tipi help

[nv02cummins]

Hi all,
I am looking for some help with using a tipi in the back country. I live in the wonderful rainy pacific north west. I have done a lot of reading about tent vs tipi and I really like the idea of floorless and option of a stove as we have late otc archery tags. One of the questions I have that I haven't been able to find an answer on is how are you keeping your sleeping pad and bag dry when you set up your tipi on ground that has been rained on for possibly weeks on end? My backpacking experience has been in the high country in Nevada so this climate for backpacking is new to me.

I am looking at getting a small tipi as I mainly hunt alone so most of them don't have the option for a nest. I have thought about bringing a piece of plastic that I can set my pad on or may be a bivy sack? Any help is appreciated.

 

[steveo]

I use a small tarp and lay everything on it. If your packing a long way, some use a piece of Tryvex. You may have to run it through the dryer several times to soften it up so you don't slide off.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Tyvek ground sheet and bivy bag here.
Hunt'nFish

 

[Mike7]

I would recommend looking into a pyramid shelter before a Tipi if you are a Pacific NW guy. I use a Locus Gear Menkaura Sil for 1-2 people, and a Bearpaw Wilderness Designs Luna 4 for 2-3 people, but there are a lot of choices. I had trouble getting enough ventilation with a tipi.

I don't use a bivy typically, although in a cold wet wind storm later in the fall, something like a bivy can be handy for keeping falling condensation from wetting your down bag.

For a ground sheet, it is hard to beat Tyvek because it is so durable and still pretty light. I don't mind the sound that the stiffer, waterproof Tyvek puts off when you first use it, but there is the option of the ?1443 Tyvek that is thinner, quiet, and pliable...and I have found it to be pretty darn water-resistant and a good fit for all but the wettest months and conditions. You can get the stuff many places online now, like Amazon and some of the cottage shelter builders, etc. I prefer to cut my Tyvek about 3ft wide x 9ft long so that I can put my pack and other items on it if needed.

 

[Steve B.]

Just a closed cell foam pad under my sleeping pad. I like having the foam pad because I can drag it outside and lay on it during the day. You'll love being able to walk right in with boots on. Any sunshine or any stove time will immediately begin heating and drying out the inside.
I like my tipi for the late season but not so much early. Too many critter experiences. I mostly use the tipi to store gear or sit out storms but early season I sleep in a tent as Mike7 said.

 

[BIGHORNtracks]

Wet ground, snow, rain, whatever. You have a couple options.
I assume you will be packing an air pad to sleep on. At times, I have just used the air pad to create a barrier between the bag and the ground.

Or, like others have said, if its real wet, a bivy sack will keep everything dry.

If you want dry floor all around, you can put down a ground cloth. Lots of guys like the Tyvek floor. I prefer a half sheet sit nylon.
That way you still have open floor on half, and your gear is on the ground cloth side.

90% of the time, I prefer no floor, no bivy, nothing. Just the air pad on the ground.