I know this is not a backpack hunting tent, but I didn't know where else to ask.

I'm considering purchasing one of these tents, the 12x12 in particular. Does anyone own/have experience with these tents? How is the quality, durability? Do they work very well with a stove?

I'm just looking for a quality product that will last if taken care of. The stove is one of the main features I'm looking at as a reason for this tent over other types.

Save your money for a good stove then. I really like my KwikKamp. You can have a shelter for the price of a $30 surplus parachute, a zipper, chute cord, a jug of campkote, and some fiberglass cloth:

I've got an AlaknakII. It is very good quality, well thought out and easy to set up. I do not have a stove yet.

HuskyRunner--cna you tell us more about the KwikKamp? I've always wanted a tipi.

Sorry SteveO, I only meant to say that its really easy to convert a surplus military parachute into a tipi for about $70, and then spend the money you save on a high end airtight stove like from kwikkamp or from those folks in montana, cylinder stoves I believe? My father used a chute when he was stationed in AK way back during the Korean War. Thats where I got the idea.

The Kwikkamp stove is airtight and holds heat for about 10 hrs. Very nice.

I've not used the Alaknak, but it sure looks like a nice design. I will say a small heated shelter is the cat's pajamas, whomever you get it from.

Good luck kciH, and happy trails.

Yes, here they are:

http://www.kwikkamp.com/octagon-stoves.cfm

http://www.cylinderstoves.com/

I've never used one but some guys near us had one in Idaho last year. It was a slick set up. I've been considering one myself.

Jeff

If you will be using your tent much in cold weather you should consider canvas. Even with a stove and some venting the synthetic tents will gather condensation which can begin raining down on things in your tent. Canvas breathes and lets the moisture escape. For a tent about that size and easier to set up I would suggest the 12'x15' Kodiak from Reliable Tent. Its about 50 pounds complete.
http://www.reliabletent.com/eTrans/...9&Product_ID=223&CATID=9

The best, most cost effective non-collapsible lightweight wood stoves I've found come from Empire Canvas. The large stove will easily heat the Kodiak and only weighs 22.5 pounds complete.
http://www.empirecanvasworks.com/bcstore/stoves/empirestoves/index.html

I have the Alaknak I (I guess). I bought it about 5 years ago. I like every thing about it. If I had to complain it would be that my stove won't hold enough wood to get through the night.

Joseph

I have experienced tents made of the same material as the Alaknak in use in the northern Alberta bush and I would not own one, due to condensation issues, etc. I certainly would consider the Empire Canvas products, however, they are not backpackable for any distance.

The various homemade shelters and heavy stoves used with them are not an accurate comparison with Kifaru products as they also cannot be backpacked while Kifaru tipis are the only real wood heated, backpackable shelters available. Using cast-off military gear for suburban hiking is fine, depending on this practice in remote wilderness can get you killed and this consideration should be paramount for those venturing into such areas.

I have yet to see a situation, in 49 years of hiking and 42 years of wilderness backpacking throughout western Canada, where ANY jury-rigged gear will begin to equal the finest purpose-built equipment available for a given purpose. Kifaru is at the very pinnacle of contemporary design-performance in the realm of backpacking hunting equipment and a purchase of this gear is money well spent.

Depends on what your suburban backyard looks like. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Where can I get real Balloon Silk and not just light canvas?

Here's the intellectual predecessor to kifaru tipis, about 15 years ago in a suburban backyard.

Amazing, that looks just like my backyard, at home in the Kootenays, only we have very large trees growing up to about 7000 ft. The other thing is that the Pyramid is exactly the same as my old one that is "resting" downstairs in my gear room, after frequent use since '87. It does not even come remotely close to a Kifaru tipi, nor did the Fjallraven I had that preceded it.....and collapsed under a heavy snow load on the lower tip of a Kootenay glacier.

My point is simply that IF one desires wood heat and a design-craftsmanship tested shelter that is also backpackable, Kifaru is about the only available option, Moselkatan, Alpine and various rip-offs of Patrick Smith's products notwithstanding. I have lived in various shelters, in every season, for months at a time throughout B.C. and, IMO, Kifaru tipis are the best currently available shelters for both surviving and enjoying such experiences.

But, homemade is great, so are heavy 66 lb. stoves....if someone else will carry them!

Somewhere on Patrick's site he mentions the humble beginnings of the kifaru tipi as a modified megamid: extending the walls, beefing up the pole, and finally abandoning the large flat panel pyramid design. There is certainly no comparison in strength-against-the-elements between the old megamid predecessor and the modern kifaru tipi.

You're right about heavy gear and someone else carrying them! I am blessed with a dog team for that purpose.

Anyone know where to get real Balloon Silk (Egyptian cotton) by the yard for a Scott tent I want to fabricate? I've tried in vain to find some on the web. I wonder if its just out of production.

I have the 9.5 by 9.5 version and I really like it. I will be getting the vestibule this year so I can keep boots and stuff out of the tent. I also plan to keep the cooking stove out there as well. tom

I spent a week in a tent where the high (yes, high) temperature was just above zero. I can vouch for the freeze/thaw indoor rain cycle in synthetic tent. Fire up the stove in the morning and get out an umbrella. In those conditions, old-fashioned canvas is great... but this is a backpacking forum and there aren't many guys who want to pack a canvas wall tent very far up the mountain. The Relite tents by Montana canvas are very good.

http://www.montanacanvas.com/spiketents.cfm

The guys are Montana Canvas are very helpful and I have an eye on the Bangtail Range Tent. I'm sure it will cost a few more bucks than the Alanak, but I am sold on Montana canvas (and the Yukon cylinder stove). As for serious backpacking, I'm a fan of the small bivvy tents.

First, I don't think the original post is about backpacking gear, he just didn't know where else to post the topic of the Alaknak and a suitable wood stove. So he is not looking for a backpacking solution.

Second, it is difficult to buy small quantities of egyptian cotton and the tent maker that I know who has some would rather you buy a tent from them. They will customize a tent for you, but it will be pricey. Egyptian cotton is in production in England, but you would have to buy a run of several thousand square meters of it.

http://www.tentsmiths.com/egyptian-cotton-tents.html

jackfish- thank you.

Others, I'll add that while the parachute silk tipi may or may not measure up to a commercial tent, it is breatheable and I applied camp-kote, so it has not leaked in the few downpours I've had it in. We'll see how long the DWR lasts...

Isn't the Arctic Oven a double wall design with breatheable inner wall?

Man, I really want one of those egyptian cotton tents- nice.

Jackfish, you're right, of course, but I have found that some of the best threads on gun forums develope from wide-ranging discussions-debates on issues not entirely in strict accord with the original posted topic; I have obtained much very useful info. that way, your welcome link being an example. Now, there are tents there that I would LOVE to have as a basecamp for any conditions, my only concern is drying them after usage. I might well call those guys and see about buying a tent plus ti stove.

Husky, I know a guy here in Vancouver who had a whack of old "Pioneer" brand tents, made of the material you desire. now, they are probably long gone and would require salvaging the cloth and re-cutting and sewing it anyway, but, it might be an option. I will talk to him fairly soon and find out, then PM you here with any info. I get....we had these tents by the warehouse full when I was young in the BCFS, but, now everybody comes home each night in a JetRanger, anyway, I will see if anything is available.

Thanks for that link, Jackfish. I see a TI stove in the near future for a camp my boy and I have been planning in Northern MI. I like that 12# part especially.

I use a Kifaru 12 man and it has all kinds of room and comes in under 12lbs. complete. I heat it w/a small Fourdog titanium stove(www.fourdog.com)that comes in, titanium pipe and all, a bit over eight lbs......it'll run you out of the tipi. A friend of mine told me about another company with a tipi type shelter w/Ti. stove.......www.tianiumgoat.com.......appears they have some interesting gear....great folks to talk to at all three companies.

Joe

Titanium? I guess I need to get out more often.

We had an earlier models up last summer when a storm blew in with 50+ mph gust almost all the dome tents in the area were flatten! we had 2 of the side poles fall out but that tent was not damage and stayed up.

I used one in BC this past september . Although I do like the design, it did not breath at all . 2 of us in it and we could not get away from the drips the way the seems ran. We did not use a wood stove though so that may have helped dry it out a bit. I am also in the Kifaru camp , it is awsome gear. I have a para tipi and am going to order an 8 man.I had my paratipi on an AK bou hunt the year before last in unit 17b and it rained and blew for 2 days solid . Wind speeds at Illiamna airport were reported at 76 mph and my little tipi never shed a peg or flattened out I am sold on them.

Huskyrunnr: I like your tipi! I am also a fan of the Kifaru gear, but it is just not in the financial cards at the moment. Can you give me the dimensions? how many does it sleep? And, what does it weigh? Thanks for any help.

Bill, aka dukhntr

I live in B.C. and have hunted and worked in the wilderness here for many years and I will not use a tent that will not allow venting of moisture. It is very wet here and living in a plastic bag is not my idea of comfort, the Kifaru tipis can be kept relatively dry with the liner and inner heat source, they are a very sound option, but, are expensive.

A decent alternative is a dome tent with a small propane heater, this will keep the inner tent dry in thhe most vile storms and a dry tent is a HUGE factor is your comfort/success of hunting trips. MSR, Hilleberg and others make dome tents that will do the job here in B.C., although I prefer something one can actually stand in.

I used a 35' British mil-surplus chute and cut 9 panels out of it to get the cone shape. My centerpole is 11'-12' high (adjustable). This gives a diameter of about 21' and makes it a 14-man tipi by kifaru dimensions and nomenclature. Now, divide that number in half- 7 men is the nominal number it holds. The 'chute has a skeleton of flat nylon webbing that runs inside sleeves or channels that form the panel seams. This webbing skeleton is only attached to the 'chute silk at the top and bottom hems. For sewing on the peg loops, I figured out where the 'chute curves back on itself. First, I tried to make a wall of that lower part but it curves in too much. So, I sewed peg loops vertically onto each panel seam, through the webbing, about a foot or so of stitching. Now, I have all this leftover lower part of the 'chute, about 2 ft and all the way around, that I just left as a snow flap or sod cloth. Probably adds a few pounds to the tipi but it seemed not worth the trouble to cut or hem all that cloth. And I'm sorta partial to snow flaps. The tipi is 12 lbs. I suspect if one were to hot-cut off that big snow flap, it would weigh about 8 lbs. Thats without pole and stakes. I use a kifaru pole with an extra section at the top that I cut from a Radio Shack antenna pole.

The top has a hole which is kind of nice- like a smokehole on real tipis. I took some left over fabric and made a hat that clips onto the top of the pole and covers the hole if the weather really turns. This is similar to a design that Pam Flowers used on her Scott tent on her trek across the arctic. Allowed her to cook inside the tent.

I bought the zipper already made from Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics, the 'chute from Major Surplus & Supply, but I could not find the 'chute on their website. Here's another company that sells them:

http://www.imsplus.com/ims54.html

Happy Trails

Huskyrunnr: Thanks for all the info! Is this a great site or what? I am interested in the "hat you made; does it install from the inside or outside. If the tipi is already up, how do you install the hat?

Thanks again for all of your assistance.

Bill, aka dukhntr

dukhntr, my pleasure. The hat is a cone of silk with a rope sewn into the bottom hem to keep it weighted down. You have to pull the pole to attach it if the tipi is already pitched. I'm still experimenting. What I need is a flat square of that fiberglass cloth to just sit on top, like on Ms. Flowers' Scott tent. Then I could just have it up there from the get-go. Its a little more problematic when you have a hot stovepipe up there, but the fiberglass will work fine. It looks just like a roof vent:



from Alone Across the Arctic, Pam Flowers, Ann Dixon

Happy Trails

Great info in this thread!