Seek Outside - 4 Man Tipi review (ongoing)

I have started this thread to review Seek Outsides 4 man Tipi that I purchased used in November of 2014. I have put it to use a few times and decided to do an initial review. There will be no discussion on how long the tent will last because I have not had it long enough to give an honest opinion. If I still have the tent in a few years then I might choose to speak on the longevity of the tent then. I would like to first start off with some background information about myself, how I camp and previous tents I have owned to give you, the reader, an idea of where I am coming from experience wise.

My past tent history has been an interesting one. When I was younger my family had a large crappy Coleman tent. We are talking about the WalMart special that was likely listed as an 8-12 man tent because it fit 4 of us rather comfortably. We upgraded to a camper and I wont consider those years as camping. Moving on, I joined the US Army Infantry in 2009 and learned quickly that a tent was nothing more than comfort. I never set up a tent in the 3 years that I served. In Afghanistan I took the poncho and poncho liner they supplied us for over night missions. I still to this day will occasionally sleep under the stars if the night is warm and no sign of clouds for miles. I picked up a little 2 man tent from a friend when I excited the military. I couldn’t even tell you the brand of the tent but it was a small and outdated backpacking tent. Better quality than my parents old Coleman but not by much. It weighs around 4lbs packed up if I had to guess. After that, I moved to a hammock and I completely fell in love! It was a Hennessy Expedition hammock with the attached bug screen, tarp, and snake skins. For whatever reason I was convinced that a Roof Top Tent (I will refer to this as an RTT from now on) was necessary. RTT’s are highly loved by truck campers and serve their purpose well. Just so happens they do not serve me well. After two, yes I had two RTT (that’s another story itself), I decided it was time to move on to something that better suited my camping style.

When I go camping, I set camp first. It has always has been that way and I suspect it will always be that way for me. Most of the time I have no set destination. I have an area that I would like to explore and I fully intend to explore it! Now, most people that own RTT’s drive all day, set camp, and go to bed. I arrive to the camp site, set camp, and then get the itch to drive 10 miles down the road to see if the fish are biting or see where another road leads to. That doesn’t work so well when you have to pack up camp to drive anywhere. I have similar backpack/hiking tendencies as well. I set camp, then grab my fly rod and head out to various high country lakes in search of tasty brook trout! I guess you can say I use my tent as a base camp. Somewhere to unload all my gear and call home for a few days as I play around.

I stumbled across Seek Outside after seeing Kifarus Tipis on hunting forums. There were nothing but positive reviews for these Ultra Light (UL) tipis. Hunters use these to replace the large and cumbersome wall tents they traditionally used for base camps. The term ultra light is in regards to the size of the shelter compared to the weight. I understand some backpacking guys take UL very serious and will rip anyone a new one if someone calls an item UL and it weighs more than a pound . I do not intend to compare SO’s Tipi to Kifaru’s Tipi and I ask that any questions regarding that topic be asked elsewhere. Much like talking about longevity, I have never seen a Kifaru Tipi nor do I know the differences so I choose not to speak on that topic. I will say that I chose to go with SO after comparing prices and exchanging emails with the owner Kevin. Ill discuss the customer service later, let’s move onto the tent!

Like most tents, the amount of people they fit is slightly exaggerated. SO did an awesome job of explaining the size of the 4 man tipi on their website. You could fit 4 people in the tent but there would be little room and getting in and out of the tent would be interesting to say the least. It is a back country palace for one person without the stove and very comfortable with the stove and a wood pile. I would confidently fit another grown male in the tent with the stove. I plan to have my roommate, his large dog as well as my dog and myself in the tent for quite a few trips in the future. I am more than willing to discuss the size more if anyone has questions. Feel free to ask for more pictures or comparison shots, I will do my best to help anyone that’s interested.

Set up of the tent is relatively simple. There is a slight learning curve and the first set up might take you a bit longer to get a correct pitch. SO suggests using the set back method and has instructions for that on their webpage. Times on pitching the tipi will vary from person to person. I will say that it takes me probably 6-10 minutes to have the minimum number of stakes in and the tent up. The process is simple, first you stake 4 sides, insert the center pole and then stake the rest of the points tight. I have also used this tipi on the ice as an ice fishing hut in the winter. All you have to do is drive nails into the ice instead of stakes.

Since the tent is a conical shape is does well in high winds. I have managed to pitch the tent in 50+ mph wind gusts and once it is up and tight it had shed the gusts well. The tent also features a built in sod skirt and that keeps all breezes to a minimum. I will speak more on this as I gain more experience with the tent in wind.

Let us move onto the best feature of these tents, the ability to have a wood stove in your tent! This is part of the reason I had chosen to leave the RTT and become a ground dweller again. I have the medium stove that SO offers. The stove itself is light and very easy to assemble. I don’t have an exact weight but it’s no more than a few pounds. I have used it in below zero temps and it heats the tent up in a matter of minutes. There is something amazing about setting up the tent after a decent winter hike and stripping down to a tshirt because the tent is just that warm. I haven’t cooked directly on the stove but I have heated up water and soup. I plan on doing some fish tacos next weekend and seeing how well it works. The burn time is a bit of a letdown in my opinion. I would say you have about an hour before you need to stuff more wood into it. The heat output slowly goes down over time as well. When sleeping overnight with the stove I keep feeding it until I am just barely awake, stuff it full and slide into a preheated sleeping bag. Yep, that’s right boys and girls, no more enduring that horrible freezing sleeping bag before bed. I wake up and restart the fire without leaving the sleeping bag. This is rather simple, I leave a birds nest next to my bag and a handful of sticks. Toss them in the stove, light it and close the door. After a minute or so I stuff it full of sticks to get it roaring and then toss in logs. I quickly go back to sleep and wake up to a toasty tent. I put my jeans under the stove so I didn’t have to put on cold pants either haha. In the future I plan to leave a cup of water beside the stove and a coffee packet so I can wake up to a warm cup of joe!

Lastly I want to touch base on SO’s customer service. Kevin is a great guy to talk to and is very knowledgeable about his products. It felt like he was trying to help me understand the products rather than sell them to me. He is active on their forums and quickly answers all questions in a day or two. I have not had to use them for any warranty work or repairs but have seen his willingness to help those on the forum. I feel confident that SO will be there to help me if my tent does some day fail.

I have plenty more to say about this Tipi but I will add more to this thread at a later time. As of now I am at a page and a half in MS Word so I imagine it will be a mouthful on the forum. Feel free to ask any questions! I will do my best to answer them .

Time for some pictures

 

looks pretty sweet! Without a bottom like a traditional tent, how does it do in the rain and with wet ground?

 

I haven't had the chance to use it during the rain so I couldn't tell you. I am curious to find out so come spring Ill probably willingly go out when it is suppose to rain.

As far as wet ground goes, I just put a piece of tyvek or tarp on the ground for my gear and bed. It has been really nice to just walk into the tent when it's been warm enough for snow to melt and leave the ground muddy/slushy. I have always hated sitting down and taking off my boots before entering my tent...and then figuring out what the heck to do with them.

 

how compact is it packed up? (how much room in the bed does it and the stove use)

 

Hmm, not sure what happened to my pictures of it packed up. I know I took some but never uploaded them. I am going out this weekend so ill grab some pictures of it packed up. The stove disassembles and goes flat. The chimney collapses down into a nalgene bottle size roll. The center pole breaks apart and the fabric goes into a sack that's not to big at all.

**Edit, I see you wanted in reference to the bed. Ill take some pics of it on the tailgate to give you an idea of the size. You could easily store it in the cab of the truck.

 

Thanks, i appreciate it. Also it looks like you are about 920 bucks into your setup with just the tent and stove, is that correct? and its about 7 lbs total?

 

Probably close to that range new. I purchased it used off a guy who got it in September and used it once. If I had bought new then I probably would have made the stove myself. I am probably going to make a cylinder stove for next winter that is bigger and can hold longer logs for better burn time. If this tent was a dedicated truck camping tent then I would have went with a 6 or 8 man tipi and a four dog stove.

 

Here is a recently uploaded video I just found on the 4 man. Haven't seen it until today but it shows the packed size, basic set up and then the room inside. He says it stands 6'10'' but as you can see the standing room is limited because of the shape. For size reference I am 5'9'' and can stand up in the very center and my head starts to touch the sides and such. That's enough so I can put on my pants or walk into it without crouching.

http://youtu.be/VbDZQi9iy44

 

Super cool... But starting at $1,200!!!!

 

For what? Prices can get up there with options and larger tents. These are made here in the US by order. So prices will reflect that. The 4 man starts out at $600 and goes up from there. The stove, while nice is not your only option. Stoves can be easily made out of an old ammo can for cheap. Had I bought new, I would have looked into making my own stove.

 

Looks like I miss read pricing. $1,300 is for the tent and stove.

Even at $600+, that's still a lot for what amount to some sewn fabric and an Alumium pole.

 

I agree that it seems like a lot. I was hesitant to lay down the cash for one even. What swayed me was the warranty and the feed back from customers. If you look around enough you will find that these tents are used in rather extreme applications for hunting.

If you camp a few days out of the year I would very much suggest going to walmart and getting the discount tent of your dreams. If you regularly get out in not so ideal situations then I would suggest spending money on a quality tent. Light, cheap and durable do not go together, ever.

For me it was a matter of getting a tent that could hold up to Wyoming winds and be covered under warranty if it did fail. It also fit the bill for all my tents in one. It works for back packing, truck camping, and ice fishing. A shelter for ice fishing can get very costly so it was a nice bonus to be able to use it.

If you are good at sewing then you could potentially make one on your own for a bit cheaper. I read a thread on a diy forum that did exactly that. I believe total cost came out to around $300 once everything was accounted for. This is not including the sewing machine or the man hours put into it.

 

Great review! I have seen the Kifaru tipi's and those are pricy as well. But you're are right about versatility, size and weight when it comes to these tents.

The price also reflects the amount of material, there's nothing crazy about how these are sewn together, but technical fabrics are expensive and these use a lot of it.

 

I haven't seen the Kifarus in person but I haven't heard of someone regretting getting one either haha. They are slightly more expensive than SO's. Can't go wrong with either IMO.

The fabric is rather pricey so thanks for pointing that out. I remember Kevin posting that they were going to have to raise prices soon because of the fabric.

I hope to get the plans set up to make an 8 man as a DIY project. I doubt it will be anywhere as nice as my 4 man but it should be fun. I'll post total costs when I get around to it.

 

Good review, I may actually go this route for hunting. I hate setting up canvas wall tents! The room is nice but they are a PAIN! would you say the 6 person would be big enough for two guys plus hunting gear? And I could not see online where the company is based out of just trying to see if he would have something local I could check out.

Edit I see on FB he is in grand junction. I'll be down that way the end of the month I'll have to check them out.

 

Yeah, a 6 man with a stove and gear would be a nice set up. How much gear do you guys pack in? How long do you plan on staying in it?

On the bottom of the website it says Ridgway, Colorado. I know kifaru is also colorado based so you could potentially meet with both the owners and decide which company is best.

 

I was just in ridgeway for a week im down there a lot so I'll have to stop in and see. Looks nice and from what you say would set up much faster than a wall tent. We go for about a week but we keep all of our food in coolers on our trailers. So not too much stuff is needed inside the tent.

 

That's awesome, I used one a few months back camping in Yosemite. I hated waking up every two- three hours to add wood to the stove

 

Ya I bet a 6 man would be perfect. We all have different definitions of what "comfortable" is but the 4 man is big enough for 2 so the 6 man should be more than enough. The cool thing about the tents is you can set it up to a lower size if needed. So the 4 man can be a 2 man and the 6 man can be a 4 man if needed.

Let me know how it goes if you stop in. I wouldn't mind going down there sometime and meeting the man behind the tent and seeing some of the larger tents.

Yeah, the stove has it's limits but it sure beats not having one. I found myself to be pretty comfortable through the night. Starting it in the morning was a delight. It's a nice feeling to take off some wet gear before bed and let it dry while you sit comfortably and read a book .

If you are not planning on carrying the tent on your back I would suggest looking into stoves that are actually sealed. Such as fourdogs stoves. They would actually keep the burn time slower as they are air tight. I want to make one for truck camping that will burn larger logs.

 

Really liking the idea. Was debating this over a RTT... until I thought about all the bugs that have free access to crawl all over me and my girlfriend. Yuck!