Im thinking of going the whole tipi w/stove route for a spike camp. Can anyone in a nutshell tell me what the differences between the above and any other manufacture for that matter? The seek is a good bit cheaper. Im looking at a 6 man for 2/3 people and gear. What about liners, etc?
6 Man Seek outside vs kifaru tipi vs whoever
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NDHunter
Veteran member
I've got the seek outside 6 man. Overall I like it. It would work for 3 guys and gear sleeping on the ground if you're spiking out. As a basecamp with cots, 2 guys, gear and a stove is all you can get in there. With a stove and poles, it is close to 10 pounds though so kind of heavy.
I would look at the SO Redcliff or the Kifaru Tut. They seem to be more of a pyramid type shelter and they look to have more room along the walls. A friend of mine has the Tut and a stove and loves it. Pretty darn light too. I bought my tipi before the Tut even came out. I'd probably buy that one if I were to do it over.
I would look at the SO Redcliff or the Kifaru Tut. They seem to be more of a pyramid type shelter and they look to have more room along the walls. A friend of mine has the Tut and a stove and loves it. Pretty darn light too. I bought my tipi before the Tut even came out. I'd probably buy that one if I were to do it over.
I like that, the thing is huge!!! Heck with 2 of us there is enough room to set up chairs and everything. Thanks for the heads up!!
Wild Country
Active Member
Take a look at the sawtooth....my buddy and I run this set up with stove and we love it! We can accoladate a third with the thirds gear outside but its perfect for two when having to dry clothes!
I pulled the trigger on a redcliff and sxl stove last night, we will have 4 guys spiking out this year, need the additional room.
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mntnguide
Very Active Member
The redcliff is an awesome shelter. But I will say, with 4 guys and gear in wet weather it will be a very tight squeeze. My coworker uses one for high country muleys and he, his teenage son and 1 other use it comfortably, but another person would make it very tight but still doable. . Also, if you havent used these floorless stove type shelters before, You will WANT the liners. In wet weather when using the stove it will condensate terribly and without the liners you will have your own rain shower inside...just some FYI for ya.
Yeah I figured we would have to put most of our gear under a tarp. I should have it in a week or so, if condensation is that much of an issue Ill buy the liners.
FitToHunt
Active Member
Anyone run the SO Cimnaron? I'd like to compare that to the Kifaru Sawtooth for a 2 person backpacking setup...
We put 2 people and gear confortably in one without a wood stove. I wouldn't want to put 3 people in one. It gets hard to stay away from the side walls and leave the door accessible.
Cimmaron and Sawtooth are apples and oranges. Sawtooth is a lot bigger, but much heavier. That said, we used the Cimarron for two people multiple times last fall and it is great two person shelter.
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FitToHunt
Active Member
Micah S
Active Member
tim
Veteran member
I have been using my 4 man tipi since 2007 and just got a 8 man tipi.
as far as the stoves go, there is a learning curve. Don't burn any paper with plastic on the paper. The plastic sticks to the screens and your stove will not breathe correctly. Read you will have a very smoky tipi. you are only burning kindling. your are not burning logs. your kindling will be finger size, not arm size. You will be feeding the stove quite a bit. every 10 minutes or so. you will go thru more kindling then you think. You can't really shut it down, like the wood stove in your house. you can slow it, but don't expect to fill it at night and have coals in the morning. I have also learned to use some type of fire starter in the stove. I have been using the egg crate with dryer lint covered in wax fire starter. The stove is not quick to take down or put up. it is not long, but it is not quick. The stove came in very handy and few years back when we waited 5 days on a plane to pick us up.
As far as liners go. It all depends on your environment. I have not used a liner in my 4 man, but it is usually just me in it. the 8 man has a liner and thank god, we had it on our Alaskan float trip. I have had 3 guys in my 4 man and it does not work. Mud and snow and sand do have it's drawbacks to a floorless shelter. tyvek or visqueen does help in these situtations.
Hope this helps.
as far as the stoves go, there is a learning curve. Don't burn any paper with plastic on the paper. The plastic sticks to the screens and your stove will not breathe correctly. Read you will have a very smoky tipi. you are only burning kindling. your are not burning logs. your kindling will be finger size, not arm size. You will be feeding the stove quite a bit. every 10 minutes or so. you will go thru more kindling then you think. You can't really shut it down, like the wood stove in your house. you can slow it, but don't expect to fill it at night and have coals in the morning. I have also learned to use some type of fire starter in the stove. I have been using the egg crate with dryer lint covered in wax fire starter. The stove is not quick to take down or put up. it is not long, but it is not quick. The stove came in very handy and few years back when we waited 5 days on a plane to pick us up.
As far as liners go. It all depends on your environment. I have not used a liner in my 4 man, but it is usually just me in it. the 8 man has a liner and thank god, we had it on our Alaskan float trip. I have had 3 guys in my 4 man and it does not work. Mud and snow and sand do have it's drawbacks to a floorless shelter. tyvek or visqueen does help in these situtations.
Hope this helps.
Anyone have any comparisons on quality between the two? A buddy an I are looking at getting an 8 man tipi package from one of the 2 companies and splitting the cost. It would be used primarily as a base camp, run in areas we can reach by UTV or horses if we choose that route. We are wanting one we can have plenty of room in. It will mainly be used by just 2 of us hunting but both of us have kids that enjoy the outdoors and want one we can use for family trips also. Camp we can drive to with the UTV we will use cots, pack extra clothing, and have a more diverse menu less focused on Mtn House.
Right now we are probably leaning toward the Seek version because it has the sod skirts and we can get a half floor and half liner. That seems to fit our needs pretty well. That said I have a Kifaru Megatarp and Paratarp I've spent a lot of dry nights in so I'm familiar with Kifaru's quality and have been very pleased with both. Already having the Megatarp for going ultralight is another reason for picking an 8 man this time around. We may use the Mega to spike out from our base camp a bit.
Any reason to select one company over the other?
Right now we are probably leaning toward the Seek version because it has the sod skirts and we can get a half floor and half liner. That seems to fit our needs pretty well. That said I have a Kifaru Megatarp and Paratarp I've spent a lot of dry nights in so I'm familiar with Kifaru's quality and have been very pleased with both. Already having the Megatarp for going ultralight is another reason for picking an 8 man this time around. We may use the Mega to spike out from our base camp a bit.
Any reason to select one company over the other?