tipi or wall tent

[john4645]

My buddies and I are planning a flintlock elk hunt for next year and I would like any thoughts, reccomendations on getting a tipi or a wall tent. which one? where to buy? pros and cons?, tipi v.s. wall tent, stuff like that. Any comments welcome. I will add, there are 4 of us, so also what size should we have.
thanks

 

[BillinOregon]

John: You'll hear from a lot of others with way more experience than I have, as i have only used wall tents. A tipi will be two or three times as expensive initially, and requires some practice to erect. You also have to transport the lodge poles. Wall tents are a dime a dozen, are correct as far back as the flint era and are easy to set up and take down. That said, once set up I think you would find the tipi a lot more comfortable and far more practical in poor, windy weather. The tipi goes way, way back in history, and in my mind is unmatEvery time I step inside a tipi, I ask myself why I haven't gotten one. I suspect you would want nothing smaller than a 16-footer for four guys and gear. Now, let's let the expert step in with advice.
Good luck,
Bill

 

[john4645]

As far as a tipi goes, how practical is it to cut poles when you get to where you are going, i understand that if you are above the tree line in the tundra that you are in trouble, but how about colorado, where there is a lot of small aspen? as far as the wall tent goes, what size for 4 guys?

 

[JWP]

Personally I would go with a wall tent for an elk hunting camp. This is what most outfitters use because they work.
Size wise for four hunters with gear - nothing less than a 12x16 with 5' side walls. Actually, I would go with as large as you feel you can handle. Remember, you've got alot of canvas, stakes, ropes and poles to haul. Cutting poles on site is possible - check out regulations.
A wood stove with at least a 5" pipe (6" is better) will most likely be needed.
Check out the classified thread - maybe you'll find something that will work as well or better.
As for makers - Tentsmith, Panther, Spring Valley, Red Hawk are all quality dealers.

hope this helps, jim"Wart"

 

[J.D.]

I don't have a lot of experience with a tipi, but I do know that one that is not set up right, and/or an owner who does not know how to regulate the fire or the smoke flaps can literally smoke the occupants out.

Don't ask how I know, and it wasn't my lodge.

Depending on gear, it would probably require a minimum of a 16 foot diameter lodge to house four and gear comfortably. A 20 footer will provide MUCH more room.

A 12X16 wall tent provides 192 sqare feet of usable space. A 16 foot lodge, provides 201 square feet of FLOOR space. The problem lies in the fact that the walls of the tipi slope inward shrinking that usable floor space rather quickly.

Do you plan to sleep on the ground or use cots?
IS you cook gear in square, wooden "camp boxes"?
What about cooking and eating tables? Chairs?
All of these things will reduce the usable floor space of a lodge rather quickly.

Also, if the nights are cold, how do you plan to keep the fire going? With a wood stove, all ya gotta do is get a fire going and stoke it up, close off the damper, and you're good to go for most of the night.

With an open fire in the lodge, someone has to replenish the fire wood on a regular basis. The problem is, most folks tend to wake up cold and pull the covers over their head rather than get up in freezing weather to stoke the fire. It's hard to get warm again after running around a cold lodge, so the person who elects to stoke the fire doesn't get much sleep.

Another consideration is the fire hazard. I've seen far more lodges go up in flames than wall tents as someone accidently kicks a flamable object into fire, or by the fire spitting hot sparks onto clothing and bedding.

I would suggest laying out a 12X16 area using rope for the perimiter and place everyones gear in the the roped area. Leave enough room for the stove and firewood.

How much room so you have? Is it enough to live comfortably for the duration of the hunt?

Do the same using a 14 foot, or so, circle to simulate the usable floor space in a 16 foot lodge.

Which provides the most usable living space?
J.D.

 

[Claude Mathis]

My opinion, based on owning wedges and wall tents and having slept in a few tipis, is...

The wall tent is less expensive, has more usable space, is lighter in weight and is much easier to transport and store. All in all, a wall tent is more practical for a variety of situations. Unless you are reenacting an American Indian and require a tipi, I'd get a wall tent.

 

[john4645]

thanks guys. I feel that a wall tent is the way to go, from your reccomendations. now i will go out in the yard and rope off some sizes and see what I think we can get away with.

 

[Cpl.Parker]

J.D.

Great post, very informative.

Cheers

 

[john4645]

As far as the wall tent, what are your thoughts on going with poles or a frame (purchasing the whole works) or making your own poles, or using trees as a frame?

 

[spudnut]

Like Claude says "If you arent reenacting native american" go for the wall tent.Tipi's are very nice and romantic but pretty impracticle.If the weather permits you can put a fly off the front of the wall tent too for eating and cookin and watchin nature go by...Mark

 

[romcneil]

With a wall tent, you cam get by with just 3 poles for a traditional setup: a ridge pole the length of the tent and two end poles the height of the tent. Particulatly with taller side walls, you will also want two eave poles the length of the tent and 6 or more poles to support the eave poles (min. 3 on each side). For side walls less than 4 ft you can hold the eaves out with ropes. My family of 4 people (wife, 2 teenage daughters, and myself) used a 14 ft x 16 ft Panther Primitive wall tent with 4 ft side walls for rendezevous up to 10 days, and had plenty of rooom for every thing the girls thought was necessary to live.

This setup withstood some severe wind storms with wind driven rain without failing. We used it only for three seasons (Spring, Summer and Fall) in the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico and Okahoma, so I did not equip it with a stove for heating, so I cannot comment on heating a wall tent in really cold weather. We did alright down to just below freezing.

Bob

 

[mmahlock]

The trick to a wall tent and poles is have the height of the ridge equal to the width of the tent. This geometry makes it possible to set up the tent with as few as two poles. The use of a ridge pole will make it more ridged but is not absolutely necessary. It eliminates the need for wall or side poles or sidewall poles.

 

[Turtle2]

One tip is don't cut live trees for tent or tipi poles or anything else for that matter.
In Colorado it's against the law and the Forest Service will be on you and you'll probably be fined.
If it's dead timber (either standing or fallen) you're fine but don't cut the live trees.
I suggest staying away from Aspen for lodge poles or tent poles, especially the ridge pole if you do go with a wall tent. Aspen is just not strong enough.
Stick with pine and you'll be fine.

-Turtle2-

 

[FASTFRED]

Have used white canvas wall tents for both hunting camp and rondevous...Would recommend a wall tent for hunting modern and get the frame with it if you can afford it...Takes time to find and cut poles in the wild and you need to set it up a few times before the trip to make sure you've got everything including ropes and stakes...If you don't get the frame, atleast make/bring the ridge pole and two uprights with pinned connections...Stretching between two trees with a rope setup is a looser IMO...

The high ridge with a 5 foot wall is nice, but the high ridge is more difficult to reach/setup...12 X 14 or larger would be big enought IMO and get a awning of atleast that size to be setup out front attached to the tent...Make the poles for it at 6 feet and you'll be alot happier with it....Provides alot of covered room as the tent will get crowded especially in the evening and in bad weather...Have a big table out there where you can wash up, cook, eat and sit around...

We always put one of those big silver tarps over the top of the tent and awning to really shed the wet weather...You can set it with an air space between and it keeps the tent cooler in the sunshine...Think about a ground cloth too as the gound gets pretty dusty in there after a few days and makes sleeping better all the way around... :winking: ...The Lizard...

 

[john4645]

thanks for all the input - decided 16x20, with all the poles is what we need.

 

[chipper]

I've elk hunted in a 12' Tipi that I made at home in my shop. Two to three persons fit real comfortable if you leave gear outside, 4 if you don't build a fire. It cost $60 in canvas on sale. We carted the tipi in 8 miles on the back of a small trailer pulled by a quad. It was great fun and I would have to say it was one of the more memorable hunts. We could have easily found poles for it when we got back in there but we didn't want to chance it. Stripping the bark off of dead trees takes a bit of time to do.
Wall tents are fine, I have one of those too, but nothing beats a tipi. For portability a one pole is probably your best bet.
Either way a tipi is cool.

Regards
Loyd Shindelbower
Loveland Colorado

 

[Handy]

Nobody even brought up a pyramid tent or two. I agree that wall tents are best but I love my Pyramids with front and rear doors and kitchen fly. With portable woodstoves they are so cozy.

Easy set up even for one person. One pole or no poles depending on the area. lots of room. We have both a 12 x 12 and 15 x 15 footer. There is plenty of room for 4 hunters and all the gear in the 15 x 15 footer. Just thought I would throw the Pyramid style tent out there even though you already made a good choice.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Nobody even brought up a pyramid tent...

That may be because he specifically asked about only two styles, not tents in general. :winking:

"...a tipi or a wall tent. which one? where to buy? pros and cons?, tipi vs. wall tent..."

 

[Handy]

Of course your right but he thinks Tipi's are neat(so do I) Figured a Pyramid is a kind of a compromise with lots of advantages...know what I mean?

Handy

 

[J.D.]

Some friends owned a miners tent, and IMHO, I don't see any advantage.

The center pole gets in the way of everything and everyone, and while floor area is quite large, the only place anyone can stand erect is next to the pole.

Miners tens are ok, if everyone sits and sleeps on the ground, and doesn't have any cook boxes, or other equipment that stands over a coupla feet tall. Otherwise, a foot or two, or more is lost on each side of the tent, just to provide clearace for cots and cook boxes.