Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Lightweight 2 man cold weather packer tent. Does it exist?

OK.. so I'm savvy with the "outfitter" type tents with stove jacks. Big heavy and cumbersome to pack.

What I am after is a lightweight 2 person 10'X10' or so with a stove jack.
I'd like the tent to 15lbs or under but made from a material that is "tough" and can withstand snow load.

Is there such a thing?

I may be setting gasoline too close to the fire here but...

Whambasted makes some tipis with a heavy material I believe. I'm sure with your space requirements and stove jack, you'd be real close to your 15lb mark. Or talk to Kevin at seekoutside...maybe he'd custom make you one?

Think Kifaru Sawtooth and EdT stove. Way under your weight, plenty tough.

We have a 6 man Kifaru tipi and a small stove and it fits the bill IMO. The 6 person is only big enough for three with gear but you could always get one of the bigger tipis. Our tipi and stove combo weigh in at about 9 pounds. We haven't had it in a blizzard but have had it in several different snows up to about 8" overnight and if it's pitched properly, it handles the snow just fine.

The Seek Outside BCS, 6 or 8 man tipi meets your criteria as well. Kevin T is the owner and hangs out here on this forum quite a bit. He's a stand up guy.

The 6 man with a large ti stove will go about 9 lbs complete, the 8 man with an XL titanium stove will go less than 12 lbs and be pretty comfy. This is including screens and storm flaps. if you go with a basic you will save 1 -2 lbs.

The large and XL stove create about the same heat, but the XL requires far less loading and takes much larger wood. It also starts easily with a bed of coals because it can take much larger wood, the coals can last a lot longer.

The lightweight material is fine in big snows, and heavy winds. We have wintered tents in testing, and we commonly get 200 + inches a year at our testing location.

We do have a heavier True Timber Camo fabric that is stunning. The 6, 8 and 12 can be made with it. The camo adds 2 to 4lbs depending on tent.

Alternatively a BCS with add in panel is pretty large for two people, and it is pretty light weight. If you like room, and comfort a lot though, I'd go with a 6 or 8 person.

Do these 6-8 man tipi's hold the heat well?

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the tipi design as it seems that it would help the heat escape.

They regulate it better with a liner. As the cold weather progresses we plan on testing out a reflective roof to see if it helps hold in heat. If it does, we will produce one or give simple instructions on making your own.

I have found that with a large stove you can maintain 60 - 75 degree temperature a couple feet off the ground when it is 15 outside with stoking it every 30 minutes or so. Up higher it is likely to be near or above 100 degrees. Near the edges at the bottom it is likely to be colder. The stoves work well but won't burn all night. The XL stove though, will burn a long time and fire right back up after a couple hours of non use, so if you are a little chilled it's easy to get it warm again with minimal fuss.

I suppose you could try to insulate the cone a little and it would hold heat a lot better. I was doing some testing last year on a 15 degree night. It snowed 8" during the night, but in the morning the tipi was 40 degrees inside. The reason I attribute is the thermal mass of the ground at that time. The day before had been cold , but sunny so the tent was 80 degrees inside most of the day warming the ground. The snow that fell in the evening provided insulation around the tipi. Therefore it was pretty warm in the morning without a heat source running all night. Granted, that was a unique set of conditions.

I would have thought you would have used one already. I thought based on our sales that everyone in Montana had a tipi


Kevin

Kifaru is the way i would go with a stove

Check out the Kifaru tent options and what your looking for is all there. Hunter tested, light weight stoves, and they stand up to bad weather...they flat out work.

Kifaru is sure proud of their stuff yikes...

When you say "pack", I assume you mean backpack. I see you saw Kifaru prices, but I've seen one in action it really really does the job with the stove added.
I am wondering though, in a tent of your choosing, why not allow a small cook stove serve as your heater as well. You can fire it up in the morning for a bit and turn it on at night - cause you need to make a meal both times. Just a little warm, maybe coming in from the vestibule to take the chill out of the air would work wonders. All for just a little more fuel.
I've done it elk hunting in a Nallo GT with an MSR out in the vestibule.
I'm not aware of a 10x10 canvas, with a stove for under 15 pounds. Good luck.

When I say pack I mean pack a mule/horse.

I have the means to pack the heavy canvas stuff. I'm just trying to stream line an lighten things a bit. The lighter I go with stuff means the less animals I need. When you are going it solo the less animals the better.

I just went through more less the same thing as you and I ended up buying a tipi and stove from Kevin at Seek Outside. I haven't got to use it yet but have an elk hunt in New Mexico coming up.

Ok that clarifies it. Given that, the Kifaru Sawtooth is still about the lightest that is stove compatible. Yes they are pricey but if you go just about every year and take care of it, it should last a long time.

Maybe some other ideas will show up here yet.

We have several horse packers that use our gear. One guy, in particular, said he could put a 12 man and stove with his bed roll on horse and still ride the horse.

I would think our stuff is well proven as well. We've personally slept in them, when I was more worried about flying debris than a tent failure. The materials are top notch, the thread is rugged, the seams are triple stitched.

Kevin

My Kifaru works OK in Canadian moose hunting conditions

This is what we use for winter stove work. Great product. We have the 9x11 3 man and it has all the advantages of a wall tent at 1/3 the weight WITH frame. They have recently upped their canvas weight so the are heavier but still way more horse packable than regular canvas. They breathe wonderfully and are just a great product.

http://www.snowtrekkertents.com/

Ck out the 2 man model..8X10 stove suitable under 20 pounds with frame under 1000.00. This is great gear!

http://www.snowtrekkertents.com/expedition.html