BWCA Tent or Tipi? Boundary Waters Winter Camping and Activities
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      Tent or Tipi?     

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2old4U
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10/10/2013 11:13AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I currently use a Kodiak Canvas tent, which is very nice, but limits my mobility due to weight. I need a lightweight shelter that can be used to pack in the mountains in late September, the BWCA during the November deer season and again during winter for some ice fishing action. Gotta have room for up to two people and must be able to be used in conjunction with a woodstove, as cold camping is not my idea of fun. No need for a floor, windows, screens...keep it simple.

I've looked at Kifaru tipis, Seek Outside tipis, and Snowtrekker canvas tents (A bit heavy for packing in mountains) as strong contenders, but just looking for some expert opinions. I'm leaning towards the Seek Outside tipi but have zero experience with a tipi design shelter.
 
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tonyyarusso
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10/10/2013 11:58AM  
No personal experience, but add the MSR Twin Sister / Twin Brother to your list for consideration. There's a guy on YouTube (wawhiker) who made a nice hot tent setup with one. It looks like that has a bit more usable shape to the space than a single-pole tipi.
publicland
member (12)member
  
10/10/2013 07:35PM  
You must pack in with horses in the mountains? I do a few spike in hunts every year and like to keep my pack down around 40 pounds. My tent weighs three pounds, it's a two man, I've taken others on some of my hunts. I'm 6 feet, 150 pounds and had to sleep closer to my buddy all week then I usually sleep with my wife! No way a stove was going in there. But if your packing in on foot, I doubt there is a shelter out there to fit your criteria. I've experimented with bivy sacks and had a hard time sleeping in them. But for your needs look into cabela's androvck tents. My spelling of name is probably wrong but close to get u there. They are outfitter tents and u can find reviews on youtube
OldFingers57
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10/10/2013 08:04PM  
If you are looking for a teepee style tent that is lt wt then look at the Go-lite Shangra la 3 or 5 man tent. A lot of guys over on the Backpakcer forums site recommend this tent as it has tons of room is lt wt and holds up well to high winds in winter storms. Also sheds the snow well.
mnpat
Guest Paddler
  
10/10/2013 09:09PM  
I have a pyramid (square) and a tipi (round). The mid is 10 x 10 and the tipi is 13 foot diameter. Both are silnylon and weigh around 2 lbs each. The mid is fast to set up with 4 stakes and pop it up. Lots of room, with 2 guys you get 5 x 10 space each. The tipi takes longer to set up, at least 12 stakes at the correct spacing. The tipi shines out on the lakes in the winter, heavy winds and with the cone shape it hardly wiggles.

I end up using the mid for summer or fall camping and the tipi in the winter on the ice. Cant go wrong either way.
10/11/2013 09:55AM  
Kifaru's work well and have their own line of stoves. In addition, I've heard that Dan Cooke of Cooke Custom sewing is planning on producing some light weight winter tents.

If you're close, stop by the Winter Camping Symposium in Amery Wisconsin in a couple of weeks. There will be a variety of winter shelters there for you to check out.
Mnpat
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10/11/2013 09:03PM  
dbjerknes
member (35)member
  
10/21/2013 09:24AM  
The seek outside tipi's work well and are much lighter than the canvas tents. We use the 8 man seek outside tipi. It works very well, but with a stove and gear there is room for about 4 men to sleep. They are well made and we didn't have any trouble with it. Here is a link to a video I made on our trip last year using it:


Seek Outside Tipi (8man) video (skip to 2:53) to see tipi
2old4U
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10/22/2013 12:23PM  
Thanks for posting that video...one thing I've noticed when I frequent Seek Outsides website is that it is difficult to see the size of the tipi in relation to a human being...your video helped me with that. Do you think I'd be happy with the six man for 1-2 guys? I'd go with the four man model except that I want to be able to fully stand up to get dressed. The guy that builds Four Dog Stoves is practically my neighbor and I've been over there a few times drooling over his titanium stoves...just trying to figure out how to sneak one in the house without my wife inquiring about it...and how much it cost! LOL!
Mnpat
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10/22/2013 05:19PM  
quote dbjerknes: "The seek outside tipi's work well and are much lighter than the canvas tents. We use the 8 man seek outside tipi. It works very well, but with a stove and gear there is room for about 4 men to sleep. They are well made and we didn't have any trouble with it. Here is a link to a video I made on our trip last year using it:




Just curious as to how you set up your tipi and what you use to establish your tent stake locations.

I use a rope attached to a stake (which ends up being the center) and draw a circle. then i have a shorter rope to establish distances between stakes. Its not all that quick but 4 or 5 minutes and its done.

My pyramid can be pitched in under a minute.
dbjerknes
member (35)member
  
10/22/2013 09:15PM  
quote 2old4U: "Thanks for posting that video...one thing I've noticed when I frequent Seek Outsides website is that it is difficult to see the size of the tipi in relation to a human being...your video helped me with that. Do you think I'd be happy with the six man for 1-2 guys? I'd go with the four man model except that I want to be able to fully stand up to get dressed. The guy that builds Four Dog Stoves is practically my neighbor and I've been over there a few times drooling over his titanium stoves...just trying to figure out how to sneak one in the house without my wife inquiring about it...and how much it cost! LOL!"


I think you would be just fine with the 6 man tipi for 1-2 men, easy...
You would have plenty of room for all your gear, stove, wood, and 1-2 guy's with the 6 man.

Don K. is a great guy with amazing stoves. He is also very knowledgeable about winter camping so you could ask him anything. Good luck!
dbjerknes
member (35)member
  
10/22/2013 09:22PM  
In winter, as you see in the video, we use eskimo ice anchor stakes when the ground is frozen. We have the carbon adjustable middle pole to hoist up the tipi.
Here is a video on how seek outside suggests putting up their tipi's:

suggested set up technique for the seek outside tipi's
2old4U
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10/24/2013 07:40AM  
Thank you for all your help, much appreciated! I'm strongly considering getting out of the office and going back to working seasonally which would allow for more winter camping trips, so your expertise goes a long way in helping me gear up. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!
10/27/2013 06:13PM  
I discussed the relative merits of canvas vs. nylon with many folks at the recently completely Winter Camping Symposium and generally the real weakness involving the nylon tipi was the fact that they don't deal as well with sparks and embers as well as canvas tents and sparks and embers are inevitable.

In the event of a catastrophic fire event, nylon tents will melt virtually instantly. A fire retardant treated canvas tent will burn, but slow enough to allow you to retreat.
 
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