Kifaru TUT or SO Cimarron

[Lambchop]

Thanks for all the information. You guys all rock. I think I’m going to order the Cimarron as this will be my first floorless and the available nest will be nice to use here in the Eastern half of the country during the buggy season. I’m sure however it comes it will be great. All the reviews and people I have spoken with lead me to believe SO has it together and sells nothing short of quality. So many great choices. All have pros and cons but that’s all a matter of perspective. I’m sure this won’t be my last shelter ever so I can learn what I like and don’t then adapt over time.

 

[Lambchop]

Before I order the Cimarron. What kind of nest options are available for the TUT and Sawtooth? How’s the TUT against wind? Seems like everyone has extra guyouts added to the Cimarron and I don’t know if I want to have to deal with getting that done as SO won’t do it for me.

 

[KurtR]

No extra guy outs for me and I tested it in 30 mph winds out here on the prairie. With line and line locs I was good to go never even got nervous. Finding a spot with wind break is alot easier in the mountains

 

[colonel00]

Before I order the Cimarron. What kind of nest options are available for the TUT and Sawtooth? How’s the TUT against wind? Seems like everyone has extra guyouts added to the Cimarron and I don’t know if I want to have to deal with getting that done as SO won’t do it for me.

I have extra guyouts on my Cimarron but I honestly think I'm the only one. I didn't do it for the wind. Rather, I just did it to add a little more space inside by pulling the corners up a bit. This is also nice if you are caught in the snow as the sloping sides of the Cimarron tend to catch snow and sag a bit. The extra points help hold the wall out and a little more vertical to keep the snow from piling up as much.

 

[Lawnboi]

I should clarify, the cimmaron did just fine in sustained 35-45mph winds, and 50mph gusts. I was pretty well in the open, and the wind was constant coming off the prairie. The tent held fine, it was just a little loud. This year I had the most wind iv ever had to contend with, and it performed.

I have a lot of confidence in the shelter.

Edit, I take that back, recorded high gusts were 60mph. Found out that day that deer are easy to stalk when it sounds like a freight train going over your head.

 

[Lambchop]

Good info let’s keep it coming.

I know this shelter falls into a different category and they don’t have the best reputation (at least here) but what’s everyone think about the Kuiu Summit Refuge? Obviously a different material and category of shelter but looks interesting to say the least. More guyouts than the Cimarron, options for a floor, nest, and removable stove jack.

 

[FlyGuy]

Sawtooth is supposed to be better than the tut in high wind. Never experienced it with the sawtooth but just from looking at the two of them you can see why. I will say that I was extremely impressed with the tut in WY high winds. Got back to camp after 1am and a storm was blowing in. Too tired to mess with moving camp to a more sheltered location so I just put in earplugs and crashed. The wind was howling like I've never seen before in my life. I kept expecting my shelter to fly away at any minute, but I stayed solid all night with zero flapping. I never even had to get up and tighten down the guy lines.

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[Lambchop]

Sawtooth is supposed to be better than the tut in high wind. Never experienced it with the sawtooth but just from looking at the two of them you can see why. I will say that I was extremely impressed with the tut in WY high winds. Got back to camp after 1am and a storm was blowing in. Too tired to mess with moving camp to a more sheltered location so I just put in earplugs and crashed. The wind was howling like I've never seen before in my life. I kept expecting my shelter to fly away at any minute, but I stayed solid all night with zero flapping. I never even had to get up and tighten down the guy lines.

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How many guys without a stove do you think you could run and how comfortable with 2 and a stove would it be? The side walls are much more vertical then Cimarron. I like the idea of smaller footprint with nearly same amount of usable space. I know some people including Aaron Snyder say it feels/has more usable space than the Sawtooth.

 

[FlyGuy]

Without a stove you can do three. I also carry a sheeptarp with me to get out of rainshowers. Something like that pitched right outside over backpacks and bows would really help. Heck, if you do that you could probably squeeze four in there but I wouldn't want to be one of them.

Two with a stove has lots of room.


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[Kulshan]

I have no SO experience but I do run the Sawtooth and Tut.

The tut is great as a light weight single man mega shelter. With a stove, stacks of wood and gear there is still room. With 2 guys there is still room for the stove, wood and that's about it. Being in the northwest when there is 2 guys in the tut I usually run a tarp or plan on keeping my backpack at my feet and tight against the tent wall. There is also no entry area an one guys sleeping bag will be exposed to the elements on entry and exit. I don't have any experience with more than 2 people in the tut... In the wind, well you don't want it in the wind. It can handle a breeze and any more than that and she raddles and rolls. Havent had any failures yet but I try to tuck it out of the wind behind all the time.

The Sawtooth is a beast. 2 guys with a stove and there is still room to sit, store gear, dry clothing, stacks of wood. During a goat hunt we had 5 guys stacked in there for dinner. It was nasty out and a little cramped but it was warm. With three guys the middle guy is in a crap spot between the poles. If all three guys are 5'10" or taller someone is drawing the short straw (I am 6'0" and it seems like when i sleep in the middle im always in contact with one pull or the other.) I haven't spent a lot of nights in there with 3 guys, maybe a handful, but its doable without a stove. There is still room for gear but I would recommend a tarp to store stuff if the weather turns nasty. The sawtooth bucks wind. I haven't been in any crazy wind storms with it but we had the tut and the sawtooth side by side on a ridge line and one shelter was moving with the wind while the other didn't hardly have a ripple.

Going from a floor shelter and no head space to a floorless with more room and something you can stand in is awesome but having a heat source is a game changer.

 

[FlyGuy]

Good points. I've been thinking about adding a sawtooth, but I've already got a tut, sheep and super tarp so I've clearly got a problem hoarding shelters.

One other positive for the sawtooth over most any pyramid is the ability to SAFELY dry clothes. On any of these, the "clothesline" is centered on the peak, but that places the extremely hot stove pipe too close to them in a tut or similar shelter. My Sitka polygene hoodie just flat melted as soon as it brushed up against it and believe me I wasn't happy. You have to be so careful that I really wasn't worth the risk of hanging from the clothesline. But, with the sawtooth, there is ample clearance between the stove pipe and clothesline for this to never really be a problem.

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[KurtR]

I rigged up a line on my cimaron to dry clothes that is away from the pipe a little. Maybe growing up ice fishing and using sun flower heater in little ice shacks which melt every thing they touch got me used to avoiding the pipe because i never even thought about it before

 

[Lambchop]

Great information. Is the Sawtooth as hard to pitch as some people say? Everyone says it’s a beast in the wind but what about snow loading or does it shed snow well?

People say the Cimarron flaps in the wind as well but always holds solid. I guess the Cimarron and TUT are about the same in that respect.

KurtR what’s your experience with the Cimarron in the wind?? Good, Bad or ???

 

[Hunter Sargent]

My first year archery elk hunting my hunting partner's cousin loaned us his Sawtooth and small Kifaru box stove...excellent combo in some super crappy weather. Lots of wind and mountain thunderstorms. We could hear trees breaking around us and the Sawtooth performed wonderfully. This year I ordered a Cimarron, then found out a 3rd person was going with us a few days after I got it, so I returned it for a Redcliff. Before I returned the Cimarron I had set it up and it seemed well constructed, just not as good of a layout as the Sawtooth. I have no experience with the Tut except seeing it in the Kifaru showroom...seemed nearly identical to the Cimarron. I'd recommend the Sawtooth if you can only get one. It is bombproof and well designed.

I will say that the Redcliff was perfect for 3 guys and a stove, and still weighs less than the Sawtooth, if you ever thought you would need more room. We set it up on grass and condensation was an issue, and would be with any single wall shelter. The Mountainsmith Mountain Shelter LT is also great for 2, but without room for a stove or too much gear...more of a going in deep and light type of shelter.

 

[KurtR]

Great information. Is the Sawtooth as hard to pitch as some people say? Everyone says it’s a beast in the wind but what about snow loading or does it shed snow well?

People say the Cimarron flaps in the wind as well but always holds solid. I guess the Cimarron and TUT are about the same in that respect.

KurtR what’s your experience with the Cimarron in the wind?? Good, Bad or ???

I have had mine set up here in South Dakota a bunch and I guess I didn't think it was loud in the wind at all. Right around 30 mph gusts and 20 sustained. That's pretty much a light breeze out here haha.