Tipi Hacks

[SonnyDay]

Hey All-

I've spent some nights in my Seek Outside 6-man tipi with stove. Usually with 2-4 people. I live in Colorado and hunt rifle elk... and sometimes other critters even later. Usually backpack hunt but sometimes truck camp. Planning some winter mountaineering and ski trips as well. So mid-October through March. 9,000'-12,000' camps.

I already have a list of stuff I will change, things to bring next time, etc.

My list goes like this:

• Bring a good saw (Silky) to make stove-fitting rounds of wood as big as possible
• Use stump/root wood if you can get it as it burns longer
• Bring more tarps to put stuff on
• Consider a "gear tent" if it's snowing lots or there's more people
• Find better guy lines than paracord (which tends to absorb water and is generally heavy)

I was wondering what you fine folks have to offer in terms of hacks to make hot tipi life better.

Specific issues I have encountered:

• The stove goes out after 3-4 hours and my boys are teenagers so they sleep through it and I have to get up to feed the fire
• We took up a lot of tipi room storing firewood
• We didn't always have a place to put stuff where it wouldn't get wet
• Always want to save weight

Thanks!

 

[Wrench]

Prusik knots on the pole are great for tie outs to dry gear. You can run them to a stake inside for more surface area.

A soto torch that runs on butane lighters is worth having.

Tell anyone who shows to camp with you that they just need a summer bag because it stays so warm....they'll keep it stoked.

 

[Corvus Corax]

I’ve been planning to bring a sil-nylon sheep tarp pitched off the pole to use as a vestibule/awning cover for my teepee entrance. It might help with your gear management. A sponge or backpacking camp towel for condensation on the interior. As an aside Has anybody used the uco candle lanterns? Supposedly has a ~9hr burn time. Probably not a lot of heat but in an enclosed space it might help keep the edge off and condensation down.

 

[TyWeimer]

I pack Dura-logs cut in half for my Winnerwell stove. They last a much better portion of the night. I always have them on horseback hunts, and I’ve even packed in and stashed some on foot preseason. If that isn’t feasible, having one in each pack amongst you and your boys should be a good help

 

[SonnyDay]

Tell anyone who shows to camp with you that they just need a summer bag because it stays so warm....they'll keep it stoked.

Haha! Good idea…

I should have mentioned I do have dual liners for condensation. Main issue is we usually pitch it on deep snow which then slowly melts over the days with heat from the stove. So anything on the ground is hard to keep dry.

Have to look at how heavy Dura logs are!

Thanks!

 

[rayporter]

cut a pole on site to save wt. a string the right length is on the tipi.

a 2 ft string on the zipper will allow you to open the door with out getting against the fabric. a forked stick will let you close the door by holding the string and pushing the zipper down.

adjust the stove so you can fill it from your bag with out moving. i keep enough tinder handy to restart the fire in the morning so i can just sick one arm out and put it in the stove with a fire starter.

 

[Ross]

These littlee tipi stoves are meant for time awake for comfort and time to dry things. When lights out you get a limited time for heat then you better have a solid setup of bag and pad to stay warm. a tarp to store gear and dry wood is very beneficial to not take up needed space in your tent. i added loops on the tent to run around the pole to secure a dry line to hang things. Sometimes a weight penalty is required for comfort especially in wet and cold conditions

 

[IBen]

Tie shock cord loops around the guy out points. Then run your guy lines off the shock cord. This little bit of tension and give will keep the tent tight and will prevent the stakes from ripping out or the guy loops from tearing the seam in high wings

 

[AKHUNTER]

Get some aluminum rod stock, cut to length, put a bend in it, attach to pole with 2 hose clamps, and voila hang your gear. I have rods down low for gloves and up high for coats. You can also see that I have 2 sections of 1" aluminum angle fixed to the pole. When your shelter only has 1 pole and it snaps in half during a wind storm 10 miles from the pickup in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge you make it stronger for next time!!!

 

[SonnyDay]

adjust the stove so you can fill it from your bag with out moving. i keep enough tinder handy to restart the fire in the morning so i can just sick one arm out and put it in the stove with a fire starter.

I should have included this in my original list of changes I was already planning to make. Chopping kindling and horsing around with tinder in your base layers at 3am when it's zero sucks!

 

[SonnyDay]

Tie shock cord loops around the guy out points. Then run your guy lines off the shock cord. This little bit of tension and give will keep the tent tight and will prevent the stakes from ripping out or the guy loops from tearing the seam in high wings

Love this idea. I get a little crazy with "perfect tension" on my mountaineering tents way up high... but a tipi is not a mountaineering tent. Thanks.

 

[SonnyDay]

Get some aluminum rod stock, cut to length, put a bend in it, attach to pole with 2 hose clamps, and voila hang your gear. I have rods down low for gloves and up high for coats. You can also see that I have 2 sections of 1" aluminum angle fixed to the pole. When your shelter only has 1 pole and it snaps in half during a wind storm 10 miles from the pickup in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge you make it stronger for next time!!!

Super interesting approach. I went big for the carbon fiber pole... and have a slight concern I might wekaen it with scratching from the aluminum rod and/or hose clamps. But a thin piece of leather or somesuch should solve that problem. Pretty sure I have the remains of an old 70's era TV antenna in my attic... bristling with aluminum rods. Have to go fetch a stash of them and give this a whirl. I totally see the benefit in having some closer-to-stove drying options.

Good idea on the angle splint for extra strength. Especially up where you were...no cuttin' a new pole in those parts!

We did run a circle of paracord around the top of the tipi as a clothes line... which at times looked like we were in a spaceship in zero gravity and all our stuff floated up to the top.

Here's a look at our "zero gravity" drying situation this fall:

 

[SonnyDay]

These littlee tipi stoves are meant for time awake for comfort and time to dry things. When lights out you get a limited time for heat then you better have a solid setup of bag and pad to stay warm.

For sure. This was the major lesson of the last year since I bought the thing.

Having the ability to stand up and sit in a chair is huge (versus a mountaineering tent), and, like you said, the ability to dry gear is also game-changing. But she ain't no hotel room!

 

[turbobrick]

Get some aluminum rod stock, cut to length, put a bend in it, attach to pole with 2 hose clamps, and voila hang your gear. I have rods down low for gloves and up high for coats. You can also see that I have 2 sections of 1" aluminum angle fixed to the pole. When your shelter only has 1 pole and it snaps in half during a wind storm 10 miles from the pickup in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge you make it stronger for next time!!!
View attachment 648563View attachment 648567View attachment 648572View attachment 648573

Those aluminum rods are a great idea.

 

[*zap*]

Vent it well

 

[ozyclint]

cut a pole on site to save wt. a string the right length is on the tipi.

a 2 ft string on the zipper will allow you to open the door with out getting against the fabric. a forked stick will let you close the door by holding the string and pushing the zipper down.

adjust the stove so you can fill it from your bag with out moving. i keep enough tinder handy to restart the fire in the morning so i can just sick one arm out and put it in the stove with a fire starter.

I made a zipper pull extension using an alloy broadhead adapter with a hole drilled in it and a key ring split ring installed on it. Attach it to the zipper pull then screw a suitable length of arrow shaft for an extension handle. The arrow can be easily removed and stowed with the pole kit.
The arrow is rigid unlike a piece of string and works great. don't have to reach right to the ground to close or open the zip fully.

 

[ben@bpetersondds]

Hey All-

I've spent some nights in my Seek Outside 6-man tipi with stove. Usually with 2-4 people. I live in Colorado and hunt rifle elk... and sometimes other critters even later. Usually backpack hunt but sometimes truck camp. Planning some winter mountaineering and ski trips as well. So mid-October through March. 9,000'-12,000' camps.

I already have a list of stuff I will change, things to bring next time, etc.

My list goes like this:

• Bring a good saw (Silky) to make stove-fitting rounds of wood as big as possible
• Use stump/root wood if you can get it as it burns longer
• Bring more tarps to put stuff on
• Consider a "gear tent" if it's snowing lots or there's more people
• Find better guy lines than paracord (which tends to absorb water and is generally heavy)

I was wondering what you fine folks have to offer in terms of hacks to make hot tipi life better.

Specific issues I have encountered:

• The stove goes out after 3-4 hours and my boys are teenagers so they sleep through it and I have to get up to feed the fire
• We took up a lot of tipi room storing firewood
• We didn't always have a place to put stuff where it wouldn't get wet
• Always want to save weight

Thanks!

Bring a tarp to use as vestibule for gear and wood storage. Make sure tarp can reach the ground on one side so not possible to get wet. This is the number one upgrade you can make to your tipi imo. I pack a lightweight Kelty pole for the front of the tarp and use two heavy duty stakes to anchor the front and back of the tarp to the ground

 

[SteveinMN]

I have a SO Redcliff and it wasn't until about the 9th night in it that I came up with the very obvious hack to help with condensation. I say hack, not solution because there is still some condensation present, but much much lower down the wall. Unzip the door at the top so about a foot to 16 inches is open. Not a great idea in the rain, but otherwise it will let a lot of that condensation out instead of holding it all in. I've started doing this right before crawling into the sleeping bag for the night as having the stove ripping hot tends to do a pretty good job with condensation.

 

[AlbertaFisher]

Hey all, fairly new here (been watching Rokslide for years tho)… but a couple other things I've done from Alberta and Saskatchewan to Alaska that have helped me with my SXL in my redcliff for keeping the stove pumping heat for longer:
1) Line the outside of the stove with large flat rocks. The radiated heat is absorbed by the rocks and traps the heat, and will radiate that heat over a longer period of time. Sure you lose a few inches of space, but whatever. The type of rock matters too, some rocks (like granite) take longer to heat up but they subsequently radiate heat for longer.
2) Another thing is finding coal seams in the geology of the area. Pop some of that low quality coal into the stove when she's ripping, it lasts longer and life is good.
3) Lastly, digging down a little dip under the stove to lower it few inches into the ground. That brings that stove a little lower and brings the heat source lower to ground, it seems to “lower” the cold strata in the tent.
Just my experience.