a double walled tent.
The biggest advantage to tents with floors is bugs - teepees are hell if the mosquitoes are really bad.
But to re say my main point, teepee do not have condensation issues if you vent them adequately!
Patrick
Last edited by pgsalton; 04/06/16.
