Tale of two Shelters

[Trial153]

I am going stir crazy between hunts, keep me from spending money in the next week before I go to Iowa.

This is going to be for a specific hunt. Let me lay it out.

Alaska, 40 mile area, August, two bowhunters, gear, (maybe lite outdoors stove). My partner will have an ultra light cot. I will be on the ground with a pad. *** important, we arent doing an extra gear load. So we are at 55 a guy limit....


Option 1)
Kirfaru sawtooth with liners, lite outdoors stove.
I already own it and have used it quite a bit.

Option 2) SO Cimarron, Carbon pole, liners, lite outdoors stove.



Background. I been wanting to buy the Cimarron howver the lack of liners have dissuaded me in the past and I didnt want to order customs. Now that the are offered via the factory ....I been thinking.

Go ahead, tell me I nuts....

 

[sneaky]

You're nuts.

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[beachbunny]

sounds like your talking yourself into the cim.
take the kif!

 

[robby denning]

I’m done with my Cimmaron for the season. Happy to send it to you if you wanna try before you buy.


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[Trial153]

Robby I might take you up on that offer !

 

[robby denning]

Robby I might take you up on that offer !

Just PM me your address, we can ship it this week.


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[Beendare]

Cant beat that deal^

That Sawtooth might be tight for a hunt like that.

FWIW, We did a drop camp moose hunt last year with the same weight limit. We brought in our entire camp inc my home sewn tipi [12' 6" diameter] and stove- about 9# inc pole. I have a couple big vents so it doesn't condensate....even camped over willow boughs with water running under the tipi. [no dry ground anywhere!]

We can even dry clothes in there. We used Mtn house to keep the weight down.

I think the extra room of the bigger tent is a good idea......

...

 

[Trial153]

Cant beat that deal^

That Sawtooth might be tight for a hunt like that.

FWIW, We did a drop camp moose hunt last year with the same weight limit. We brought in our entire camp inc my home sewn tipi [12' 6" diameter] and stove- about 9# inc pole. I have a couple big vents so it doesn't condensate....even camped over willow boughs with water running under the tipi. [no dry ground anywhere!]

We can even dry clothes in there. We used Mtn house to keep the weight down.

I think the extra room of the bigger tent is a good idea......

...

Actually the sawtooth has more square footage then the Cimarron, its laid out differently though.

 

[colersu22]

I have a Cimarron and live it but have been looking at getting a redcliff or 6 man so I can change while standing vs hunched over and I am only 5’ 10” so that is something to think about too with the sawtooth having more head room at the front pole.

 

[reaper]

Sawtooth is hard to beat.

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[Trial153]

Robby is sending me the Cim, i am leaving for Iowa next week and hunting till I arrow a buck or get sick of being there.
After I get back I plan on setting up both shelters for a mock up and see what I think.

 

[robby denning]

Robby is sending me the Cim, i am leaving for Iowa next week and hunting till I arrow a buck or get sick of being there.
After I get back I plan on setting up both shelters for a mock up and see what I think.

It ships today


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[wind gypsy]

Maybe I haven't been in the right conditions to be crushed by condensation but the combination of floorless with liners AND stove doesn't seem ideal. Why do you prefer that over a nest with floor where you have bug and wet ground protection?

 

[Trial153]

Maybe I haven't been in the right conditions to be crushed by condensation but the combination of floorless with liners AND stove doesn't seem ideal. Why do you prefer that over a nest with floor where you have bug and wet ground protection?

I cant see not using liners for little weight they add, especially if I ditch the stove pre flight, as we might end up flying into an area with little or no wood.

As for the floor vs floorless debate, I think it's been hashed out pretty good on lots of threads here. I find myself preferring floorless by a wide margin.

 

[Schism]

A few years ago a friend and I spent a couple weeks in the same area you are heading. We opted to use the Sawtooth (with liner) and Smith cylinder stove. Being we were camping on tundra and tussocks, having a floorless shelter was an advantage IMO. We were able to cut cross sections of trees to place under our Helinox cots to level and keep them from sinking into the tundra and didn't worry entering the shelter with wet/muddy rain gear.

I've never spent any time in a SO Cimmaron so I can't comment on it. I don't however have any reservations to do the same hunt again with the same Sawtooth setup I used on the previous hunt.

 

[BBalash3]

Hunted the 40 mile herd this past August. Sawtooth and lite outdoors 18” stove was flawless for two guys and gear in high winds and rain. No complaints at all. I do not have the liner, condensation was minimal in the mornings. Camp was at about 4,000 feet and we did not have problems finding wood/sticks. I did bring MSR cyclones for stakes which I would recommend.

 

[Trial153]

Update. Robby sent me the Cim. I just ordered a new SO turn stove to possibly replace my LO cylinder stove. My plan is to set up both the Cim and my sawtooth and do a side by side. Looking at doing this as soon as the Uturn shows up.

 

[robby denning]

Update. Robby sent me the Cim. I just ordered a new SO turn stove to possibly replace my LO cylinder stove. My plan is to set up both the Cim and my sawtooth and do a side by side. Looking at doing this as soon as the Uturn shows up.

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[Trial153]

Here it goes. Thanks to @robby denning I was able to set up and try both shelter over the course of couple weeks.

First a disclosure. I am really splitting hairs on this both these are very similar in size and weight, furthermore material wise and construction they are both excellent. I can't see a noticeable difference in durability or packability.



Cimarron:
Of the two shelters I prefer the layout of this one better. While it has slightly less total space it seems like there is a greater percentage of usable space because of the layout. However the sawtooth has more square footage, no way around that. I like the single pole design versus the extra small pole on the sawtooth. Of the two the Cimarron is more slightly more finicky of the set up position, meaning how you square it up stake position. It will take few less stakes. When adding some cordage to the corner loops you can really get some venting and airflow from the bottom. I mild temps this would be a serious consideration. Like i said, design, construction and materials are all seem to be top quality.

Sawtooth
the set up on the sawtooth was slightly smoother for me. Partly because I was more familiar with it and partly because the shape. When i ordered it i made the mistake of not adding a guy out loop to the back of the small pole position so i am forced to use the small pole. While the weight penalty isnt much, I prefer the layout without the extra pole. For the trip the shelter is going to be used for two people with a small U-turn stove. The front vestibule gives a little more space for gear, and with two bowhunters this a big consideration between the two shelters. The extra space of the sawtooth versus the Cimmaron is noticeable. The sawtooth also takes few more stakes and for me, when its guyed out to give me better vertical side wall space using all the stakes seems necessary to square it all up. The only other noticeable difference between these two shelters was in windy conditions. It took me a while to get both set up on days where wind was a consideration, and my side yard wasnt ideal because of its Shelton nature. However I was able get both in about 10MPH plus steady winds with gusts in the high teens. I felt at the sawtooth shape was more forgiving in higher winds. And if wind was going to be really bad one could angle it in such a way to minimize it, with the Cimmaron that would be much harder to do with the four flat walls.
Construction and materials are all top-notch, from a Layman perspective I can't see a difference between the two.
I also would have no problem dropping the coin on either one of these. All honesty that goes for pretty much anything both these company's produce.

Ultimately for this trip in August I'm gonna be taking the sawtooth. The primary reason being for the added Square footage considering there is two of us and wood stove. If I was going alone I would take the Cim.

One thing certain of is that I want to add another shelter to the rotation for when I hunt alone and It will most likely be a Cimarron or Silvertip.


Here is the final set up. I will add more pictures from in the Field after this August hunt, which is coming up fast.

 

[Trial153]

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