Tipi tents in big wind country?

[MTLabrador]

I’ve never owned a tipi/stove combo before, but I am considering making the very expensive investment. I am mainly looking at the Seek Outside Cimmaron pyramid/tipi hybrid. My question is how they handle high wind situations. There’s plenty of info from Seek Outside, but since they’re trying to sell me a tent I remain a little skeptical.

I love the idea of having a stove to dry out wet clothes after trudging through snow all day, and a place to relax for a bit instead of spending long late season nights crammed into a backpacking tent. If anyone has some experience or advice with tipis in the wind, I would be all ears.

 

[Hunting Wife]

We have that tent, and have spent damn windy nights in it. The worst was last fall on my elk hunt. Can’t remember exactly what the wind speeds were...gusts to 50? Anyway, mostly we use it in eastern MT, so wide open places, few wind breaks. We try to pitch it in the most protected spot we can find, which often isn’t much on the prairie. Yes, the buffeting keeps me awake but I’m always surprised how well it stands up to the wind. Better than most traditional tents I’ve used. I would not have expected that originally.

Overall, we’ve been very happy with the switch FWIW.

 

[MTLabrador]

We have that tent, and have spent damn windy nights in it. The worst was last fall on my elk hunt. Can’t remember exactly what the wind speeds were...gusts to 50? Anyway, mostly we use it in eastern MT, so wide open places, few wind breaks. We try to pitch it in the most protected spot we can find, which often isn’t much on the prairie. Yes, the buffeting keeps me awake but I’m always surprised how well it stands up to the wind. Better than most traditional tents I’ve used. I would not have expected that originally.

Overall, we’ve been very happy with the switch FWIW.

Really good input, thanks!

 

[madtom]

I have the SO 4 man tipi and medium stove. It’s really loud in the wind no matter how tight you think the pitch is, but it always withstands the wind without damage. I just sleep with ear plugs...

 

[Trial153]

I have used my sawtooth in some really terrible wind and it its held up excellent....

 

[DirtyDan]

They hold up extremely well. I’ve had a Silvertip in measured 25 mph winds with gusts in the 35-40mph range. I’m currently running a Cimarron and am happy with its performance but if really high winds were the norm, I’d be considering a more traditional conical tipi like the 4 or 6 man. SO is top quality and great customer service.

 

[cur dog]

I have a 6 man SO tipi. I've had it set up in central Wyoming in some very open country. It held up fine, and seemed to cut the wind very well.

 

[YoungGun]

I'm looking at the Cimmaron as well- not to stray to far from the OP, but how's it handle snow load and how's the condensation? The steeper walls gains some trust for the snow loading, and I'm assuming the stove helps with moisture, but as MTLabrador stated, it's an expensive investment, and the only info really out there seems to come from Seek.

 

[MTLabrador]

I'm looking at the Cimmaron as well- not to stray to far from the OP, but how's it handle snow load and how's the condensation? The steeper walls gains some trust for the snow loading, and I'm assuming the stove helps with moisture, but as MTLabrador stated, it's an expensive investment, and the only info really out there seems to come from Seek.

Don’t worry about hijacking at all, I’m interested in those concerns as well.

 

[MTLabrador]

I have used my sawtooth in some really terrible wind and it its held up excellent....

I’m interested in Kifaru as well, the sawtooth looks great. Have you had any experience comparing them with Seek Outside?

 

[Trial153]

I’m interested in Kifaru as well, the sawtooth looks great. Have you had any experience comparing them with Seek Outside?

I have seek outside Cimarron that borrowed from a friend, i actually compared the two side by side. You cant go wrong with either company. I was deciding which of the two two i take to Alaska this August.
I dont see any differences in quality or function in either company. Whichever shelter meet your needs spec wise, go with it.

 

[MTLabrador]

I have seek outside Cimarron that borrowed from a friend, i actually compared the two side by side. You cant go wrong with either company. I was deciding which of the two two i take to Alaska this August.
I dont see any differences in quality or function in either company. Whichever shelter meet your needs spec wise, go with it.

Good stuff, thanks.

 

[LuketheDog]

I've had the Cimarron+stove for 3 seasons now, it's a great setup. It's held up very well in heavy wind, wind/snow, wind/rain. If the sod skirts are flapping I just put something heavy like a rock, log, or shovelful of dirt between each stake on the windward side.

 

[rmyoung1]

I have a Seek Outside 8-man tipi. Used it this past Sept in really windy conditions on a CO mountain goat hunt. Rain and snow followed the wind. I was super impressed with the tipi. It shed wind better than I expected. It vibrates and stuff but not a lot there for the wind to “grab.” I think you’ll be pleased.

 

[Buschy]

My Kirafu has stood up beautifully in terrible conditions. The Brooks Range in AK was particularly vicious and it was still standing. Great investment!

 

[RockChucker30]

I'm looking at the Cimmaron as well- not to stray to far from the OP, but how's it handle snow load and how's the condensation? The steeper walls gains some trust for the snow loading, and I'm assuming the stove helps with moisture, but as MTLabrador stated, it's an expensive investment, and the only info really out there seems to come from Seek.

This info is also coming from Seek...but at least it's honest info

Snow load- the canopy will support more snow weight than your pole will. So if you get dumped on by 18" of wet stuff, the canopy will probably be laying on the ground unless you maintain the tent. That said, our tents pitch tight and shed snow better than any box store tents I've seen, unless you get into some serious mountaineering tents.

Condensation - extremely variable. Can be a non-issue, can be awful depending on conditions and how you manage it. You can read a lot more here - https://seekoutside.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-tent-condensation/

 

[EYJONAS!]

Running a luxe set up right now 2p tipi use it for just me with the inner tent. High winds worked well heavy rain and even hail also stood up fine. Haven't had the 12 to 24 inch dump yet, honestly I don't want to experience it either. Moderate snows it has done very well.

 

[pre6422hornet]

I run the Jimmy Tarps Hudson tipi with a Lite Outdoors 18" stove. We experienced some pretty high winds ( 35-40) in NM this past fall while camped on the only level spot on the darn mountain, which was only 100 yards from the top of the 10,000 ridge. Held up extremely well and as said before it sheds the wind really well. We stayed warm and dry even when it snowed 3- 4 inches. And yes it is extremely nice getting a red hot stove going and going to sleep and then again getting it hot again while the water for coffee is boiling in the AM.

The only issue we/I had was the second or third night the wind actually bore a hole in the sand under the tipi and I woke up to my face being sandblasted! My complexion looked great and my skin was exfoliated nicely LOL... We made a quick note to kind of build a sand bank around the bottom to keep the wind from doing that again.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

I am not a tipi hater by any means but my experience is a little more mixed. I've spent probably 15-20 nights in the GoLite SL5 and a couple in a Seek Outside. Not a ton so take this for what it's worth.

I don't have any reason to believe the SL5 was any less capable design-wise than the Seek Outside or Kifaru. Less attention to detail and less robust material yes, but the times I had issues were largely concept related IMO. The first was a pretty complete overnight collapse in about 12" of wet snow. Could I have gotten up and shoveled? Yes if I had woken up or set an alarm. Did it ruin the trip? No. But it did basically cave in. The other was a high wind situation in central MT where it pulled stakes and just blew over. Again, not a trip ending issue in this case but it happened and wasn't ideal. People have been using BD and GoLite Mids for ski and glacier mountaineering for decades. In high wind situations they're pretty much always dug out/down into the snow and ice to lower the profile.

I could happily use a tipi as a primary shelter, have nearly pulled the trigger on one within the last year, and I do think they're great; but I also don't think they're completely impervious to heavy weather. Just like everything it's an awesome tool in the toolbox, and there's no perfect choice.


Lots of good memories and successful trips in that old GoLite!

 

[MTLabrador]

I am not a tipi hater by any means but my experience is a little more mixed. I've spent probably 15-20 nights in the GoLite SL5 and a couple in a Seek Outside. Not a ton so take this for what it's worth.

I don't have any reason to believe the SL5 was any less capable design-wise than the Seek Outside or Kifaru. Less attention to detail and less robust material yes, but the times I had issues were largely concept related IMO. The first was a pretty complete overnight collapse in about 12" of wet snow. Could I have gotten up and shoveled? Yes if I had woken up or set an alarm. Did it ruin the trip? No. But it did basically cave in. The other was a high wind situation in central MT where it pulled stakes and just blew over. Again, not a trip ending issue in this case but it happened and wasn't ideal. People have been using BD and GoLite Mids for ski and glacier mountaineering for decades. In high wind situations they're pretty much always dug out/down into the snow and ice to lower the profile.

I could happily use a tipi as a primary shelter, have nearly pulled the trigger on one within the last year, and I do think they're great; but I also don't think they're completely impervious to heavy weather. Just like everything it's an awesome tool in the toolbox, and there's no perfect choice.


Lots of good memories and successful trips in that old GoLite!

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Appreciate the input, thanks. That speaks to what some of my concerns have been, as I’ve had snow and high wind flatten my old BA fly creek before under similar circumstances. My new copper spur has held up much better.

My main use for a tipi would be with a stove mainly in the timber on elk hunts. I’d pack the copper spur for dryer/warmer camping or September mule deer. I like the idea of being able to dry out wet gear at the end of the day.

Golite/Mytrail seemed to make some good gear for the price if you can catch them in between bankruptcies.