Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Fly in Tent recommendations?

I have a Kifaru Sawtooth with stove that will probably get the nod, but curious if you think I should go with something else. Figure September time frame fly in moose/caribou DIY. 50 lbs gear limit but may go in with the others for an extra gear load, so weight is a consideration but flexible. What do you recommend?

I used a Golite Shangrila 5 teepee with no stove and was very satisfied in the 4 seasons we experienced in September in the high mountains of Alaska.

I would never......EVER......take only one tent on a fly in hunt. I learned the hard way. To your question, much would depend on where you are going, and the vegetation there. Figure the remote possibility of 122 MPH wind with higher gusts. Also figure the remote possibility of (4) FOUR feet of snow. (Yes, even in September). I have lost two entire camps that I owned, and three more that belonged to someone else.

Yup. Prepare for exactly 122mph winds. LOL.

I'd have a backup for sure.

Kifaru tipi has done ok for me on lightweight stuff. Back up with something tarp wise similar.

I don't think we have ever had more than 110 mph winds. But it's rare. 50 plus not rare at all. TIE out ALL points and then some. The more the better. Don't be dumb and set up on top of a hill like I see you tube idiots do all the time.

We run Cabelas outfitter and old bomb shelter tents along with canvas. I've seen a bomb shelter die. But the idiot using it failed to tie out all the tie outs on the peninsula. He knew better. Ruined a great tent.

Arctic ovens are good too but also heavy and bulky.

Snow is not hard to deal with but you have to keep it off the tent for sure.

Good luck. She can be fickle at times.

I’m a big fan of Hilleberg products, but obviously no stove.

More details. How big is your party? It sounds like maybe everyone is taking their own shelter? A Sawtooth looks pretty small for a group. If a gear flight is practical, that’s how I’d lean. Splitting the cost of the extra flight shouldn’t add too much to your overall cost. An extra hundred pounds of gear/food can mean safety and comfort. Well worth it to me.

Our SO 8 person tipi has stood up to vicious winds. The stove is great to dry things out, cause yea, it’s gonna rain. We also take a small Hilleberg tent for backup.

Edited to add: Like Rost says, try to pitch your tent behind a wind brake. Even a small line of willows will cut the wind by a lot.

Will be 3 people in our party. All of us currently have some form of heated tipi type shelter, Seek Outside or Kifaru. Was thinking I might be better off to take a hilleberg or other bomb proof shelter in case we have a failure of the tipis, and could use it for gear storage. Still a ways out so I have time to sort it out with the others.

What type fuel for stove....??

My Sawtooth has served me well for years. One September storm had winds clocked at 114 at a nearby village that had houses destroyed. When the winds git extreme, we pulled the poles and collapsed the tent around us. This was a ridge top hunt. The great storm of 9/11/92 brought us 2' of snow and 60 mph winds as well as temperature well below zero. We survived ok in the valley but spent several days clearing snow from the airstrip with a small piece of plywood.

Whatever, do seek a sheltered spot for camp and yes, utilize every possible tie down opportunity. Topography, a willow thicket, boulder patch, or whatever. Absolutely not out on some open plain.

Years back a large group dropped in on us on a moose hunt and chose the scenic high ground at the end of the lake. A serious blow and rain that night, and all five of their tents were lashed together in a heap around their only tree at dawn. I bumped into one of their party, and he appeared well weathered. They were gone by 11:00AM.

Three of us were in a well secured Cabela's 6-man Alaska dome tent tucked into the nearby spruce forest and weathered the event with concerns but no significant issues.

If each is taking his/her own shelter, I'd be inclined to go with the stoutest North Face Mountain tent one can find/afford. I have a two-man (actually only 1 unless the second is with a Scandinavian bikini squad) I use on my canyon float trips on some Columbia Gorge tributaries. Between its fly and the tent, there are 29 tie down points and one can even run ground to ceiling lashings within. Fly goes right down to ground level. It's stayed up when every other camp was flattened, and Mother Nature's breeze was actually throwing gravel.

Fu-king expensive, but damned well worth it (like $500), and a Coleman gas lantern will furnish suitable heat. Not used a Kifaru, but their best products look fully capable as well.

If the 3 can all stand each other, I’d take my 8 man tipi with stove and a heavy duty 4-6 person tent. The tipi would be great for hanging out and drying wet gear. Sleep in the tent. A snorer could sleep in the tipi. 3 tents seems like a waste of payload. Or opt for the gear flight and fly in an Arctic Oven tent. Warm, secure and fairly comfortable is more my style.

Just for thought, I see Cabelas’ big Instinct Outfitter tent has a stove jack. Paired with a titanium stove, that could be a good option for 3.

We had 60-70mph winds for a full night with gusts higher and my teepee was bullet proof. Tie it down and stake it out well and buy quality equipment and you’ll be fine. 50 pounds is not a lot despite how it might seem. If you get weathered in you can’t eat your backup tent or stove. I’d be prepared for being weathered in before I’d worry about my tent blowing away. Buy a good quality 0 degree bag (not down) sleeping bag and like rost said a tarp for your backup. A sat phone would be worth the weight imo but I don’t go into the “bush” without one.

I have a Golite SL-5 (out of business now). It is by far my favorite tent.

It is not unlike the Kifaru sawtooth very much practically.

However both kinds require stakes into good ground. There are places in AK where there is only a couple inches of soil before you get to rock- especially above the tree line.

A dome tent, while heavy will be better in those conditions.