Seek Outside vs Kifaru shelters

[jpuckett]

Any of you guys have experience running or testing both brands of shelters? I wanna do a lifetime bha membership at some point and was wondering about the cimmaron? I have a kifaru 6 man and stove right now and wanna see how it stacks up as far as quality goes. Seems like both companies have a great reputation around rokslide

 

[reaper]

Both are awesome shelters,i think than Seekoutside have more options,vent,nest,liner,both is quality and have awesome customer services.

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[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Both are good, kifaru is hands down better.

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[dotman]

I've had a few Kifaru shelters and feel the Seek Outside is of similar quality. I currently have a Cimmaron and it is my favorite shelter I've had so far. Last year we had a Sawtooth and Cimmaron side by side and the Sawtooth material stretched way more then the Cimmaron. While I think Kifaru makes a great product and I have had most of their stuff I think Seek Outside also makes a great product and have zero concerns with the product.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I have owned two SO shelters and have a little bit of experience with Kifaru that a buddy of mine owns. I think as far as quality build, they're equal but you get more for your $$ with SO, or at you did when I bought my tipi 4 years ago. Before getting my 12 person shelter I did a ton of research and decided on the SO based on the shelter coming standard with two bug screen doors, and storm flaps over the zippers for less $ than the Kifaru, that had neither as a standard feature. I also liked the option of a little heavier duty camo fabric that SO offered at the time. By way of comparison, Kifaru 12 person tipi with bug screen doors $1631 on only one color option, SO 12 person tipi w/bug screen doors $1384 and two color options. On a side note, regarding storm flaps, we used my SO 12 person and a buddies Ti Goat 8 person on Kodiak one year and had a big storm sit on us for a couple days with very heavy winds and rain, the Ti Goat (no storm flap over the zipper), leaked the entire time, with a steady drip through the zipper and the SO w/storm flap had zero leak issues. I don't know if people have had any issues with Kifaru's leaking through the zipper, but the storm flap that SO puts over their zippers flat out works.

 

[Hall256]

Have been looking at both, but the dimensions of SO 4 man tipi are ideal for what I'm looking for. If Kifaru's Tut was a similar size it would be a lot harder choice for me.

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[tipsntails7]

Both are good, kifaru is hands down better.

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I'm going to assume you've tested most of them in similar conditions in actual elements, because that's a pretty definitive statement.
Care to elaborate?




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[dangerousD]

Any of you guys have experience running or testing both brands of shelters? I wanna do a lifetime bha membership at some point and was wondering about the cimmaron? I have a kifaru 6 man and stove right now and wanna see how it stacks up as far as quality goes. Seems like both companies have a great reputation around rokslide

I've got nothing to add in personal comparison other than from what I've read both are fantastic products and companies. I have also been wanting to do the BHA lifetime membership. I thought they had a 6-man SO tipi as part of the deal last year and I was going to jump in but a home addition sucked up my extra play money. Then I saw that they did not have that deal this year unless I'm remembering it wrong from last year. Each week it seems I change my mind between Kifaru or SO. Lately I'm leaning towards a Sawtooth with Smith cylinder stove. I want something nice for two guys or maybe 3 in a pinch. One of my buddies has the same tipi setup as you and loves it.

 

[Hall256]

I use to be sold on Kifaru mainly because of my friends 6 man tipi (it's great)...but I have never met or heard of a person that did not like their SO products just as much. If they have that good of a reputation, they cost less, and it's closer to the dimensions I want, for me it's an easy choice.

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[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I'm going to assume you've tested most of them in similar conditions in actual elements, because that's a pretty definitive statement.




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Nope but kifaru fabric is superior without question. Of the ones I have handled, kifaru pitches tighter and handles the wind quite a bit better. So no I haven't done exhaustive tests on every model but of the ones I have handled personally kifaru wins.

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[Lawnboi]

Had a k 6 man, and currently have a cimmaron. I just got the cimmaron so it's going on its maiden voyage this next week. Initial quality is similar between the two, we will see... But from what I read I doubt I'll be disappointed

The seek outside does have some nice options, the vent, seems like it's going to be a nice little shelter.

 

[dotman]

Nope but kifaru fabric is superior without question. Of the ones I have handled, kifaru pitches tighter and handles the wind quite a bit better. So no I haven't done exhaustive tests on every model but of the ones I have handled personally kifaru wins.

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Interesting.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Nope but kifaru fabric is superior without question. Of the ones I have handled, kifaru pitches tighter and handles the wind quite a bit better. So no I haven't done exhaustive tests on every model but of the ones I have handled personally kifaru wins.

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What is the fabric that Kifaru uses? I've tried to research it but can't find anything.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

What is the fabric that Kifaru uses? I've tried to research it but can't find anything.

It's a high tenacity American made silnylon. Aron did a video on it awhile back. The stuff seek outside uses is called the same but I'm not sure where it's sourced and it is not as waterproof. Kifaru won't reveal their source and it might be proprietary.

Seek outside is not a bad product, that's not what I'm saying at all, kifaru is just better.

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[MontanaMarine]

I believe SO uses the Cordura 30d 1.3 oz silnylon fabric.

 

[tipsntails7]

Nope but kifaru fabric is superior without question. Of the ones I have handled, kifaru pitches tighter and handles the wind quite a bit better. So no I haven't done exhaustive tests on every model but of the ones I have handled personally kifaru wins.

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I guess we will have to disagree then, because I think kifaru's fabric is overkill in almost every way.

I have used a breakaway tarp and a super tarp both are pretty equal, except in price.

Is kifaru better? Probably. But 99% of the people on this forum won't ever push either fabric to its limits so why pay a premium for something most will never realize the benefit of? It's similar to a guy paying 5k for a LR gun and never shooting it past 200 yards, what's the point unless you just want to?

To me, the sawtooth is the only shelter I would buy from kifaru anymore. Tut, super tarp, tipi, I would sooner buy from you then them, as the increase in price doesn't warrant the benefit(for me).

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I believe SO uses the Cordura 30d 1.3 oz silnylon fabric.

Yes but not all cordura is created equal

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I guess we will have to disagree then, because I think kifaru's fabric is overkill in almost every way.

I have used a breakaway tarp and a super tarp both are pretty equal, except in price.

Is kifaru better? Probably. But 99% of the people on this forum won't ever push either fabric to its limits so why pay a premium for something most will never realize the benefit of? It's similar to a guy paying 5k for a LR gun and never shooting it past 200 yards, what's the point unless you just want to?

To me, the sawtooth is the only shelter I would buy from kifaru anymore. Tut, super tarp, tipi, I would sooner buy from you then them, as the increase in price doesn't warrant the benefit(for me).

I don't think that's disagreeing with me as I simply said kifaru is better and didn't comment on value. I never said seek outside is junk just not as good as kifaru.

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[AK Troutbum]

Okay, with a little more research I found out that both are made of 30D nylon fabric (not silnylon), with silicone coating and 100% USA made. SO seams are triple stitched, not sure about Kifaru. Also, one more feature that I forgot to mention regarding SO is, for their tipi's, they have additional tie out loops that are placed a couple feet above the base and around the perimeter of the shelter to be used for additional guy lines for heavy winds or the tipi's can be brought down and staked out at that level, decreasing the height and footprint, as conditions dictate.

This is off of Kifaru's website:

FABRIC: I want to be clear on one thing - what our material is NOT. It is not what everybody else is using. It is not silnylon, and it certainly isn't in the same category. Silnylon--either sourced from offshore or domestically--has less than half the tear strength of our proprietary fabric. Yet our fabric is just as light. The only thing silnylon has going for it is that it's far cheaper than our stuff. This fact means our shelters cost more.

I took this off of another forum where Kevin (SO part owner), was comparing the material that Kifaru uses and the material Seek uses.

Both are american made 30D nylon with silicone coatings. Our choice came down to being able to consistantly meet a certain waterproof rating where the other fabric provided could not do that.

 

[dotman]

Considering Luke used an SL5 for 5 years in some pretty inhospitable areas without major failure and it is 15d if I remember correctly I doubt we'll see many material failures with the SO product. The Kifaru will handle higher winds probably but how much higher I don't know, 80mph vs 70mph? I've pitched my Cimmaron so tight that I bent the aluminum REI center pole without issue and no material issue with the SO. I've seen the Sawtooth pitched super tight during the day to only be sagging to the ground by morning. In my experience after owning a Kifaru supertarp and paratipi plus being around the Sawtooth I've seen less stretch out of the SO product but maybe that is why the Kifaru has the supposed higher tear resistance.

I've been a Kifaru user for many years and agree with tips that SO has found a great product at a lower price that will be sufficient for 99% of users. I don't doubt what Aron says at all but he also always says get out and form your own experiences with gear, from my experience SO is just as good as Kifaru. I have zero concern of failure with my SO shelter.