Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting What's the benefit of a tipi....

...And if you could change anything what would it be? Are they spacious? Good in inclement weather? What's the draw?

I'm trying to figure out the answer to that myself. I *think* that one advantage is ease of stove use.

The plusses are weight/size ratio, good wind profile from all directions, stove capable, simple pitch with one pole. I like the absence of guylines too.

The cons would be loss of useful space around the edges. More stakes than other designs, but then that helps in wind and snowload departments.

We sold our traditional nylon 4-season tents and went to tipis last year. No regrets. For our use and typical conditions the tipis rock.

We've had a few in a short time, and they all have their purposes. We've had Seek Outside in 2, 4, 6, and 12 person sizes.

After using those, we sold the smaller tipis, keeping just the 6 for backpacking, an the 12 for around the vehicle.

The 6 is a lot of space for the weight. 7'10" peak. About 5 lbs with carbon fiber pole. At 6'3", I can easily walk in without stooping.

In comparison, the Trango-2 we sold was 9+ lbs, for a crawl-in 2 person. Of course the Trango is superior for hardcore mountaineering, but we don't do that.

Compare covered area vs weight. Consider also that bathtub floors are just that...and that sheltered bare ground dries if wet. Don't try it until you knock it, though.

How wet does the ground get in bad weather?

Walking in vs crawling in

I'm not sure that I understand the question.

Here's how I use a floorless shelter on a wet weather backpack hunt (example: interior Alaska, continuous drizzle, ground soaked, 38F):
1.) choose a good tent site
2.) erect tent (for my SL4: unroll tent, stake corners, place pole in center and extend to snug-ish, close zipper door, stake between corners, tighten stake locations and extend pole as desired, lay out 3' x 6' or so tyvek inside.)

And, here's how I use one on a backpack hunt in snow (example: Madison Range in MT, mid-November, 8000 ft elevation, 15F, 8" of snow, snowing lightly):
1.) choose a good tent site
2.) Invest 10 minutes to plow snow from tent site with boots, until not much remains under tent footprint
3.) erect tent as above
4.) unpack stove and make a fire...

Here's how I pack up the tent after one or more days' stay on the hunts above:
1.) dismantle tent, and marvel at the tent-sized patch of dry, bare ground.

Walking in standing up with your boots on and an armload of wood for the stove.

Sheds wind from any direction.

Just under 8lbs with CF pole and titanium stove.

That is for an 8-man SO.

Listen to this man.

The only negative I've found thus far with tipi style tents is use in very buggy areas. You can get a nest for them, but then you just have two layers inside covered in bugs.

I converted from a "traditional" tent to a tipi a few years ago and would never go back. I was hesitant to try a floorless shelter, but now I'm completely sold on the design. I love being able to walk in and out without worry of tracking in messes or taking my boots off. I just put down a ground cloth where I want to sleep and tromp around the rest as needed.

Mine has handled rain, wind and cold temps very well. I don't think you can get a more comfortable, heated shelter that can be packed in and out of the mountains comfortably. The stove requires pretty steady feeding (it runs about 30-45 min when loaded up) and will get the tipi too warm if you get overly ambitious.

The biggest drawback of the tipi design is usable floor space. In my opinion, an 8-man tipi and stove is perfect for two guys and their gear (plus firewood) to really spread out and be comfortable. You can easily sleep three people comfortably in the same tipi, but space for gear is much more limited.

I always thought it would be interesting to try a shelter made with the same material as my tipi, but cut in the mold of a wall tent. Six poles (two tall ones for each end of the shelter in the center and four shorter ones for each corner), two zip-up doors and a stove jack. It would certainly weigh more than a tipi, but I think you'd end up with a lot more usable space inside.

Advantage...bivouacking.

I had killed a good billy on Kodiak last Fall and with darkness and weather closing in, trying getting back to camp was futile. Wife, son and I were tired, cold, wet and exhausted.

We had prepared though and had brought a 3lb. tipi (a Black Diamond mega-mid) and our bags for an emergency bivy situation. Thank God we had, it poured buckets. We slept sound, and recharged.
The thing likely saved our lives.

huntsonora:

I'll try to answer your question without starting a $hit storm argument.

Advantages of a double wall dome tent:
1. Best aerodynamics.
2. They have floors so they are a cleaner sleeping environment.
3. Condensation is controlled.
4. Do a good job of keeping out insects.
5. Dome tent is less expensive than silnylon tipi + stove.

Disadvantages of double wall dome tents:
1. Difficult to safely use stoves inside a double wall dome tent.
2. Dome tents are heavier than single wall tipis of the same size.
3. You have to give up excess space to get a dome tent that is as light as a tipi.

Advantages of a Tipi:
1. Best size to weight ratio.
2. Best way to ride out a storm or severe cold in a heated tent with a stove if you have firewood.
3. Lots of headroom.
4. Good aerodynamics but not the best aerodynamics.

Disadvantages of a tipi:
1. Condensation is a problem if you don't use a stove.
2. No floor means you sleep on whatever nature gives you. Could be mud, snow, dirt, whatever.
3. Can't use a stove where there is no firewood, i.e above timberline, on a glacier.
4. Sloped walls make it inconvenient to use space near the perimeter.
5. When you add a stove, the usable floor area is the same or less than a double wall dome tent.
6. Don't do a very good job of keeping out insects.
7. Stoves require constant feeding of wood.

Single wall tipis made of Silnylon are obscenely expensive and that amounts to immoral profiteering by the manufacturers.

I own both types of tents and use the type that is best suited for the anticipated situation.

I do a lot of summer backpacking and I use ultralight dome tents exclusively. My current favorite is a Big Agnes Copper Spur UL-2.

I'm going on an Alaska fly-in caribou hunt in September. We will sleep in Cabelas XPG-4 tents (2 to a tent) and use a Sierra Designs Origami-4 tipi as our group cook tent.

KC

KC, your bias towards double-walled tents is apparent, once again. Nothing wrong with that, everyone is entitled to their preferences.

But much of what you wrote about the disadvantages of tipis is in a word, bullsh**.

Especially the part about immoral profiteering, that's just utter nonsense. First, the two brands of tipis at the top of the list are Kifaru and Seek Outside, both of which are made in the USA, paying American workers a living wage. You want to talk immorality, start with off-shoring of manufacturing.

Plus, nothing those companies do remotely fits the definition of profiteering. We're not talking about a commodity, something there's a shortage of, or any price manipulation. We're talking about a luxury item for which there are an infinite number of alternatives, and an item people choose to buy because they favor it over the other alternatives.

And as far as your list of disadvantages of tipis, I say "BS."

You say "condensation is a problem without a stove," I say it's not. Yes, you will have condensation. No, it's not a problem. It's water droplets on the inside of your tent.

You say "no floor means you sleep on whatever nature gives you." I say, dude, seriously? They make these things called ground sheets now. A tyvek ground sheet weighs a few ounces.

You say "You can't use a stove where there's no firewood." That's obvious. Why is that a disadvantage of a tipi vs. a dome tent? Do dome tents come with firewood now?

You say, "when you add a stove, the usable floor space is the same or less than a dome tent." I say, that's a ridiculous statement, since tipis come in a lot of different sizes, as do dome tents. You just need to pick the right size tipi and floor space is not an issue. We camped in snow on one trip, three guys with sleds for our gear. We sized the tipi so that all three of us had a large sleeping area, with our sleds parked inside the tipi. Plus a big pile of wood. Plus snow shoveled in to level the sleeping areas. Try that with a floored dome tent.

You say "stoves require constant feeding of wood." That made me laugh. Everything you've said about stoves made me laugh in fact. You said "it's "difficult" to use a stove inside a floored, double-walled dome tent???" It's not only difficult, it's a bad idea. Have you ever done it?

The biggest advantage of a tipi is the fact that they're made for wood stove use, and together with the stove, comprise a heated shelter. But stove use isn't listed in your "advantage" list for tipis. Which is absurd. A tipi is not only "the best way to ride out a storm," it's a heated shelter, regardless of whether you're in a storm or not. That's an advantage.

When you weigh the advantage of having a heated shelter against your supposed disadvantage that the stove requires feeding wood, you pretty much put your bias against tipis in a bright spotlight.

It's always nice to see how KC likes supporting the Asian economy.

I don't have to dislike one, to like the other. They both have their place and purposes. And a lot if it is personal preferences.

I really like he room/weight thing of the tipi, and the ability to use a stove. At 55, and 6'3", with a blown L4/5 disc, I'm just not that into crawling around in a small space. When I discovered the lightweight tipi, I loved it right away. I like being able to stand up fully, stretch, move around a little. A lot more space to ride out some crap weather.

A few pics. Great size reference, and pole simplicity comparisons between the 9+ lb Trango-2, and the 5+ lb SO-6 tipi. Both great shelters, both fairly expensive, both proven in just about every situation. But kind of like different religions.

Just to be fair, some good memories with the Trango, Taking leave from the USMC to spend a few days in Montana.

My "tipi" has a bathtub floor. And full bug netting. Certain times of the year, you couldn't talk me out of those things. Certain times of the year, I'd rather have no floor, no net, and a stove.

My tipi was also made in a sweatshop somewhere in Asia, and cost about half what most high end LW tents cost. Tough situation to be in - immoral if I support one of the US profiteers, and immoral if some of my money supports an Asian kid. Apologies all around, but I needed a tent.

I've waited out storms in a couple different Hillebergs, a couple big agness UL tents (hope to never repeat that), bomshelters, Cabela's 6-man guide, the Hex3, and the SL5. All of them can fail, given the right/wrong weather and not enough attention to pitch. Given a choice in lightweight tents, I'd rather be stuck in a tipi than a tube or dome tent.

Yes, you "lose" a lot of floor space to the last couple feet not having any headroom. So you use that space to store your gear, and still have more room in the remaining area than most other designs, pound for pound. And then there is the headroom.

Ah, the immorality of backcountry hunting! To be clear, I never would've used that word, and probably wouldn't have responded at all if I hadn't read the words "immoral profiteering" in KC's post. I've dealt with and met the principals of both companies mentioned and neither word fits. His characterization was way off base and a cheap shot, and I responded.

Immoral profiteering? Seriously?


What incredibly moral business do you own and operate?

Smokey,

Are you saying this didn't add up for you?