Seek Outside Tipi/Woodstove

Hammer67

Hammer67

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Nov 9, 2012
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I've been wanting a wall tent/woodstove combo forever, and have spent a fair bit of time in them on late season hunting trips, etc. They're awesome, but I just couldn't get around how much they weigh - you're essentially limited to trailhead camps or horsepacking trips with them.

So then I started looking around at various lightweight options, and last year I eventually settled on the 6-person tipi/medium woodstove made by Seek Outside in Ridgeway, CO.

I generally like to use a piece of gear for a while before I'm going to bother writing about it, and I've been using the SO for the past year in warm and cold weather in Idaho.

Specs:
  • Peak Height 7’10″
  • Diameter 14’0″
  • Interior: 150 sq ft

There are a few options when ordering an SO tipi - I opted for the screen doors, and the standard aluminum pole, which puts the tipi weight at 6.3lbs. If you go bare bones, and pay extra for the carbon fiber pole, you can get the weight down to 5lbs.

Screen doors:

8qtr.jpg


Tipi with wood stove:

bmk6.jpg


The stove is titanium. Specs:

  • Volume: 680 Cubic Inches
  • Dimensions: 8.25 x 8.25 x 10 inches long
  • Height 12″
  • Weight w/ 8.5" stove pipe: 42 oz. (2.6 lbs)


wvrq.jpg


I went back and forth on whether to go with the medium stove or the large, but so far I'm happy with the medium for a tipi of this size. It really cranks out the heat, and draws really well once it gets going (there is a damper adjustment). However, if I was doing a lot of camping in the middle of winter, I might upgrade to the large.

Here is the stove packed up in a zip bag, next to a 1L H2o bottle for size:

dlwd.jpg


The whole setup, with the stove, weighs just under 10lbs. You could easliy split it up between 2 or 3 people and backpack with it just about anywhere. And while it's described as a "6-person" it's really appropriate for 3-4 people max with gear, especially when using the stove. For early/late season backcountry trips, I'm really happy with this setup. :thumbup:
 
Very cool setup! I used to laugh at these tipi/stove setups a year ago for their weight, among other things.... But I have been working on a trail crew in the Hoh rainforest in the backcountry for 8 days at a time this year... I can see where such a setup would be AWESOME to have for extended trips in crappy weather... How much did the whole setup cost you?
 
The whole deal was about $1k. They make a number of smaller and larger versions, and a few other lighter-weight shelter options that can accept a woodstove if you don't need that much room.

Not inexpensive by any means, but still a few hundred cheaper than a comparable setup from (insert well-known brand here), and several people I know who own tipi/woodstoves from that famous maker have told me that if they were going to buy another one, they'd get a Seek Outside. They said they couldn't find any difference in quality or details between the two.

Once you camp in cold weather with a woodstove, your perspective is forever altered, imo. No more getting deep in your bag and hunkering all night - you can hang out comfortably. Of course, the one tradeoff with a lightweight stove like this is that it doesn't retain much heat after the fire has gone out, the way a stove with heavier mass would, but there are trade-offs for everything.
 
The best part is you can thrive, not just survive in the coldest of winter weather. Cooking inside these tents are also a blast. Take a snow or sponge bath in the middle of a freezing winter night. Why not! On the down side set up and take down are slower than other shelter systems. Also takes a bunch of wood prep. The larger the stove the easier that part is. But then again the larger the stove the heavier the entire system is. I like having a kettle on the stove for hot water on demand.
 
just out of curiosity, what is the wood usage needed to keep the tipi warm enough to thrive? Do you have to stay up at night, feeding the fire? With no insulation or mass to retain heat, seems like it would require constant attention.
 
I find that for a wood heated tent you want more people per tent since the fire must be tended all night. 3 is the minimum body count giving each sleeper 6 hours sleep with 3 hours rest on a 9 hour stop. More is better. With 9 everyone gets 8 hours of sleep.
 
Mannlicher said:
just out of curiosity, what is the wood usage needed to keep the tipi warm enough to thrive? Do you have to stay up at night, feeding the fire? With no insulation or mass to retain heat, seems like it would require constant attention.
Click to expand...

I don't use the stove all night long - never did when I've been in full-on canvas wall tents with larger stoves either. I just use it to keep the tent comfortable until I'm ready to fully get in my bag and go to sleep. And then I roll over first thing in the morning and get it going again. And for cooking.
 
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