Tentipi
My
Dad and I go camping a lot and everywhere we go people ask us about our
cotton tent so I thought I had better write a little about it on my Web Site.
Our Nordic inspired tipi is used by professionals in the most extreme
conditions; it has been used in several arctic expeditions and had
extensive use in the Scandinavian North Country. Tentipi is designed and
made in Sweden especially for the harsh Arctic winters so my dad and I
felt it would be suitable for our many 4 season camping expeditions in
The Lake District Scotland and Wales, the one we have is a Tentipi
Safir 7 CP kåta (formerly this tent was called the Tentipi Varrie 7 CP)
The flysheet is made using breathable Cotpolinex P (Cotpol T4 fabric
Cotton and Polyester blended) with edging of Super polyamide Pine Green
material at the bottom. We also use a freestanding Eldfell Pro (Size 7)
Stainless Steel wood burning stove in the tent, which means in no time
at all we can transform the interior into a lovely snug home from home
on those cold wet and windy nights of which we have many in this
country, the tent heats up really quickly with the right wood in the
stove we also do all our cooking on it which is handy, the stove gives
out so much heat that we have to keep the 3 mosquito netted storm flaps
at the bottom of the Nordic tipi open most of the time otherwise you
will be cooked right out of the tent or end up getting heat stroke, we
now have a drying rack that fits round the top of the tent which is
great for drying wet clothes ready for the next day.
The two main reasons we use this style of tent are that it can be
erected and taken down both in about 10 minutes and even I can put it up
using one hand with almost no help from Dad as it only has one central
pole in the middle of the tent.
The other reason we love this tent is you can use it with an open fire
in the centre preferably using a fire box so as not to scorch the ground
and opening up the top vents or as we do with our old faithful Eldfell
wood burning stove, because the fire is enclosed and it uses a sectional
chimney it doesn’t get Smokey inside the tent as all the smoke goes up
through the chimney it feels like you are in a log cabin when the stove
is alight, because we go wild camping in remote locations in the middle
of nowhere this tent has proved to be no problem in exposed or hostile
environments, on very cold nights Dad will keep the stove going all
night which can be done quite simply as when it is hot the stainless
steel stove glows in the dark, it also has an air vent which opens and
closes so you can get an idea of how the fire is doing inside without
opening the fire door. I actually enjoyed crawling out of my warm
sleeping bag in the mornings to stoke the fire and then I get back
whilst the tent warms up.
One thing to bear in mind if you are thinking of buying one of these
impressive looking Nordic tipis is everywhere you go the tent attracts a
lot of interest especially when we have the stove alight and smoke is
wafting out of the chimney, people want to take a tour and look inside
to see how the stove works it’s interesting talking to people about the
tent but sometimes it can get a little much when you have had a hard day
outside all day and are tired out. It means of course we have to keep
the tent tidy at all times ready for visitors unexpectedly dropping by which is not
a bad thing.
I think if my Dad was selling these tents he probably could have sold 10 over the last three years sometimes people will come back several times and ask specific questions about the tent or stove and my Dad has to demonstrate how things work especially when they see just how much of a comfortable environment we are living in compared to a nylon tent, he doesn’t mind he is very patient about the whole thing and lets people try things out. I guess if I was thinking of buying something like this I would prefer to talk to an experienced user rather than a sales person, we do spend weeks at a time living in the wilds of Britain so we have learnt over time what works for us and what doesn’t.
I thought I had better include a couple of photographs of the top of the tent the first one has the top vents closed, you can see the cords on the left these can be used to open and shut the vents without getting out of your sleeping bag, how good is that.
The second photograph shows the top vents open which means you can lie in bed and look at the stars.
All About Me
What Katy did
Tentipi UK
Photographs by
my dad
Click
photographs to enlarge
Our Tentipi is the nearest one the other one is an older Varrie 7 CP without the stove.
The Eldfell 7 Wood burning stove in action
Late evening in our Tentipi Saffir 7
The Tentipi is probably the easiest tent to errect and the manufacturers say it can be done in 3 minutes, I would take 10 minutes, here are my instructions.
Use
a tent peg to position the mounting cross where the centre of the Nordic
tipi is to go, put the measuring cord over the tent peg, following one
of the seams of the mounting cross. Stretch the measuring cord so that
it lies loose on the ground and put a tent peg where the red mark is on
the measuring cord. Do this a further 7 times symmetrically in a circle
leaning the pegs outwards. Now unfurl the tent and locate the door in a
position where desired, away from the wind's direction. Place the ground
rings over the tent pegs and hammer them down. Then, assemble the
central pole and push it under the tent by the door. Locate the cup at
the top of the Nordic tipi and push the central pole inside it, fold the
top open, raise the tipi and place the central pole in the centre. If
the ground is wet or soft place the central pole on a piece of wood or
flat stone, zip the door up and tighten all the ground straps so that
the fabric becomes taut. Adjust if necessary.