teepee style tents

[TheHunt]

I do not own one but I hunted with a friend who had one.  Like the others have said it was wonderful to come back wet to a tent that would be in the 80's after about 15 mins with that wood stove going.  It was great to have your stuff dry out for the next hunt.   That in my opinion is the number 1 reason I would purchase one. 

He also had a nest which was 1/2 of the floor space.  That nest kept us dry and clean.  If I was to get one, I would get a 1/2 size nest with the waterproof floor tub.  The titanium stove was crazy light and putting it together was very interesting.  I would only do it with some type of gloves on. 

[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.

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

LOL!  I spent weeks in Oct, Nov, and Dec in SE Alaska in the field where the Cascades look downright balmy. Inches of rain daily and an average of 38 degrees will separate the men from the boys and we never had a stove and though I would have enjoyed one I would not have enjoyed packing it in. We had a few cabins we based out of but spike camps were  tent, tarp, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag.

[syoungs]

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.

LOL!  I spent weeks in Oct, Nov, and Dec in SE Alaska in the field where the Cascades look downright balmy. Inches of rain daily and an average of 38 degrees will separate the men from the boys and we never had a stove and though I would have enjoyed one I would not have enjoyed packing it in. We had a few cabins we based out of but spike camps were  tent, tarp, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag.

 Next can you tell us a story about how you taught chuck Norris to be so tough?

fact is, I would assume being as tough as you are, the extra 4-6# of proper shelter and stove wouldn't have bothered you at all!   

[huntnnw]

 

[Jonathan_S]

All you that dry off with a towel after a shower are pansies too.

[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.

LOL!  I spent weeks in Oct, Nov, and Dec in SE Alaska in the field where the Cascades look downright balmy. Inches of rain daily and an average of 38 degrees will separate the men from the boys and we never had a stove and though I would have enjoyed one I would not have enjoyed packing it in. We had a few cabins we based out of but spike camps were  tent, tarp, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag.

What if..........

I'm not supporting the "need" for a stove at all. I don't own one, mostly because I can't justify the "need" for one versus the cost...but I'm a huge supporter of surviving and doing what I can to be mostly comfortable. It's not a survival contest. It's a hunting trip.
Some of the ideas you've mentioned are almost unsafe. Ever heard of hypothermia?

[Colville]

Hunting  goals are wildly divergent.  Some are not satisfied if they can’t do what some mule skinner from 100 years ago did, with his gear set.  Why stop there?  Why not what Grog would have done 7500 years ago?  Spears and animal furs for clothes, cave? It’s as logical a decision as avoiding other modern gear because if you use it you might catch the gay.  I don’t know what Grog’s word for weak sister would have been, but he’d have called me that.

Anyhow. Tipi’s and stoves are what they are, tools.  They’ll be very good  for certain work and very poor for others. Still confused at the damning of smaller tipis because you can only stand at the pole.  Considering you can, in fact, stand at the pole.  Whereas, in non tipi’s you can stand at the nowhere.  Anyhow you’ll like tipis if:

You’ve done floorless and get it.
You don’t want to move your camp daily.
If you’re not solo at great distance.
If you’re a modest distance with access to good wood and it will be very cold or very wet.
Are hiking a long ways but have 3 or more guys and the weight penalty is now diminished.
If you are car camping but the road system you use has crap for decent pull outs for a wall tent set up, or a great spot is at some distance to the road.
Want a large set up that takes a miniscule fraction of the weight and space of a wall tent camp.
Horse hunt and can occupy a great camp at the cost of 20 Lbs all in for a group of 6.
Won’t be able to keep things dry in a cold camp no matter how hard you try.
Find basking in the glow of a red stove rewarding at any weight penalty.

I don’t use them on the high hunt for a couple reasons. Weight penalty. Nothing to burn way up there. Frequent fire restrictions.  If weight’s not an issue, then a base camp tipi for multiple guys with bivi-tarp set ups for where you find yourself is great.  Experience breeds the decision making on things like this.  Absent experience, the advice of others is a poor substitute.  If you can borrow a tipi and stove, do so before buying one.

[syoungs]

Lmao..... might catch the gay!

[7mag.]

Hunting  goals are wildly divergent.  Some are not satisfied if they can’t do what some mule skinner from 100 years ago did, with his gear set.  Why stop there?  Why not what Grog would have done 7500 years ago?  Spears and animal furs for clothes, cave? It’s as logical a decision as avoiding other modern gear because if you use it you might catch the gay.  I don’t know what Grog’s word for weak sister would have been, but he’d have called me that.

Anyhow. Tipi’s and stoves are what they are, tools.  They’ll be very good  for certain work and very poor for others. Still confused at the damning of smaller tipis because you can only stand at the pole.  Considering you can, in fact, stand at the pole.  Whereas, in non tipi’s you can stand at the nowhere.  Anyhow you’ll like tipis if:

You’ve done floorless and get it.
You don’t want to move your camp daily.
If you’re not solo at great distance.
If you’re a modest distance with access to good wood and it will be very cold or very wet.
Are hiking a long ways but have 3 or more guys and the weight penalty is now diminished.
If you are car camping but the road system you use has crap for decent pull outs for a wall tent set up, or a great spot is at some distance to the road.
Want a large set up that takes a miniscule fraction of the weight and space of a wall tent camp.
Horse hunt and can occupy a great camp at the cost of 20 Lbs all in for a group of 6.
Won’t be able to keep things dry in a cold camp no matter how hard you try.
Find basking in the glow of a red stove rewarding at any weight penalty.

I don’t use them on the high hunt for a couple reasons. Weight penalty. Nothing to burn way up there. Frequent fire restrictions.  If weight’s not an issue, then a base camp tipi for multiple guys with bivi-tarp set ups for where you find yourself is great.  Experience breeds the decision making on things like this.  Absent experience, the advice of others is a poor substitute.  If you can borrow a tipi and stove, do so before buying one.

Might the best post I've read in a while. It made me laugh, and I agree.

[fillthefreezer]

i much enjoyed hearing of peoples fear of catching the gay.

im still up in the air about tipi's, i really like 'mids for the space to weight ratio they provide.

[WaltAlpine]

Tagging because I use a tube tent on the high hunt because I can't decide what system to use. A tube tent costs 8 dollars and sometimes I can even use it more than one year!
And it weighs almost nothing.

[Okanagan]

Ditto on space vs weight advantage of a tipi.   4 lbs. for my 13' diameter 135 sq. ft. shelter 8' high or higher in center if I want.  I do not carry center pole nor stakes nor nest nor any other acoutrements for the tipi.

For the past 35 years I have backpack hunted with a minimal homemade tarp and a fair amount of the time solo without a sleeping bag.

However, in my dotage and following two blizzard & cold backpack hunts with sons and grandsons where I did not hunt but merely kept camp--- I went out and bought a Seek Outside 6 man tipi, intended for three people.  Have used it on one multi-day trip in -25 F temps, with two of us sleeping in it.

1.  No center pole needed.  You can eliminate the pole in several ways.   Tie it up to an overhanging limb or extended pole and suspend the tipi.  Or make a tripod of poles larger than the tipi and suspend it from the center with sides and bottom tied out to the poles.

2.  No stakes needed:   Skip the stakes by tying to logs and rocks (which we had to do with hard frozen ground).

3.  Need more head room?  Pitch it higher.  I pitch mine high enough to let the 6" sod skirt become a hanging  low side wall, which makes the edges much more useable.  I don't plan to ever use it when mosquitoes are a problem but if so will use my REI mosquito net as I do now whether under a minimal tarp or not.

I only plan to use this in late Fall storm condition multi-person backpacking, or in car camping when I want more space.  Solo, I take a minimal tarp.

I have built two stoves and am still learning about using them.  My first one was too small for that much space in -25 weather.   But it felt wonderful to come into the tipi from -25!







 

[dreamunelk]

Tagging because I use a tube tent on the high hunt because I can't decide what system to use. A tube tent costs 8 dollars and sometimes I can even use it more than one year!
And it weighs almost nothing.

Tube tents    That brings many memories of misadventures of my youth in the North Cascades

[WaltAlpine]

This is a great thread.
I now remember learning most of what I know about the outdoors starting at 14. I spent summers in Canada in lots of rain building shelters out of 6 mil plastic 8 miles deep on the first night.
Bugs, wet, cold etc was just part of what it was all about.
That's why a tube tent seems so cool to me I guess

[actionshooter]

Hunting  goals are wildly divergent.  Some are not satisfied if they can’t do what some mule skinner from 100 years ago did, with his gear set.  Why stop there?  Why not what Grog would have done 7500 years ago?  Spears and animal furs for clothes, cave? It’s as logical a decision as avoiding other modern gear because if you use it you might catch the gay.  I don’t know what Grog’s word for weak sister would have been, but he’d have called me that.

Anyhow. Tipi’s and stoves are what they are, tools.  They’ll be very good  for certain work and very poor for others. Still confused at the damning of smaller tipis because you can only stand at the pole.  Considering you can, in fact, stand at the pole.  Whereas, in non tipi’s you can stand at the nowhere.  Anyhow you’ll like tipis if:

You’ve done floorless and get it.
You don’t want to move your camp daily.
If you’re not solo at great distance.
If you’re a modest distance with access to good wood and it will be very cold or very wet.
Are hiking a long ways but have 3 or more guys and the weight penalty is now diminished.
If you are car camping but the road system you use has crap for decent pull outs for a wall tent set up, or a great spot is at some distance to the road.
Want a large set up that takes a miniscule fraction of the weight and space of a wall tent camp.
Horse hunt and can occupy a great camp at the cost of 20 Lbs all in for a group of 6.
Won’t be able to keep things dry in a cold camp no matter how hard you try.
Find basking in the glow of a red stove rewarding at any weight penalty.

I don’t use them on the high hunt for a couple reasons. Weight penalty. Nothing to burn way up there. Frequent fire restrictions.  If weight’s not an issue, then a base camp tipi for multiple guys with bivi-tarp set ups for where you find yourself is great.  Experience breeds the decision making on things like this.  Absent experience, the advice of others is a poor substitute.  If you can borrow a tipi and stove, do so before buying one.

Excellent post!
 Tipi's have there place, they are definitely not the "do everything" tent. One of the worst mistakes I have made was using a floorless tipi, without a liner on gravel bars for 2-1/2 weeks while float hunting a river. Worst condensation I have ever seen.
 But in the Idaho high country, they are awesome.