Floorless Shelter Failures??

[Ryan Avery]

Someone sent me a clip from an influencer’s video about shelters. He was promoting his latest floorless tent sponsor as the best out there, saying every other shelter has let him down. I’ve used several myself: the Kifaru 12-man, 8-man, and 4-man silnylon sawtooth, the dyneema sawtooth, Seek Outside Cimmaron Sil and Dyneema, Sil Redcloud, and Argali Yukon. I’ve spent many nights in these shelters and only ever had one problem, which was with a zipper. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

 

[limpet]

Letting down his wallet more like it. I don’t have a ton of time in floorless but I haven’t had any issues even with my $100 mountainsmith shelter. Unless a zipper fails or the fabric or seam rips there isn’t much to functionally that can let you down. Designs can be more or less functional that can be annoying but it sounds like another influencer kissing their check writers butt.

 

[justin davis]

I’ve only used Kifaru shelters over the years. Never had an issue ever

 

[MountainTracker]

Seekoutside has worked just fine for me. Probably need a link of said claim haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wrench]

Add Wyoming lost and found, ti goat and black diamond to the list of "rode hard and put away wet....and still going".

If condensation freezing to the material and raining down during a nasty wind storm....I suppose I've experienced a "failure".

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

6,000 ft on an exposed ridgeline, after packing a ram for 12 hrs through snow, sleet and rain, I set up a DCF Duomid in the dark. At 3 am, I was hammering stakes back into the ground from under the edge of the mid, using a Jetboil cup. I hadn’t put rocks on the stakes, not that there were many suitable ones in the area, it being mostly shale.

The number one failure of a freestanding shelter is going to be a stake out point failure. If one goes, the other will soon follow and you’re in for a catastrophic failure.

 

[sickles107]

Had an 8 man tipi blow down in the middle of the day. Get back to camp and 4 guys worth of shit was scattered down the river bank. beleive we only lost one sleeping pad.

Also had a cimmeron blow down in the middle of the day on a late season hunt. Get back to camp well after dark, cold and wet, ready to fire up the stove... slight panic, then lit a trioxane bar and built a 10ft campfire instead.

Not sure I'd call either a "failure", could chalk it up to non ideal staking/setup or spot selection, but its good to know their limitations in wind.

 

[ShootOkHuntWorse]

I may have almost killed one by shoving a tent pole through the stove jack by mistake. Allegedly

 

[Matt5266]

Sorry dont buy it. Spent a few nights in floorless shelters and no issues even in super high winds where i spent hours holding the tipi to the floor just cuz we were so worried.

Sounds like someone really just likes their sponsor and free or extremely discounted gear....

 

[anonymous22]

I’m not sure what “failure” is supposed to mean to for something that doesn’t exist… (the floor)

I can speak to why I don’t particularly like floorless tents…

Most of it is moisture. Moisture coming up from the ground then dripping on my sleep system, and water running down my stuff during heavy rain.

Now, I try to pitch my tent in ideal areas, but I never find myself in a perfect flat area. High pointed slopes areas aren’t always ideal for rain storms either.

I doubt bugs and critters bother us a ton, but I like not having ants and whatever else biting or stinging me at night. It’s a comfort I enjoy and keeps me focused on why I’m there. Floors have kept me from busting and sleeping pads too. Even in desert areas.

I guess I should add this lastly, since imagine on the topic, a lot of you like the stoves too. I don’t. Any weight savings you have with a floorless tent you’d lose with a ground clothed footprint and especially a stove. I backpack and mountaineer. I like what I know works. I buy gear that is made for the conditions I intend. Messing with a mini fire that burns out a few hours into the night has never really done enough for me to continue trying to make it work “for me.”

For context before I get flamed, I go out solo usually. I don’t spread load gear. What I bring in, I need to be able to bring out by myself with a boned out meat when hunting. So I speak from that perspective and general experience. Generally out west, and backpacking away from the orange army.

 

[ozyclint]

Had the flue pipe cut into the stove jack on my Kifaru 12 man tipi during a windy night.
I repaired the cut with some stove jack fabric and made a sleeve that fits over the flue to eliminate the issue.

 

[Poser]

I rode out something in the neighborhood of 18 inches of rain over the course of 4 days in a Cimarron. I did have to use a rock to dig a trench off one of the doors to keep water from pooling at the base of the door and draining through the tent, though that was as much of a problems of the slight contours in the ground as anything else.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I had a zipper fail on a Redcliff. Between the screen zipper still working, Velcro, and guy points, I managed the rest of the trip but it was a pain. After talking to Seek and Brad, seems to be a potential fail point on all of them because they use the same zippers. I’d used floorless fairly extensively for 5-6 years and that’s the only problem I’ve ever had though.

I guess zippers could fail on anything but I can’t remember one failing in a meaningful way on any traditional tents I have used.

 

[Dos Perros]

I've only seen silpoly tents fail. Wind shreds them. I also had the same flu pipe thing that @ozyclint experienced but that's on me, and really could happen to any sort of tent. I now wrap my pipe in welders mat.

 

[atmat]

Had the flue pipe cut into the stove jack on my Kifaru 12 man tipi during a windy night.
I repaired the cut with some stove jack fabric and made a sleeve that fits over the flue to eliminate the issue. View attachment 1055321
View attachment 1055322
View attachment 1055323

That sleeve is a great idea. I haven’t had the issue you’re describing, but I’m wondering if it’s worth having a sleeve anyway.

 

[FrankieP1988]

Someone sent me a clip from an influencer’s video about shelters. He was promoting his latest floorless tent sponsor as the best out there, saying every other shelter has let him down. I’ve used several myself: the Kifaru 12-man, 8-man, and 4-man silnylon sawtooth, the dyneema sawtooth, Seek Outside Cimmaron Sil and Dyneema, Sil Redcloud, and Argali Yukon. I’ve spent many nights in these shelters and only ever had one problem, which was with a zipper. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

I only buy gear based on influencer reviews . I especially focus on the influencers that review products while wearing a branded t shirt and hat of the brand they are reviewing.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Well I think floorless shelters due take more due diligence and care in setup.

I’ve had a failure in the spring when ground was wet and soft.

I would of needed 12” stakes or a complete relocation to harder ground.

Over all I’ve gone away from floorless cause I just don’t want to mess with stakes and guy outs that much.

 

[whoop]

i have two kifaru tuts that i use and loan out. no-one seems to have any complaints.

 

[Hatchet]

The problem is the influencer not the tents he has used in the past.

 

[Svivian]

Ive only seen a carbon pole shatter once. Ive taken winds up to 60 and it was uncomfortable but my cimarron never failed. That was an OG model too. After that I asked Kevin to add some extra guy out points on the corners which ended up becoming a standard feature.

I wouldnt trust an influencer who says every shelter they have used has failed. if thats the case it sounds like user error to me.