Kifaru Teepee Arrived

[mmcniven]

Well my Kifaru Teepee arrived after a 6 week wait, and it was well worth the wait. Went for a 4 man with a medium stove and set it up in the back garden yesterday to get used to setting up the tent and the stove before using it for real. The first surprise was how small a pack i could get the tent, stove and all my gear for a weekend trip, 50 litre winter sack by Lowe Alpine which seemed to be designed for the tent and stove, stove fixed to the outside of the pack in the bag provided.

Set up the teepee in about 10 minutes, very easy to do, 4 pegs in then the centre pole and then the rest of the pegs. Pegged out nicely and very tight to the ground. Then set about the stove which took a bit longer but i am sure i will get quicker with time. Very ingenious design, i assembled it outside the tent but i recon it would be easy enough to do inside the tent.

Got the stove fired up and the first thing i noticed was that there was no smoke what so ever in the tent and in no time it was roaring away. I had one door fully open and even so it was soon very warm inside, soon had my jacket off and the pot on the stove boiling some water.

I shut over the two doors just to see how hot it would get and very soon i had to vent the door as it was just getting too hot inside. The stove eat the fuel and even with 1.5 inch diameter sticks it needed feeding every 15 minutes.
All in all i am very pleased with the tent and cant imagine that there is a better lightweight set up that can even come close to this, weighs less than a typical 2 man mountain tent and produces levels of comfort i have never experienced in a tent. Well done Kifaru.

 

[Adi]

Thanks for shearing that with use a very interesting read. I will look into getting one of these tents for winter camps with my wife. I hate tents but from your images it dose not feel like a tent inside.

I will be interested to here how you get on with it in use. Can anyone else share there experiences with this tent?

Do you have a link to there web site?

 

[Ahjno]

That's a really nice teepee you''ve got there! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Adi: I found a homepage with a Google search, this is the one you were looking for
They also do a lovely 2 person teepee - have a look

 

[GrahamD]

Thanks for the pictures and the report - we've been thinking about getting a Kata, but this may be as good. I'll have to do some investigations now.

Enjoy your warm nights!

Graham.

 

[Adi]

That's a really nice teepee you''ve got there! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Adi: I found a homepage with a Google search, this is the one you were looking for
They also do a lovely 2 person teepee - have a look

Thanks Ahjno I did the same and found the site.

I am looking at getting the 6 man or 8 for fixed camping. I think that the bigger sized ones would be very useful even just for the two of use. The stove would make a very comfortable living area.

 

[Moonraker]

Thank for a nice review mmcniven :biggthump

Lots a good set up and packs down very well. I do like the look of their stoves and the stove pipe system is ingenious.

From what I have read the stove will not stay in overnight. If you close it down how long do you think it will stay lit? I was wondering how well it throttles the air input/ how well it is sealed when closed down. I realise it is not a proper stove with seals etc just interested to here because some I have seen the baffles do little to stop the air getting in through the joints etc.

It will be interesting to see just how well their paraglider fabric works out in actually use as they claim a lot for it over the ripstop they have stopped using.

Do let us know how it goes in filed use

 

[Hoodoo]

Now THAT is a very sweet setup! Looks like it would keep you warm in some pretty cold weather. I especially like the way the stove packs down.

 

[MagiKelly]

Mike

I can think of some great places you could try out your new set up in this cold weather. If only you knew someone with a canoe to take you there

 

[mmcniven]

If you close it down how long do you think it will stay lit? I was wondering how well it throttles the air input/ how well it is sealed when closed down.

Yes it doesnt stay on throughout the night, on the website some guys have got a couple of hours out of it at the most after filling it with wood, i think it depends on the type of wood and how wet it is. If you close it right down there is still some air getting in especially through the edge of the door which doesnt seal, it does make a big difference closing the vents, more than i thought it would as there are still plenty of places for the air to get in. I am going to look at putting some fireplace rope at the door edge to make a better seal, if this works i recon it will make a big improvement on how long it will burn. In the short test i did there was still a visible heat haze coming out of the chimney after about an hour so i recon once i get the hang of how much wood i can pack in i should be able to get a couple of hours out of it. You only really need the vents open for cooking to get a good heat going. With the stove at full pelt it is just too warm inside without the doors open.


Mike

 

[george]

I wonder, if you ran two parallel beads of weld about 2 or 3mm high around the inside of the door about 5 or 6mm apart and then glued some stove rope inside that. Ive done this to make seals on the stoves I make and it works pretty well. The rope glued just to the door without something to hold it in place never lasted very well.

george

 

[mmcniven]

George i dont think that would work as the stainless steel used to construct the stove is only about 0.3 - 0.4mm thick, not a great welder myself but you might stuggle to produce anything that doesnt distort the steel and end up making a worse seal. I take it the rope glue is not that good then ? i have heard of a sealing tape similar to a draught excluder shape which can fit over the edge of thin steel dont know if you have heard of this or if it might work in this case ?

Mike

 

[george]

The stove glue is pretty brittle and you need to get a really good bond for it to stay in place. Obviously the greater the surface area you have in contact the stronger it's going to be. You might find some of the flat tape-like stove rope that would bond better without the support of the weld channel. i've seen some of it but never found a supplier. it looks a bit like lamp wick. Possibly try gas boiler repair place? It was on a gas boiler that I saw he stuff.

I thought the metal would be very thin and you're right that it would probably warp if you didn't know exactly what you were doing. Even if you did then differential expansion rates of thick and thin metal might cause problems.

george

 

[simonsays]

That's a really nice teepee you''ve got there! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Adi: I found a homepage with a Google search, this is the one you were looking for
They also do a lovely 2 person teepee - have a look

Why did you have to go and post that link?? My credit card is groaning in anticipation :yikes: I've finally realised what has been missing from my camping experience, a wood fired STOVE ):

Those teepees look fantastic and I want one!

Cheers,
Simon

 

[Exploriment]

Kifaru's stuff is absolutely top notch.

I just got one of their Scout packs two weeks ago, and I can't say enough good things about it. I'm saving up for a Pointman pack right now. I feel pretty confident in saying that their packs are quite possibly the best packs going.

Their discussion forum is very good if you want to learn some more about their products. Kifaru is a small shop and the owners are very responsive to any and all comments and queries. They really do respond to end user input.

This is the section of the forum devoted to their sleds and shelters if you want to learn a bit more about them.
Kifaru shelter forum

 

[Ahjno]

Why did you have to go and post that link?? My credit card is groaning in anticipation :yikes: I've finally realised what has been missing from my camping experience, a wood fired STOVE ):

Those teepees look fantastic and I want one!

Cheers,
Simon

That's because I like people to be well informed, so to speak ):
Now it's up to you mate - who's stronger ... you or your credit card :rolmao: - It's all about willpower :biggthump