Tipi Tent

[rockettman]

Hi, this is my frist post. Been a lurker and a learner for a while now. Thanks. I've been a cold tenter for 35 yrs. My old bones directed me here. In my surfing travels I came upon.
http://tipitent.com
Does anyone have any opinions on these. They look nice, but...

[theDuck]

Just from reading, I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy about the use and positioning of the wood stove chimney. Maybe there is more and it is OK but I'm not getting it from the their info.  I've never seen one of these so I'm going by impressions not experience.

[HOOP]

Hi Rockettman,

Welcome to the the Wintertrekking Forums!   If you are a cold tenter for 35 years, you must be well seasoned and a tough bushman by now, eh!   

I have never used the Tipitent or other similar designs (like Lavvu, etc), so I don't have an informed opinion.   Looking forward to reviews.   I think we have a Lavvu photo gear review here somewhere.  I just looked for it, but could not find it.  If you can find that post, it might provide some interesting info.    I did try a Kifaru tent many years ago (uses stove but not for open fires), but rejected it for my deep snow camping - There were too many pegs to deal with, although I should have bought the extra long snow pegs they offer.  It was my mistake.  The pegs are needed as well to cinch down the sides on that tent.  It was a high "agg" factor for me.  I also burned spark holes in it because I used my own stove without spark arrestors.    Personally I like a cotton type material for winter hot tents.    But we have some Kifaru and tent tipi fans on this site, so using the search tool, I think you can find some folks with some small tipi tent experience.

I really like the idea of a tent that can handle an open fire in it.   That would lighten the load for having to haul a stove.   But with the small size, I wonder how smokey that would be? 

[rockettman]

Thanks for the reply. 35yrs of high tech petro dependent camping= cold camping. You know white gas, nylon tents and clothing etc...I used stephensons warmlite VB gear. It works. Not very natural though.
My interest in tipi's is the simple set up. 1 pole and many stakes. I mostly travel solo so thats important to me (my wife is too smart to go cold tenting). She may not even go hot tenting, so I need to be able to function on my own. The ti-goat tipi also interests me. Would love to find a modern tipi made out of cotton too.

[Gapahuk]

Have a look here at Solotripping.com :

http://www.solotripping.com/community/showthread.php?2561-My-solo-tent-and-woodstove-13-kg-worth-to-carry

I have posted there about my tipi tent and woodstove.

Tentipi of Sweden makes high quality polycotton Lavvu,s aswell.

[cousin Pete]

Hello Gapahuk: Nice set up! 

Take care,
Cousin Pete

[rockettman]

Thanks Gapahuk. Thats what I have in mind. Please let us know how it works out in winter.

[yardsale]

Thinking about Tipi tents and weight reduction. Any of you folks who manufacture gear ever considered combining the round stove design actually in line and supported by the stove pipe with a tipi such that the stovepipe supports the tent? This would save the weight of the central pole. Idle thoughts as I trudge through summer waiting for you know what.

[chimpac]

Good idea on the chimney/stove but  forget the tipi, go for a tunnel shape for a heated shelter.

[lonelake]

Does the material breathe well?  Lots of moisture in a hot tent, especially after a long day trekking!

LL

[Forestwalker]

Thinking about Tipi tents and weight reduction. Any of you folks who manufacture gear ever considered combining the round stove design actually in line and supported by the stove pipe with a tipi such that the stovepipe supports the tent? This would save the weight of the central pole. Idle thoughts as I trudge through summer waiting for you know what.

The old Swedish army tents used this design (think the snowtreker tent, but with a stove in the center). It works, but you will need a sturdier stove and stovepipe, and a firm attachment between the stove pipe and tent fabric. The Swedish army tents had a steel platter, with a hole for the stovepipe, a clamp to keep it from sliding, and a series of hooks to match up with gromets in the tent fabric. It worked, but the whole setup was *quite* heavy and not even remotely suitable for solo tripping unless you are Superman or the Hulk.

[wsdstan]

There is an Ebay seller offering a Lavvu tent.  They appear to have a sold a few of them.  They look like they might offer a good starting point although having never seen this one I cannot say anything about the quality.  The price is low compared to those in your link.  They might be worth looking at.  Search in Ebay for Sami Lavvu.

[canoecountry]

Here is link to MN guy who makes Lavuu's. lavvu.com

The price seems to be fair and it is a time proven design. The downfalls for my kind of trips would be the weight of the shelter with poles and transporting the poles as they look rather large and cumbersome. I could also see it being difficult to set up with lots of snow on the frozen ground as well, especially solo, but I am basing that on setting up a Snowtrekker and I don't know if you can get much easier than that.

They are a time proven design, so I hope that people with more experience with this type of shelter chime in on this topic.

CC

[kinguq]

See http://wintertrekking.com/index.php?topic=348.msg5950#msg5950

Kinguq

[rockettman]

Ok, so after reading and rereading all the posts and links. Im concidering a Lavvu from Lavvu.com and of course a Snow Trekker Exp. You guys gave me alot to think about. I'll let you know how it works out.