teepee style tents

[rosscrazyelk]

I will admit that at first I was caught up in this fascination of the trend of these tents.  The longer I look at them I am trying to understand why they are so popular now.
Have you stood up in one.  You have to navigate around a pole.  The only standing place is in the middle and it slowly slants to a place that is unusable.
Am I looking at this all wrong?
Please enlighten me

[Ccortez]

I will admit that at first I was caught up in this fascination of the trend of these tents.  The longer I look at them I am trying to understand why they are so popular now.
Have you stood up in one.  You have to navigate around a pole.  The only standing place is in the middle and it slowly slants to a place that is unusable.
Am I looking at this all wrong?
Please enlighten me

I would say something about the pole but I will just keep my mouth shut 

[ghosthunter]

One fellow in our camp has one and he loves it.  He sleeps five in it around the edges no problem. Smaller foot print than a wall tent and can sleep more folks for its size.

Not for me.

All depends on your needs. He just sleeps in it. We have a seperate cook shack. So you get up get dressed walk out.

[hogslayer]

I am going to be getting a kifaru mega tarp with stove for this fall. I think the big factor for the floor less shelter Is the ability to run a stove.  And you can have a tarp with a stove for under 4lbs.  That is pretty light for the ability to do long hunts in the fall.  That is what makes it worth it for me. 

[Miles]

Golite SL-5 is 2 lbs 4 oz (without the nest) and you get a 9.5' by 9.5' foot print.  Even on a solo trip that's a ton of room for a mere 2lbs.  We've slept 3 comfortably and you could do one more without all the gear if you had to.  It's easy to sit up and move around in the morning while getting ready as well. No shaking out the tent or worrying about mud/dirt/pine needles when you have to pack up.  Just roll the thing up and stuff it in your pack.

You don't always need a pole in the middle.  My SL-5 has a loop in the top and it's as easy as putting a rope through and securing it.

[whitey]

My Cabelas Outback lodge is awesome.

[hogslayer]

Kinda sucks but Golite went out of business. 

[rosscrazyelk]

Golite SL-5 is 2 lbs 4 oz (without the nest) and you get a 9.5' by 9.5' foot print.  Even on a solo trip that's a ton of room for a mere 2lbs.  We've slept 3 comfortably and you could do one more without all the gear if you had to.  It's easy to sit up and move around in the morning while getting ready as well. No shaking out the tent or worrying about mud/dirt/pine needles when you have to pack up.  Just roll the thing up and stuff it in your pack.

You don't always need a pole in the middle.  My SL-5 has a loop in the top and it's as easy as putting a rope through and securing it.

I have heard this.  But as stated almost impossible to get a go lite now a days.
I am not made of money and this might work during hunting situations but doubt the wife would sleep in a floorless tent in the summer with bugs

[jackelope]

My SL5 has a floor and a bug net/nest.
I had an SL3. It wasn't big enough for me because I'm 6'4" but when you consider the space that a SL type shelter has compared to a traditional 2 person freestanding tent, there's no comparison. The SL5 is a lightweight palace. Plus you can sew in a stove jack and put a small stove inside if you want.  I think in a short time, those Golite shelters will come down in price a little. They spiked recently for sure.
Bearpaw wilderness designs will build a floor/bug nest for probably about anything you could come up with.

[7mag.]

As you know Ross, I use an SL3. I think the advantage of a tipi style shelter is the usable square footage for the weight. They also handle weather really well. For car camping, I don't see much advantage, but for backpacking, they are a good option.

[whacker1]

weight vs. usable square footage. I wish I would have picked up an SL5.  Yes, standing up for taller guys is around the pole, but if under a tree and tied up high, no pole.  Smaller than SL5 they don't really make as much sense.  Go Lite was the only affordable route, as the Kifaru and seek outside are too rich for my blood.

[j_h_nimrod]

If you are not getting farther off the road to camp than you can throw a full duffle then the traditional wall tent is for you. If you want space and a few miles on your boots before you camp then a tipi has a lot to offer. I still consider that fairly plush and pansy like, I don't understand why people insist on sleeping in a plush, climate controlled environment when they go out to "rough it".  I have come to the conclusion most people (hunters included) are wimps and pansies. Carrying a weeks worth of (comfortable) hunting camp on your back in SE Alaska is not difficult. I have to laugh when people debate the weight of a tent stove, why do you need that?  In 95% of hunting situations there is 0 (zero) need for a stove other than to cook and that is dubious. In at least 30% of hunting situations a tent is totally superfluous, it's not cold, it's not wet, it's not windy, it's not buggy.

I am far from hardcore but still don't see how people are as soft as they are today. I hunted with a few guys that remember hunting goats and sheep with their dads and granddads when comfort was semi-dry, semi-warm, and fresh meat on a smoky fire. There is a lot to be said about the new gear (which I am a gear geek for) but sometimes people go too far.

I could probably get more off thread but I wont.

Long rant short, read the first two sentences.

[huntnnw]

I spent my whole life growing up camping and "roughing it" being cold and wet at night sucks!Now that I am older I dont have to spend nights like that and love coming back to my tent with a wood stove and being warm and dry!

[jackelope]

If you are not getting farther off the road to camp than you can throw a full duffle then the traditional wall tent is for you. If you want space and a few miles on your boots before you camp then a tipi has a lot to offer. I still consider that fairly plush and pansy like, I don't understand why people insist on sleeping in a plush, climate controlled environment when they go out to "rough it".  I have come to the conclusion most people (hunters included) are wimps and pansies. Carrying a weeks worth of (comfortable) hunting camp on your back in SE Alaska is not difficult. I have to laugh when people debate the weight of a tent stove, why do you need that?  In 95% of hunting situations there is 0 (zero) need for a stove other than to cook and that is dubious. In at least 30% of hunting situations a tent is totally superfluous, it's not cold, it's not wet, it's not windy, it's not buggy.

You've apparently not been in the Cascades high country in September and October.

[hogslayer]

Likewise.  When it is 38 degrees and raining all day, it is nice to come back to a stove when you are miles away from your rig.