Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Tipi/tarp vs. floored tent

I like having both options depending on conditions. I'm running a Tarptent Contrail when the weather is warmer or bugs/creepy crawling things are a concern. Colder weather I just got a Seekoutside 6 man tipi and have an EdT titanium stove. Best of both worlds. I will say though if you are going floorless it's nice to get a shelter big enough to stand up in.

Center pole is 4x16in pieces. Stuff sack is 17in long and 4.5in diameter. With only flysheet in it can compress into smaller stuff sack. I guess stuff sack is made to handle also nest and floor, for flysheet only it's plenty roomy...
Matt

Agree! I also have Kifaru 8-Man with large stove for longer camping/base camps. I'm planning to use SL-3 only for short spike camps and unplanned situations to be carried all the time in my pack.

Alaska_Lanche: what kind of nest do you use in your SL-3?
Thanks! [/quote]

Matt, My SL-3 is a unexpected overnight bivy shelter or a solo shelter for me. So I don't use a nest with it.
When going solo I sleep in a TI Goat bivy to stay away from the bugs.

If going with someone else I take a GoLite SL-5 with either 2 bivies (if going with another guy) or a Mount Laurel Designs nest called the Duo Inner or something like that.

mine is the older Hex3 same/same as the shagrila3, besides the pole it came with a single extension to use with a trekking pole. That's what I take and leave the full pole behind.

Kent

VA,

TAK and I have arrived at similar shelter setups for this part of the world. A floorless tipi/tent with wood heat for cold and a hammock for hot weather.

I started out with a Hilleberg Akto, but it was too short to sit up straight in. I sold it and bought a Nallo 2 person, but it was too heavy for solo use. I went the extreme opposite direction by buying a Kifaru Supertarp and stove. I really liked it but sold it to buy one of the new Seekoutside Backcountry Shelters designed in conjunction with Ed T. It'll see it's first use this weekend, but I'm pretty excited about it. It's light enough to use solo, but good for two people or even three with a zip in panel. Comes with stove jack and sod skirt, and I can add a bug nest.

Hammocks...for warm weather I think they're the best in this part of the world. The only downside is that you can't sleep close to another person if out with your significant other. The comfort level is amazing compared to ground sleeping. I've got a TTT Switchback 1.9 SL and a Warbonnet Blackbird 1.1 DL and tarps for each. They do take specialized gear for comfortable sleeping in cold weather. I've got a down underquilt that will take me down to 15 degrees. You can learn a ton about these setups on hammockforums.net.

My current thinking is if it's warm enough to worry about bugs and snakes I'll be hanging safely above the ground in a hammock. For hot weather sleeping you can even hang a cheap battery powered fan from the ridgeline to blow air on you all night.

For cold weather where bugs and snakes probably aren't a problem, I'll be in my BCS so I can stand up to put on clothes, and start a fire for warmth in the morning and night.

For the floorless GoLite SL3 (which I now have on order), what do most of you use as a ground cloth? I know condensation will form between the ground and the bottom of whatever is underneath your sleeping pad & bag.
Plastic sheet or something a little more "advanced"?

I use a tyvek groundsheet. Under my pad. Its cut larger so i can keep my other clothes out of the dirt.

Va , My opinion is very similar to Luke's. I have a Kifaru paratipi and use it regularly here at home as well as on my hunts in AK mostly in the interior . Almost all of my experience comes during fall hunting situations and spring trips in the canoe for trout and turkey. I usually run solo and could get away with less in this case but wanted the ability to have some room to spread out gear or have a second body in there if the need arise. I have not had the condensation issues that were mentioned above, here on the east coast or in a swamp in AK. The stove when cranked up will usually dry the floor inside the tipi of the normal dampness found in most areas I pitch it. In the years I have been using it I have never had a snake crawl into the tipi (we have a ton of Black snakes here). They do shed wind extremely well. On a trip into the mulchatna river area for caribou 85 mph winds and side ways rain were recorded at Illiamna for 60 hours. There is not much cover on the tundra to break wind and the tipi held up fine , never had to adjust a peg during the entire storm. I can not stress how much easier it is not to have to take your boots off every time you want to get in the tipi for fear of making it dirty. I will never go back to a tent with a floor in it .This is how I use mine and it suits me just fine.

Just FYI, you might want to check out the Appy Trails tent here:
http://www.appytrails.com/

Tent,fly, groundcloth will serve you well in the temperate rainforest of the SE USA. Hang whatever you take to dry when you get home. You will deal with the various conditions presented throughout the year, heat, cold, condensation. I have done with naught but a bag under the stars, under a blue tarp in pouring rain, war surplus canvas tent as a scout and the better nylon tents lately. It's all good, just get out there.