Well finally received my newest package from UPS on Wednesday. It was from Kifaru and inside were a supertarp, annex, and small stove. I have been debating a small Kifaru shelter for a few years and had some money saved up and decided to pull the trigger. It was hard choosing between the paratipi and the supertarp. The supertarp won due to: Being more modular (body, annex and stove combos) being $100 cheaper than the paratipi, being able to be set up with my trekking poles, stove location, and the option of using the body as a tarp.
The package was dropped of Wednesday and I have been drooling about setting it up, seam sealing, and burning in the stove. Well last night I contacted my father and asked if I could comeover in the morning to set it up, he agreed since he wanted to see it as well. Showed up at 0800 and the weather was holding fine. Setup the shelter and then setup the stove, did a fit and photo session with the stove, then removed the stove and set it up next to the shelter for burn in. The supertarp is EASY to set up. No measuring, no set backs, jsut stake the 2 rear point tight, set the front pole to length with the marked cordage on the side of the shelter, then pull out the front guy line and stake. Then stake out the 2 front points, set the rear pole to length, install, and go around pulling the others out and staking as required. Not a bad pitch for my first time. I think. Need to work with the annex some more, but it'll do.
I started seam sealing and when I completed that I started the burn in on the stove to set the stove pipe. Must admit it was easier than I thought to roll the pipe the first time. Then using some "kindling" from lowes as firewood I started it up and keep feeding it for the next hour. WOW does it get hot. Brought my water to a boil with no worries. I used the boiling water to hydrate a MH meal since it was in the cars GHB and I did not want to bother my father with watching everything and getting lunch... kill 2 birds with 1 stone deal. I then setup my golite shangri-la 3 that I keep in my GHB for some size comparison shots. The golite is a great tent for a great price, got mine for $240 at Amazon last year. The supertarp is shorter, but the lenght room is what is deal sealer for the supertarp. In the golite my 6 foot even frame almost touches both the door and the back when laying in it front to back, with a long bag, it WILL catch moisture from condensation. The Kifaru supertarp... LONG. If I lay down and touch my feet to the rear pole and stretch my arms over my head, the front pole is just touchable... Add to this the weight difference, and the fact that the Kifaru easily pitches close to the ground where you need to play with the golite and usually submerge the stakes to do so. The price on the other hand... yes it cost more, but I am VERY happy with the purchase. On to photos, they are in the order I took them, please pay no attention to the weedy long grass (its more of an outdoor feel) nor pat attention to the poor mail box that the neighbor girl keeps backing into, my father was telling me that it has been hit 5 times in the last few years.
EDIT to add, the first photo shows the new equipment next to my G2 woobie (left rear pouch) since many know the size of the woobie for a packaged comparison shot. I also puchase plenty of extra stove pipe rings and used extra on the first burn in to hlep hold its shape.
The package was dropped of Wednesday and I have been drooling about setting it up, seam sealing, and burning in the stove. Well last night I contacted my father and asked if I could comeover in the morning to set it up, he agreed since he wanted to see it as well. Showed up at 0800 and the weather was holding fine. Setup the shelter and then setup the stove, did a fit and photo session with the stove, then removed the stove and set it up next to the shelter for burn in. The supertarp is EASY to set up. No measuring, no set backs, jsut stake the 2 rear point tight, set the front pole to length with the marked cordage on the side of the shelter, then pull out the front guy line and stake. Then stake out the 2 front points, set the rear pole to length, install, and go around pulling the others out and staking as required. Not a bad pitch for my first time. I think. Need to work with the annex some more, but it'll do.
I started seam sealing and when I completed that I started the burn in on the stove to set the stove pipe. Must admit it was easier than I thought to roll the pipe the first time. Then using some "kindling" from lowes as firewood I started it up and keep feeding it for the next hour. WOW does it get hot. Brought my water to a boil with no worries. I used the boiling water to hydrate a MH meal since it was in the cars GHB and I did not want to bother my father with watching everything and getting lunch... kill 2 birds with 1 stone deal. I then setup my golite shangri-la 3 that I keep in my GHB for some size comparison shots. The golite is a great tent for a great price, got mine for $240 at Amazon last year. The supertarp is shorter, but the lenght room is what is deal sealer for the supertarp. In the golite my 6 foot even frame almost touches both the door and the back when laying in it front to back, with a long bag, it WILL catch moisture from condensation. The Kifaru supertarp... LONG. If I lay down and touch my feet to the rear pole and stretch my arms over my head, the front pole is just touchable... Add to this the weight difference, and the fact that the Kifaru easily pitches close to the ground where you need to play with the golite and usually submerge the stakes to do so. The price on the other hand... yes it cost more, but I am VERY happy with the purchase. On to photos, they are in the order I took them, please pay no attention to the weedy long grass (its more of an outdoor feel) nor pat attention to the poor mail box that the neighbor girl keeps backing into, my father was telling me that it has been hit 5 times in the last few years.
EDIT to add, the first photo shows the new equipment next to my G2 woobie (left rear pouch) since many know the size of the woobie for a packaged comparison shot. I also puchase plenty of extra stove pipe rings and used extra on the first burn in to hlep hold its shape.
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