mcseal2
WKR
- Joined
- May 8, 2014
- Messages
- 2,674
The friend I do all my out of state hunts with and I decided to upgrade our base camp set-up after our hunt last year. We looked around and ended up with a SO 8 man tipi with mosquito netting, half liner, half floor, and XL stove. We looked at both SO and Kifaru and found that both would fit our needs well. I have a Megatarp, Paratarp, and Slickbag from Kifaru that have served me very well well. The sod skirt, floor, and price led us to try SO for this purchase.
We set it up 3 times at home, once to learn how and twice to seam seal both the inside and outside. We also used it on a 3 day scouting trip earlier this year and learned how we wanted the lay-out to work. We decided to only use one door and put both our cots (mine is a Thermarest mesh ultralight and his is a similar Cabelas model) on the floored side. The stove and gear go on the other side.
Set up time for 2 guys is quick. Once we have the pole up and 4 stakes in one guy finishes that job while the other puts the stove together. Then one guy goes inside and the other stays outside and we zip tie the floor to the stake loops on the outside. The zip ties aren't necessary but are quick and easy. We can fully be set up in about 20 minutes with 2 of us now. When not using the floor or stove it's much faster.
On our hunt this year we knew a significant snow was predicted to hit our hunting area Oct 8th. I was in a ranch rodeo on Oct 7th, right in the middle of season, so we decided to hunt after. We left the rodeo at a run, drove through the night, and got into our hunting area with time to set up camp and cut a little wood. About an hour after finishing that the snow hit. We got 15" that night. We got up 5 or 6 times that night to use the shop broom and scoop shovel I had brought to clear the snow off the tent. By 9am the next morning we had a packed and cleared trail about 3ft wide around the tipi and a 3ft pile of snow outside that where we kept shoveling the snow. It was our first time using the tipi in snow and we didn't know what kind of snow load the material and center pole could handle. We darn sure didn't want it failing on us that night. There was some condensation but the stove and our bags kept us warm through the night.
The following night the snow was finished and wind was calm, but it got to 0 degrees. Again the stove kept the chill off and we slept warm and well.
The 3rd night it was a bit warmer, but we had high winds with gusts to 40mph according to the weather radio we packed. The tipi handled the wind well also. Our camp was in a pretty sheltered area so I'm sure that helped also. The rest of the hunt was pretty uneventful as the weather warmed up and snow left.
All in all we had a positive experience with it. It handled what Mother Nature threw at us. We learned a few things in the process. One was that the side the sun never hit had much more condensation. When orienting the tipi for cold weather next time we will leave the floored side we will sleep on toward the sun, and the stove/door side away from it. That side got much warmer too when trying to slip in a midday nap, might want to do it opposite in warm weather. We did not use the liner this trip.
We used waterproof Bass Pro yellow zip up duffles for our clothes and that worked well. It's just that much extra protection from condensation or other moisture. They can be left out of the way right next to the tipi wall.
A little whisk broom from under the truck seat was nice to keep the floor swept up and the pine needles, dirt, and other stuff we kept accumulating there off that side of the tent.
The shovel and broom will always go along when camping near the truck in case of a need to take care of snow load.
The stove works well but has some quirks. It seemed that it worked better with the pipe angled slightly with the wind. That seemed to help create a good draft when trying to get coals to re-light kindling. Also creosote builds up fairly quickly on the spark catcher when burning pine. We cleaned it with the whisk brook every time we dumped the ashes. A smaller stiff bristled brush would probably be better. It does great with smaller sticks under 2" in diameter but the bigger rounds we tried burned much better when split. I like having plenty of tiny dry sticks too that I can throw on top of coals for a quick flame to get the stove re-lit when I wake up too. Keeping the ash dumped every time it does need re-lit helps the vents work better.
I'll throw an old piece of thick poly I have about a foot square and an old knife I have that I don't like for anything else I can baton through wood in also next time. I've used that set up in the past processing wood down in tight quarters when I can't swing an axe. With the knife and the rubber mallet I use for tent stakes I can get kindling from the rounds or split them inside the tipi and save daylight time for hunting. The short rounds that fit in the stove split pretty easy.
I make stakes from old rake teeth from the wheel rakes popular for haying. I use our broken ones and get some more from the Vermeer dealer we buy from. They are about a foot long with a good hook on one end, and the other end I sharpen on a grinder. They work great for holding my pop-up deer blinds in place on windy hills around home, and for a really tough stake I can pound through anything. The spring steel is great. I carry an old duffle with a variety of stakes but these are a favorite for tougher ground. A fencing pliers is handy for pulling them out.
Several of these things only apply when camping near the vehicle where extra gear is easy to pack. They aren't necessary. One of my favorite things about the tipi set-up is that I can do a UTV camp if I want and go into an area where a truck or trailer can't make it, get a bit closer to the hunting area. I won't do this unless there is a definite advantage, I don't want to have a camp to close to where I hunt either unless it's a small quiet spike camp. I like to be able to set up as comfortable camp as the hunt allows especially since I rifle hunt and tend to go toward the end of the season, later in the year. If backpacking in and doing a spike camp is a better option I will sure go that route, but I don't mind the comfort if it doesn't decrease my odds of success.
We set it up 3 times at home, once to learn how and twice to seam seal both the inside and outside. We also used it on a 3 day scouting trip earlier this year and learned how we wanted the lay-out to work. We decided to only use one door and put both our cots (mine is a Thermarest mesh ultralight and his is a similar Cabelas model) on the floored side. The stove and gear go on the other side.
Set up time for 2 guys is quick. Once we have the pole up and 4 stakes in one guy finishes that job while the other puts the stove together. Then one guy goes inside and the other stays outside and we zip tie the floor to the stake loops on the outside. The zip ties aren't necessary but are quick and easy. We can fully be set up in about 20 minutes with 2 of us now. When not using the floor or stove it's much faster.
On our hunt this year we knew a significant snow was predicted to hit our hunting area Oct 8th. I was in a ranch rodeo on Oct 7th, right in the middle of season, so we decided to hunt after. We left the rodeo at a run, drove through the night, and got into our hunting area with time to set up camp and cut a little wood. About an hour after finishing that the snow hit. We got 15" that night. We got up 5 or 6 times that night to use the shop broom and scoop shovel I had brought to clear the snow off the tent. By 9am the next morning we had a packed and cleared trail about 3ft wide around the tipi and a 3ft pile of snow outside that where we kept shoveling the snow. It was our first time using the tipi in snow and we didn't know what kind of snow load the material and center pole could handle. We darn sure didn't want it failing on us that night. There was some condensation but the stove and our bags kept us warm through the night.
The following night the snow was finished and wind was calm, but it got to 0 degrees. Again the stove kept the chill off and we slept warm and well.
The 3rd night it was a bit warmer, but we had high winds with gusts to 40mph according to the weather radio we packed. The tipi handled the wind well also. Our camp was in a pretty sheltered area so I'm sure that helped also. The rest of the hunt was pretty uneventful as the weather warmed up and snow left.
All in all we had a positive experience with it. It handled what Mother Nature threw at us. We learned a few things in the process. One was that the side the sun never hit had much more condensation. When orienting the tipi for cold weather next time we will leave the floored side we will sleep on toward the sun, and the stove/door side away from it. That side got much warmer too when trying to slip in a midday nap, might want to do it opposite in warm weather. We did not use the liner this trip.
We used waterproof Bass Pro yellow zip up duffles for our clothes and that worked well. It's just that much extra protection from condensation or other moisture. They can be left out of the way right next to the tipi wall.
A little whisk broom from under the truck seat was nice to keep the floor swept up and the pine needles, dirt, and other stuff we kept accumulating there off that side of the tent.
The shovel and broom will always go along when camping near the truck in case of a need to take care of snow load.
The stove works well but has some quirks. It seemed that it worked better with the pipe angled slightly with the wind. That seemed to help create a good draft when trying to get coals to re-light kindling. Also creosote builds up fairly quickly on the spark catcher when burning pine. We cleaned it with the whisk brook every time we dumped the ashes. A smaller stiff bristled brush would probably be better. It does great with smaller sticks under 2" in diameter but the bigger rounds we tried burned much better when split. I like having plenty of tiny dry sticks too that I can throw on top of coals for a quick flame to get the stove re-lit when I wake up too. Keeping the ash dumped every time it does need re-lit helps the vents work better.
I'll throw an old piece of thick poly I have about a foot square and an old knife I have that I don't like for anything else I can baton through wood in also next time. I've used that set up in the past processing wood down in tight quarters when I can't swing an axe. With the knife and the rubber mallet I use for tent stakes I can get kindling from the rounds or split them inside the tipi and save daylight time for hunting. The short rounds that fit in the stove split pretty easy.
I make stakes from old rake teeth from the wheel rakes popular for haying. I use our broken ones and get some more from the Vermeer dealer we buy from. They are about a foot long with a good hook on one end, and the other end I sharpen on a grinder. They work great for holding my pop-up deer blinds in place on windy hills around home, and for a really tough stake I can pound through anything. The spring steel is great. I carry an old duffle with a variety of stakes but these are a favorite for tougher ground. A fencing pliers is handy for pulling them out.
Several of these things only apply when camping near the vehicle where extra gear is easy to pack. They aren't necessary. One of my favorite things about the tipi set-up is that I can do a UTV camp if I want and go into an area where a truck or trailer can't make it, get a bit closer to the hunting area. I won't do this unless there is a definite advantage, I don't want to have a camp to close to where I hunt either unless it's a small quiet spike camp. I like to be able to set up as comfortable camp as the hunt allows especially since I rifle hunt and tend to go toward the end of the season, later in the year. If backpacking in and doing a spike camp is a better option I will sure go that route, but I don't mind the comfort if it doesn't decrease my odds of success.
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