Floor less tipi and condensation

Whitetoptom

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
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252
Location
Southwest Virginia
I wanted to give a litte observation on my first run in the floor less realm. I've read all about how condensation can be an issue in floor less shelters.

I found out this weekend in very rainy and damp conditions that condensation is a factor but not a deal breaker by any means. In the late afternoon setup sequence going from fairly hot to cooler evening temps I had very little if any condensation. In the early morning I had very minimal overnight condensation buildup. As the morning sun started to pop out and warm everything up is when the moisture really started to build inside the canopy.

So in this situation I found that the warm to cool was not the issue but the cool to warm is when i had an issue with moisture buildup. So one could plan accordingly to minimize any issues with the excess moisture.

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Joined
Nov 5, 2015
Messages
651
Tagged for responses as I'm interested in going tipi in the future.

That said I use a Big Angus Copper Spur tent today and it does an excellent job managing condensation with its rainfly over net deign. I do sometimes use a tyvex floor cloth to avoid some ground condensation bleed & ground water.

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superA

WKR
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
383
Location
Oklahoma
I have two golite tipis, moisture buildup has never been a concern. Pitch it tight and it usually just slides down. What's there to drip won't harm anything.
 

VernAK

WKR
Joined
Dec 24, 2012
Messages
2,008
Location
Delta Jct, Alaska
I've used a 12 man Kifaru Tipi and a Sawtooth for well over a decade in fall weather only.
I get very minimal moisture from the soil and after 2-3 days, dust becomes more of an issue.
The walls collect condensation or frost from sleeping occupants but 5 minutes of fire in the wood
stove dissipates all of that.
 
OP
Whitetoptom

Whitetoptom

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
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252
Location
Southwest Virginia
I've got a woodstove for my tipi and that is supposed to take care of all the condensation issue. I took it out this past weekend just to get some real world time in it before the fall season.

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snakelk

WKR
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
642
Location
Oregon
We've been using a 6-man Seek Outside tipi with a Kifaru medium box stove. Condensation is an issue and vastly reduces the usable floor space. We'd routinely have condensation about 1.5-2' up the side walls and if you touched the tent wall, you or your gear would get wet. A fire in the stove helped, but we could never completely eliminate the condensation. This is fine in the 6-man if you have two people and gear as you can move away from the side walls, but with 4-5 guys it doesn't work so well.

I purchased both half-liners and we used these last fall (NE Oregon in November). That added 2 lbs to the set up but made a world of difference, eliminating the condensation issue and giving us the maximum usable floor space. We do used Tyvek and/or light tarps for ground covers. Location may factor into the condensation issue as we typically set it up near the bottom of a creek drainage and in the trees.
 
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SoTxShooter

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 10, 2018
Messages
153
Location
Texas
I’ve got pretty limited experience (3 nights in my Seek Outside LBO) but my ground cloth kept the condensation to a minimum. I had a little buildup near the bottom seam of the shelter. But as long as I didn’t wedge anything in that small area, it wasn’t an issue.
 

superA

WKR
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
383
Location
Oklahoma
We've been using a 6-man Seek Outside tipi with a Kifaru medium box stove. Condensation is an issue and vastly reduces the usable floor space. We'd routinely have condensation about 1.5-2' up the side walls and if you touched the tent wall, you or your gear would get wet. A fire in the stove helped, but we could never completely eliminate the condensation. This is fine in the 6-man if you have two people and gear as you can move away from the side walls, but with 4-5 guys it doesn't work so well.

I purchased both half-liners and we used these last fall (NE Oregon in November). That added 2 lbs to the set up but made a world of difference, eliminating the condensation issue and giving us the maximum usable floor space. We do used Tyvek and/or light tarps for ground covers. Location may factor into the condensation issue as we typically set it up near the bottom of a creek drainage and in the trees.

By wet, do you mean gear not functioning? I'm only asking because I've never used one to that point, but I plan to!
 

4ester

WKR
Joined
Nov 2, 2014
Messages
911
Location
Steep and Deep
Add some LineLocs and cordage to your anchor points and pitch the Tipi higher. Leaving a gap around the bottom will increase airflow and open peak vents.

The problem can be compounded by setting up on a bunch of vegetation or in damp areas.

Leave some vents open during the day while you are out hunting. In the heat of the day the air in the tent will absorb all the moisture and then will condense when it cools off at night. Add in some hot breathing and that increases the moisture even more. Hot air holds lots more moisture then cool air.


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snakelk

WKR
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Apr 3, 2013
Messages
642
Location
Oregon
By wet, do you mean gear not functioning? I'm only asking because I've never used one to that point, but I plan to!

By wet, I just meant there's enough moisture on the inside of the tent wall so that if anything bumps up against it, it will get wet. Not to the point of not functioning. For instance, if you were to slide your pack over to the edge, out of the way, and it touched the tipi wall it would get wet. Same with a sleeping bag, clothes, or any other items you'd rather keep dry.

The tipi was pitched without being raised up off the ground along the bottom, since it was November, cold, and we had the chance of rain and snow. The top vent was wide open, but that just doesn't do much for condensation around the bottom.

In a shelter like a tipi, with the stand up space in the middle, it's nice to be able to use the floor space around the edges for gear, sleeping area, etc. With condensation all around the perimeter 12-18" up (with a raging fire going too) I'm just saying it will significantly reduce the usable "dry" square footage of the shelter. That was our experience for several years before investing in the liners and making it a true double wall shelter. As you can see, experiences vary, obviously depending on climate. I've only used mine in eastern Oregon in the spring and the fall. Hope that helps.
 
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Joined
Jul 11, 2017
Messages
440
Location
WV
I’ve used my SO LBO setup several times now and have found that condensation varies greatly depending on what type of ground cover I set the shelter on. The worst I have seen was when I set it on sandy/gravel type stuff. The walls were dripping even with the bottom edge staked up to vent the shelter. It’s usually not an issue and it doesn’t build enough to drip in most situations.


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Joined
May 13, 2015
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Years ago a buddy and I used a tipi with a floor in sub freezing temps. What I mean is the daytime high was well below freezing for the entire trip. We did not have a stove. My point here is that due to the temps, there was no way for ground and air moisture to play into our experience. It was amazing how much moisture came from us, primarily our exhalation (breath). The moisture froze on the walls of the tipi and fell on our faces, waking us. The trip came with exceptionally strong winds out of the north that constantly shook the walls of the tipt enough to dislodge the frozen moisture from the walls at least once every hour, despite us shaking and beating the walls every time we were woken. In the windy condition we needed to have the tipi buttoned up, which didn't help the moisture build-up situation. With a floorless we would have been able to have the floor on the south side raised a bit. Needless to say a stove would have solved the problem. My point here is that in some conditions, floor or floorless might not make a difference, but having a stove clearly does (experience talking)

In the case above, the added winds (60+ MPH gusts) was the main cause of tiny ice crystals falling on us (faces). IMNSHO, a tipi provides the most versatility. I prefer floorless, but I also prefer having a floor in the majority of my floorless shelters. And your correct, one can plan for daytime moisture build-up (or nigh time), by simply providing extra ventilation if conditions permit. If the temps permit, a stove has solved any potential issues in my experience.
 

superA

WKR
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
383
Location
Oklahoma
By wet, I just meant there's enough moisture on the inside of the tent wall so that if anything bumps up against it, it will get wet. Not to the point of not functioning. For instance, if you were to slide your pack over to the edge, out of the way, and it touched the tipi wall it would get wet. Same with a sleeping bag, clothes, or any other items you'd rather keep dry.

The tipi was pitched without being raised up off the ground along the bottom, since it was November, cold, and we had the chance of rain and snow. The top vent was wide open, but that just doesn't do much for condensation around the bottom.

In a shelter like a tipi, with the stand up space in the middle, it's nice to be able to use the floor space around the edges for gear, sleeping area, etc. With condensation all around the perimeter 12-18" up (with a raging fire going too) I'm just saying it will significantly reduce the usable "dry" square footage of the shelter. That was our experience for several years before investing in the liners and making it a true double wall shelter. As you can see, experiences vary, obviously depending on climate. I've only used mine in eastern Oregon in the spring and the fall. Hope that helps.

Got ya, yeah I've had dampness in mine but it wasn't even enough to disrupt the performance of my down quilt so I just shrugged it off. I don't like sleeping that close to walls anyway so I just use the sides for gear. But, the wet I experienced might have not been as extreme as yours.
 
Joined
Aug 21, 2018
Messages
61
Add some LineLocs and cordage to your anchor points and pitch the Tipi higher. Leaving a gap around the bottom will increase airflow and open peak vents.

The problem can be compounded by setting up on a bunch of vegetation or in damp areas.

Leave some vents open during the day while you are out hunting. In the heat of the day the air in the tent will absorb all the moisture and then will condense when it cools off at night. Add in some hot breathing and that increases the moisture even more. Hot air holds lots more moisture then cool air.


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+1 with this. I use linelocs on mine and it gives a nice little breeze across the bottom that dries things up well. Try to find spots with as little grass/plant life as possible to set up over and one thing that helps with me at least during the summer is to keep one or both doors open a foot or two at the bottom and pull the doors back out of the way. Helps to get the air moving in there at night.


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