Tentipi Varrie 9

Again, I apologize for the crappiness of my pictures. I was using the point and shoot again on these. Hopefully they get the point across though.

Here are a couple different views of the tentipi in use:

I have set the Tentipi up at home, but this was our first real use of it. Setting it up twice, and using it for 5 nights.

The Setup:

Setting this thing up is extremely easy, especially compared to setting up a traditional tent that is even close in size. Large traditional tents generally have a combination of steel poles and LONG fiberglass poles that takes a couple people to set up. Maybe even more if there is wind.

The tipi comes with a pre-measured rope. You put a stake in the ground where the middle of the tipi should be. You hook the pre-measured rope up and walk in a circle to drive 8 stakes in the ground. Not full in, because you need to hook the tipi up. Next, you unroll the tipi and start hooking up the attachment rings to the stakes. Then you can finish driving the stakes in the ground. The ground straps that are hooked to the pegs should be loosened up all the way from your previous use. Then, you go under the tipi and insert the center pole into the holder and push the tipi up. Next, you walk around the outside and tighten down the peg straps. That is enough to get you going and is very quick and easy. From there there are a couple “buttoning up” steps.

The bottom of the tipi is left long at the ground. It can be rolled to the inside of the tipi and staked down with a smaller set of stakes. That is the way I used it. The directions also indicated that the extra material can be turned to the outside and weighted down, or stakes. Once you do that, there is a second strap that on the outside that can be quickly tightened to make everything nice and taught. I have the optional floor which has toggles to attach to the interior of the tipi. It unzips in the center for having an open fire or stove.

The Design:

The tentipi has many features that are unique when compared to a traditional tent.

The material: This particular model is a cotton/polyester blend. Designed to function like a traditional canvas tent, but is not quite the same as canvas. The material is impregnated with waterproofing material, rather than being a complete vapor barrier such as most coated fabrics. The supposed advantage of this is to allow the fabric to breath, and release vapor (reducing condensation) while still remaining water resistant. This can be important while doing things such as cooking inside. During this trip, I did not do anything that would test the breathability of the fabric. I just know that I like the look and feel and apparent durability.

Ventilation: Besides being a breathable material, the tipi has provision for ventilation too. This particular model has 3 lower vents (besides the door) near the ground, and then the top ventilation cap.

The lower vents have screens in them. The upper vent cap has two parts. The larger portion has no screen and is used for regulating an open fire. There is no screen because the theory is that the escaping smoke will keep the bugs from entering. The smaller vent cap has a screen, and is used for general airflow regulation.

This photo shows the lower vent flap staked out so that air can flow in.

This first photo is of the ventilation cap. It is crappy because the angle I wanted had the sun right behind it. But, I wanted to show the flat portion of the cap.

This photo shows the vent cap, but it has a funny bulge in it. That is because there is extra material in the large portion of the cap, with a zipper to pass a stove pipe through.

One of the supposed big advantages of this ventilation is the height differential between air intake and exhaust. Much like a chimney works. On a hot day, with no breeze, the tipi is supposed to still vent fresh air because of this design. While I did not do any real testing, I do know that I last day of camping got above 80 degress, and the tipi was very comfortable inside. Most traditional tents are unbearable with a little heat and the sun hitting them. I would have no issue sleeping in this during the hottest part of that day. But, more to come on that as it gets more use.

One other neat feature of the ventilation is that it is all internally controlled by pulled cords that can be accessible while still lying down. Pull a cord, and a part of the vent opens. Pull another, and it continues to open more. The cords lock in place. Remove the lock, and the vents snap back closed. Pretty nifty.

Other Features: In general, I am just impressed with the craftsmanship. The buckles are all high quality, the zippers, etc. This photo shows one example of that. This is one of the main ground straps. Instead of just being attached to the tipi by single point attachment, it is attached to section of material which integrated into a seem of about 6 inches long. This minimizes stress to any one particular location, and spreads it out over an area.

This is the type of design that seems to have worked its way into every aspect of the tipi. Of course, for the price, I would expect no less.

As I get more and more use with this thing, I will continue to post more. Two things that I am really looking forward to testing are its use in bad weather, and having an open fire. Hopefully soon……..