Hey guys.... finally a little time to respond, properly...
It's good that you got some pictures, k.
Rick, when you read this, tell me why you tied all the poles together at the top, rather than just 3 and then laying the rest in the 'V's.
Doc
If you take a look at the pic, you'll see we lashed 4 poles together, then spread them apart and placed the other 4 poles in the V's. We simply wrapped it a few times to add strength (not really needed here.) plus it took up slack to hang the paracord down the middle for our cooking pot. Scott was particular about NOT cutting his paracord if we didn't need to.
I've never seen poly-tipi with a fire inside. It'll be interesting to hear how much heat it retained.
The tarp-tipi works well enough but is not ideal, aside from having a woodstove w/ chimney. It was the first time we used the "long fire" and it was great!! Without the flaps or liner/self drafting of a traditional tipi, smoke is your #1 problem. If you don't have a fresh air intake, you are choking on smoke.... open a door for air, and you get a major cold draft. You have to find a happy medium between heat loss and becoming human jerky. We found it this time by walling up a fresh air corridor using large diameter logs that ran under the tarp. Basically we guided most of the incoming fresh air toward the fire and off us. You still caught a draft every now and then, but it was bearable. We found that the hotter the fire, the less smoke we had to put up with. Our fire was about 1.5ft x 4ft long and our fuel was logs that ranged between 5 to 8in. dia x 3-4’ long. There was no danger of setting the whole tipi ablaze. We used hickory and maple. Sometimes we had to open the door to clear the smoke… but we were happy with the long fire. Next time, I would make benches to sleep on, as the cold air was about 6-8 inches high… though at times we laid low to escape the intense heat of fresh logs!... lol. I hope that answered most of the shelter questions that followed this one.
Very interesting indeed.
Notably, I was very interested in the bedding material.
Did remind me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQDZ1ExrtEw
How long did it took them to gather that much?
Thanks for the link…. Sweet movie!!! It only took us about 20 minute or so to gather the phragmites (reeds). Ken may remember better. This type of bedding is extremely insulative… and easy to gather.
Rick, I am curious to know if both of you slept at the same time, or if you took turns sleeping while the other cared for the fire and shelter.
Also, did you get a coal? cause that powder looked pretty brown..
We both slept. Tarp-tipis have little insulation, so when the fire started to die down, WE KNEW IT! As for the firebow, good eye, Tony… yes the dust was too brown. I hastely chose my wood which turned out to be spalted(rotting) maple. It was a bit soft in places and wore unevenly. I was doomed from the start but wanted to see if I could overcome it…….. I lost…… but I swear I must have had at least 10-15 solid tries at it! I could have ditched the kit and made another more carefully selected one… but where’s the fun in that? I still favour the 2-stick fireboard over the carved notch hearth... especially in cold or damp weather.
Looked like fun. My question is. If you had enough snow, would a snow cave or your tipi be preferred in temps that low?
Tipi with a fire wins!
THAT'S ABOUT -4 DEGREE'S BELOW ZERO Fahrenheit
HAT'S OFF TO YOU BRO
YOU TAKE TESTING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!!!
WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN??
Whenever I get the opportunity!
Thanks for the great comments and thanks to Ken for putting this thread together. Ken is very adept in the woods and wouldn't have had a problem toughing it out with us... but I agree with his descision to take care of the cold he was battling... not worth it.
Oh.... I almost forgot.... those safety glasses have now become a PERMANENT piece of woods kit for me. It just makes sense, IMO.
Rick
HOW FRIGGIN COOL IS THAT?!!!!!!!!!
I should have left my camera with you guys for the night. 
waaaay too cold for me..