Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting What tent do I need?

Anyone here with experience with the Paratipi and Parastove combo by Kifaru? This is the tent I have my eye on at the moment. Am seriously considering selling my Cabela's Alaknak and going to a small tent. Just tired of setting up a large tent, and might give backpack hunting a try. Reason the Paratipi caught my eye is the ability to use a stove. I just can't get my arms around camping in a tent in Oct/Nov in Colorado without a heat source.

Brent

I had my tipi mfgr. add on a snow skirt. I seal out the wind with snow or with rocks on the skirt. Mtn. Hardwear Kiva is the only tipi-style tent I know of that actually comes with a skirt.

Easy enough to add one to a 'mid or whatever.

The Kifaru tipi liner acts as a snow skirt to keep out drafts however this is more for cold/no snow as I can kick snow to cover any gaps.

Brent.

The paratipi/small stove combo is my backpacking shelter for winter. I would go with the small stove over the para as it takes larger sticks and thus less work to feed. Also a larger firebox will burn longer and put off more heat. I think the parastove is rated down to 0 however the small stove -25 but Ed. T knows better on this topic. In any case I have been run out of my paratipi at -5 and even tosed my hand on the zipper as it got so hot. However there is no real need to run the stove so hot. But the gaps between the ground and shelter need to be covered with snow for sub zero to keep out drafts.

For the topic of this thread the Golite Hex is a fine shelter. The bug inner tent works as a liner as the drips often run down the netting. Plus the Hex can be setup in several different configurations. A full double walled tent with bug net inner. A floorless tipi tent when used with just the canopy and a flooded tipi tent with the hex floor. When not using the HH in summer this is my most used shelter during bug season.

Sorry I'm a week late with a respone but, it's considered a 3 season tent. I can't really imagine it holding well in a heavy snowstorm. Maybe I'll have to try it out!

Thanks again for all the help. I've found a Golite Shangri-La 3 for $140 and am really leaning that way.

Blue, that's a great price, I thought I did well getting my hex 3 for 165.00. They are the same tent, the nest fits both. I saw a shang/hex 3 nest for 99.96 at campsaver.com.

Kent

Brent,

The Paratipi is tiny. Too small for me so I sold mine. For a bombproof little survival shelter it might be about perfect but its too cramp, especially with a stove. I think you would be better off with the Kifaru 4-6 man if you intend to spend consecutive days in the thing. If I got another paratipi I would order it with guy loops midway up the main section because there's a lot of wasted space as the sides need to be pulled out.

Someone asked about the XPG tents. I ordered both sizes and returned them both. The smaller, 3 man, was also tiny despite the measurements and description in the Cabela's catalog. Then I bought the latest Alaskan model which I intended to install a stove since it is single-walled but that thing was a nightmare to set up, nearly impossible. It appears that these things are designed by computer programs with little thought given to practicality.??

Not mentioned but a helluva tent is a Terra Nova Ultra Quasar. I wouldn't hesitate to use it under any conditions.

Hilleberg has a similar style set up to the TN Ultra called the Tarra.

Of course, for comfort I'm going with a Kifaru tipi 8 or 12 man but that's a little big for packing...a 4 or 6 man might do the job.

I have the paratipi and small stove combo and will concur with Woodswalker on its preformance. I baught it as a 1 man small shelter fast and light with lots of room and the ability to stay warm is an awsome bonus.If your tent bound for 2 days though it starts to get small in a hurry.It is a high country tent for me, where you need to be light and fast like sheep or goats and leave the stove at home.I would not bring it back to Alaska unless for those 2 animals. I was stuck in my paratipi on a bou hunt for 60 hours, 85 mph wind and rain and not being able to stand up sucked. A 4 man IMHO would be a better for an area prone to sudden large storms 2 people max. If your packing in setting up a base camp and day triping from there , staying on the lighter side for the pack in a 6 man would be the ticket for you and a buddy maybe 2 if you are really good friends.If you are of the mind set that you like some room and always hunt in a party of 3 but want to stay as light as possible the 8 man would be the biggest I would go . It splits up fairly even weight wise between 3 guys and offers enough room to let it all hang out and not feel cramped for 3 . I think you would really like the stove for the late season hunts you intend to use it for , I really like the ability to make it 80* if I want to .

Marmot Thor 4 season 2 person.

I've been looking at the Cabela's XPG Expedition 4-Season. Anyone else looked into that particular model? The local Cabela's doesn't have one on display to look at.

AlaskanFlyboy, I've looked at the XPG 3 season and it seemed right in line with alot of medium priced tents we've talked about here, spec wise. The 4 season model is too heavy for most of us here to consider for BPing, 9 lbs for the 2 man, 13 lbs for the 4 man. The price is low so if you will be using it for plane, snowmobile/sled, horse trips, it would be worth trying. Cabelas will always take it back if you don't like it.

Kent

I already have a decent 3-season tent, but it's worthless here from about mid-November to mid-March. So I find myself interested in a decent 4-season tent to use in the winter with our high winds and occasionally heavy snowfalls that isn't worth half of my current assets. From what I've seen most 4-season tents are heavy by virtue of how they're designed. Despite being only about 130lbs, I manage to carry more than most of my friends without a problem. I also tend to be a bit masochistic, which I suppose helps my endurance with heavier loads.