Tepee,Millets

[Graywolf]

Daughter went for a weekend job in Millets and brought me home their tent catalogue,have a look at this.Nice size,Wife wanted one straight away as a birthday present so I got it for her.Cost 20% of at the moment and £4.95 postage total £52.94.
http://www.millets.co.uk/millets.st...Base+Catalog);MIL+SS06+Tents(BLG+Base+Catalog)

 

[Womble]

I thought they looked good. accent on the "thought". I got one and had it up at the weekend duringk a Scout camp, and have to say I was exceptionally dissapointed.

1) The window seals leak. In the rain water puddles form directly below the window. Right onto my thermarest and sleeping bag.

2) The strip of patterned material at the bottom is not so waterproof as the rest of the tent. water seeps in with ridiculous ease.

3) The stiched seal between the groundsheet and the outer points upward, making a nice rim for water to pool at the bottom - right by where the material isn't waterproof.

As a result - when it rains (and boy, it DID rain this weekend), water runs down the sides, accumulates at the bottom and seeps through into the body of the teepee and settles there on the groundsheet. And that's all the way around, except where the doors are.

I'm really dissapointed at this - I know it's not a full-on survival thing and is described in the Milletts catalog as "· Quick and easy to put up · Fun tepee style shelter · Great for those summer festivals" but I would especially refute that last part utterly. As a garden play thing - fine; but don't even think about using it as a way of keeping anything dry in the rain.

It's plus points are
1) the amount of space inside - it really is big inside!
2) the headroom in the middle - it was nice to be able to stand up inside it.
3) the overall sturdyness of the teepee when up - it was very stable
4) the pole - I have to admit it was nice & solid.

However these are outweighed big-time by its minus ones - and that's what makes it so dissapointing. There are some major design flaws in this product. Mine's going back this weekend - the manager at my local MIllets asked me for a mini-review of the thing, and I'm afraid he's gonna get it...

 

[bothyman]

It looks nice but it looks like you could get a lot of condensation inside .
I have a Pyramid tent (Stormshield X Tent) and sometimes just put up the outer even with an air gap at the bottom it get too hot inside in warm weather.
But its fine as long as I use the inner with it.
I presume the seams are not sealed when you buy it?? and need sorting with seam sealant the first time out??
Whenever I buy a new tent I always buy seam sealant at the same time, so I can make sure all the seams are sealed..

MickT

 

[Womble]

They looked sealed, but on closer inspection around the window there were a couple of places where the stiching wasn't up to much. It was almost as if the inside window flaps (for privacy I suppose) had been a target for water to enter, as the puddles were directly under the flaps. The rest of the seams seemed fine, there was no leakage in any other part of the structure.

It definately wasn't condensation - I wasn't in the teepee when the water got in!

I think however that the main problem is the strip of decorated material at the bottom that rain water can't help but run onto, it just got really saturated, really quickly - after only 2 hours worth of rain!

 

[Toddy]

I've been playing around with this idea for a while, Magikelly and Motorbikeman's fault but kept coming up against the £££ figure for something that I might not use. Thanks for all the advice folks, I think I'm going to try it though but use it as a template/ improver upper. I'll take on board the issues bothWomble and Bothyman raised and see what I can do about them.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Squidders]

That's a shame - I was seriously thinking about getting one of these... I admit, the main reason is because I can't say no to a bargain but still... a little annoying about the quality issues.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[moduser]

I was wondering if it might not be easier to make one?

I don't know what fabric woyld be best but as long as it was light and waterproof it would be a nice alternative to a tarp.

Maybe someone would volunteer to knock one up for me?

Seriously if a pattern and fabric recommendations were available I'd be inclined to have a go.

Moduser

 

[moduser]

I was wondering if it might not be easier to make one?

I don't know what fabric woyld be best but as long as it was light and waterproof it would be a nice alternative to a tarp.

Maybe someone would volunteer to knock one up for me?

Seriously if a pattern and fabric recommendations were available I'd be inclined to have a go.

Moduser

 

[Womble]

Some friends of mine were discussing doing just that (making one) last Wednesday. One of them had a source for material as used for making re-enactment tents at a very reasonable price, and we were seriously considering it. However, this would not be a compact pack-up affair, this material is reasonably heavy duty!

 

[moduser]

That's the thing Womble, I'd want something that I could scrunch down into a medium Exped bag (about 5 ltr).

I wonder if Pertex would make a good enough tipee? not sure how waterproof it would be. Anyone know if Sil Nylon is available in UK?

Rgds

Moduser

 

[Doc]

Grateful for the review - I thought it looked an interesting tent. There are some good cheap tents but its a pity this isn't one of them.

Are the poles good? I think they are steel but then again this ain't a backpacking tent. Perhaps a decent fly could be made from proofed cotton or similar.

 

[mojofilter]

I wonder if they could be modified a bit to sort out some of the shortcomings......

Im thinking along the lines of cutting the groundsheet out and attacking the seams and material bit at the bottom with a tin of Barbour wax or similar....

What are they made of, just standard cheap tent material?

 

[Toddy]

I got mine today, and haven't had a chance to play with it really yet. It's just bog standard tent fabric but I see what Womble means about the patterned band around the bottom. I think some serious re-construction is in order; groundsheet and hems particularly, but I'll have a good look at the window too.
On the plus side the pole looks good and sturdy and the tepee looks as though it goes up easily. If nothing else it's a good sized pattern and it'll do for the kids to play in; if the weather holds when I'm out next I think I'd like to have a good shot at it and see just how suitable it is for cooking, sitting, sleeping, etc.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[running bare]

making them is not so difficult and the choice of material is up to you i made one out of 9.5 oz cotton canvas from whaleys of bradford cost in all to make about £120 with thread and needles, mind you it is 9ft high x 16ft dia. not a lightweight but good as a base camp for a week or so or as group tent on canoe trips ( when i get mine finished ) check out my avitar

 

[mojofilter]

I got mine today, and haven't had a chance to play with it really yet. It's just bog standard tent fabric but I see what Womble means about the patterned band around the bottom. I think some serious re-construction is in order; groundsheet and hems particularly, but I'll have a good look at the window too.
On the plus side the pole looks good and sturdy and the tepee looks as though it goes up easily. If nothing else it's a good sized pattern and it'll do for the kids to play in; if the weather holds when I'm out next I think I'd like to have a good shot at it and see just how suitable it is for cooking, sitting, sleeping, etc.

Cheers,
Toddy

Put it up in the garden and sleep in it tonight.......

 

[Motorbike Man]

I've been playing around with this idea for a while, Magikelly and Motorbikeman's fault but kept coming up against the £££ figure for something that I might not use. Thanks for all the advice folks, I think I'm going to try it though but use it as a template/ improver upper. I'll take on board the issues bothWomble and Bothyman raised and see what I can do about them.

Cheers,
Toddy

Let me know how you get on

 

[featherman208]

just reading your posts on tipi's and thought you might like to see this i came across a while ago....not quite as pricey as the light my fire tipi's but dear enough all the same,remember the price is in dollars http://www.kifaru.net/TIPI.HTM
lightweight,option for you to look at anyway.

have seen photo's of running bears home made tipi and must say he's made a cracking job of building his own ,looks suitably sturdy ,don't think any one would pick it up and run away with it anyway r.b.

 

[bothyman]

I wonder if they could be modified a bit to sort out some of the shortcomings......

Im thinking along the lines of cutting the groundsheet out and attacking the seams and material bit at the bottom with a tin of Barbour wax or similar....

What are they made of, just standard cheap tent material?

Use Seam Sealant most camping shops sell it, its usually the seams that are leaking through the stitching.
It says taped seams on the ad though??
Can't be that bad for £50??

I fancy one but that window puts me off .

MickT

 

[Toddy]

Had a play with it this morning, inclined to be pleased to be honest. It's *big*, the windows are diamond shaped and I reckon I can seal them no bother. The bottom edge is going to need some work because I can see what Womble meant about it creating a drip trap, need to think about that one
HWMBLT says that the Glasgow shop had these marked as half price for £59.9?,
I'm going to wait for a sunny, light wind day and put it up and seal all the seams again and decide what to do about the groundsheet/tent seam.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[led]

'HWMBLT'

LOL, I've not seen that before!