Use of pyramid tents in rainy environments

[optimusprime]

Who uses a pyramid or single wall tent in wet environments with success? Specifically without a stove. Looking for something like a cimarron or supermid but I keep hearing horror stories about condensation basically wetting them out. Where I hunt there may be very little opportunity to set up in dry areas and rain is usually a given.


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[young7.3]

I use a cimarron but not in an overly wet area. We got poured on one day and it held up fine. Biggest thing is site selection and proper setup so there is ventilation. No ventilation and you trap the humidity inside and it wets out.


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[b2one]

I have used multiple tipi style tents for about 15 years, including an old SD Origami 2 that I slept through a rainstorm in last night. The biggest factor in condensation is airflow. If the tipi is pitched tight to the ground, condensation can be bad. If you can pitch with a gap under the tent and good vents up high I haven’t had many problems. Tipi style shelters are also the quickest to dry out IME. My experience is almost all Rocky Mountains, so take that for what it’s worth.

 

[Marbles]

I use them pretty much exclusively in Alaska, primarily south central, but also south east.

If the ground is wet, condensation can be heavy, but manageable. Cooking inside makes it worse. I have not used a floored tent in years, so cannot really compare.

 

[optimusprime]

Is it normal to have the moisture dripping down on you in single walls?


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[Seeknelk]

Is it normal to have the moisture dripping down on you in single walls?


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For the most part. Yes.

 

[optimusprime]

Do inner nets help with it at all?


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[Beendare]

Yeah, Venting, and site conditions. I have a velcro on perimeter of mosquito net vents on my tipi.

Pitch a tipi over damp ground- even slightly damp- and you get condensation. A floor tarp can help a lot in those conditions.

 

[Southern Lights]

The wettest and coldest tents I've ever used were single wall floorless tipi style.

The lack of floor means a lot of ground moisture enters the tent. If ventilation is not good it is hard to get rid of in dry environments. If you are in a wet environment, the moisture has nowhere to go and will stay wet.

The walls of the tipi are also the perfect angle to spray water on you if rain is hitting the outside or wind is blowing shaking the walls.

I still own a tipi tent, but will use with stove in cold conditions and always with a floor. I have a liner for it now as well. I owned one brand of tipi tent that you could purchase with half liners and they sucked. They were a total afterthought and poorly done. I find a lot of ultralight shelters are like this as they want to advertise low weight, but then do some rinky dink liner you have to add on later.

A proper two wall tent should have the liner attached to the exterior rain fly and erect as one unit to keep the interior dry as well when being setup. The interior lining should also be water resistant to prevent moisture from spraying on you as all tents will have condensation of some form unless you are bringing an AC unit with you to remove it.

If I'm going to a wet area and don't want to get wet myself, I take a Hilleberg and don't mess around with single wall stuff. The Hillebergs are a proper two wall tent for all conditions.

 

[justinspicher]

I’ve used them on several occasions in the PNW and Alaska during rain and it never really bothered me. It was just something to deal with. I keep a small sponge with me tipi to wipe down condensation when needed. A stove usually keeps it in check.

 

[Boltgun]

Have used a TiGoat 4 man tipi pretty extensively. Works great with the stove, but sucks in wet conditions without one. Weathered a pretty intense blizzard in Wyoming in it without the stove, and it was like it was raining inside the tent.

 

[JeffRaines]

The wettest and coldest tents I've ever used were single wall floorless tipi style.

The lack of floor means a lot of ground moisture enters the tent. If ventilation is not good it is hard to get rid of in dry environments. If you are in a wet environment, the moisture has nowhere to go and will stay wet.

The walls of the tipi are also the perfect angle to spray water on you if rain is hitting the outside or wind is blowing shaking the walls.

I still own a tipi tent, but will use with stove in cold conditions and always with a floor. I have a liner for it now as well. I owned one brand of tipi tent that you could purchase with half liners and they sucked. They were a total afterthought and poorly done. I find a lot of ultralight shelters are like this as they want to advertise low weight, but then do some rinky dink liner you have to add on later.

A proper two wall tent should have the liner attached to the exterior rain fly and erect as one unit to keep the interior dry as well when being setup. The interior lining should also be water resistant to prevent moisture from spraying on you as all tents will have condensation of some form unless you are bringing an AC unit with you to remove it.

If I'm going to a wet area and don't want to get wet myself, I take a Hilleberg and don't mess around with single wall stuff. The Hillebergs are a proper two wall tent for all conditions.

Your experience echos mine. They can be good in the right environments.

I had the idea of a stand-alone floor with mosquito netting attaching to the walls of a tipi style tent. It would aid in ventilation, keep it mostly bug and critter free and most of all keep condensation to a minimum due to stopping it coming from the ground/vegetation. Funny enough, after asking SO about it a year or so ago and being told they wouldn’t do that… now look.

 

[JeffRaines]

I have a velcro on perimeter of mosquito net vents on my tipi.

VELCRO.

I’ve been brainstorming on creating a standalone floor with mosquito netting that attaches to the walls of my Cimarron, I don’t know why I didn’t consider this sooner. Thanks.

 

[Beendare]

VELCRO.

I’ve been brainstorming on creating a standalone floor with mosquito netting that attaches to the walls of my Cimarron, I don’t know why I didn’t consider this sooner. Thanks.

Yeah, I made my tipi. As the tipi guys know it all about ventilation.
I think this pic of my buddy shows it…


I did a 16” strip of 15d breathable silnylon with sewn in windows of mosquito net i can shut off about 3” inside the perimeter. That short wall adds a huge amount of space to the tipi itself from being pitched higher. As the tipi guys also know, the perimeter of those is wasted space anyway. Come inside the outer hem a couple inches minimum- it keep most of the water off it

FWIW, That Sil with windows is probably overkill. I probably could have just cut a one foot strip of mosquito net, and velcro’d it every foot and done, no hem, no nuthin. About a 2 hr project.

 

[JDarchery]

Yeah, I made my tipi. As the tipi guys know it all about ventilation.
I think this pic of my buddy shows it…
View attachment 738796

I did a 16” strip of 15d breathable silnylon with sewn in windows of mosquito net i can shut off about 3” inside the perimeter. That short wall adds a huge amount of space to the tipi itself from being pitched higher. As the tipi guys also know, the perimeter of those is wasted space anyway. Come inside the outer hem a couple inches minimum- it keep most of the water off it

FWIW, That Sil with windows is probably overkill. I probably could have just cut a one foot strip of mosquito net, and velcro’d it every foot and done, no hem, no nuthin. About a 2 hr project.

This is bad ass! Thanks for sharing Beendare. I'll be doing this for mine.

I've heard, where ground conditions are able, that digging a couple inch moat around will allow you to pitch the tent above the ground a few inches so you can get good enough ventilation to not have to worry about condensation as much and keeping water from flowing into the tent floor. Anyone do this?

 

[Cburket42]

For me the pros don't outweigh the cons of tipi tents. I bought a Hilleberg Niak and have never been happier with a shelter

 

[JeffRaines]

Yeah, I made my tipi. As the tipi guys know it all about ventilation.
I think this pic of my buddy shows it…
View attachment 738796

I did a 16” strip of 15d breathable silnylon with sewn in windows of mosquito net i can shut off about 3” inside the perimeter. That short wall adds a huge amount of space to the tipi itself from being pitched higher. As the tipi guys also know, the perimeter of those is wasted space anyway. Come inside the outer hem a couple inches minimum- it keep most of the water off it

FWIW, That Sil with windows is probably overkill. I probably could have just cut a one foot strip of mosquito net, and velcro’d it every foot and done, no hem, no nuthin. About a 2 hr project.

How hard do you think it would be to create a floor with netting “walls” similar to what you’ve done there?

I’ve got a tiny bit of experience sewing. I know I could go super basic like a ground cloth with netting for walls, but I’d like to make a ~2-3” bathtub style floor that would attach to the main tent stakes(maybe with a length of line for each stake point), have the netting directly above the floor, and then attach netting to the tipi with velcro. I could leave the floor attached to the “body” so it wouldn’t be a hassle to set up the body then have to come back and add the floor in.

My thought is that it would make that Cimarron into a single wall fully enclosed shelter for not a huge weight penalty(unlike the nest). Removable when I don’t want it. Would likely control condensation better than without too, because you’re not getting moisture from the ground inside the tent.

 

[optimusprime]

If I add an inner half mesh liner, doesn’t that essentially turn that portion into a double wall tent, negating the bad elements of the single wall?


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[Beendare]

This is bad ass! Thanks for sharing Beendare. I'll be doing this for mine.

I've heard, where ground conditions are able, that digging a couple inch moat around will allow you to pitch the tent above the ground a few inches so you can get good enough ventilation to not have to worry about condensation as much and keeping water from flowing into the tent floor. Anyone do this?

Thats Boy Scout 101….everyone I know does that, you have to. It takes the water off the drip line and channels it away keeping your floor dry.

Check for widowmakers too

 

[Beendare]

How hard do you think it would be to create a floor with netting “walls” similar to what you’ve done there?

I’ve got a tiny bit of experience sewing.

its not hard.
The difficult part is managing the very slippery fabric. Practice in scraps first.

I started marking lines on the fabric, now I mark the sewing table and fold as I go. Pinning everything and/or fold and Iron helps hold it. I sometimes run a stitch line then fold twice and double stitch. Heavier but super strong seam and easy as the first stitch line holds everything together and gives me a line to work from.

If I did it again, I would just sew some swatches of Velcro on there and cut the mosquito netting in a long strip and be done