Greetings. After spending a bit of time in a friends tipi I am contemplating getting my own for extended family and group camping. I understand transporting kinda sucks but I have the truck and trailers to move poles. Set up is also no joke but would only use it for multiple night stays. Once its up I find them amazingly comfortable and sturdy. I am currently looking at the nomadic tipi in probably a 20'. It is for me at least quite a chunk of change but worth it to me largely because the time that would be spent in it with my young son. Any experience or advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh

If it's only one or two in a lodge then I would suggest a 16' or at most an 18'. The larger lodges take bigger poles and are a harder to deal with. With one person setting up I would recommend a 16' footer, 18' is nice to have two but one can do it fairly easily, while with anything bigger it just about needs two are three to set up.
FWIW - I lived in my 18' lodge years ago for nigh onto a year and I also used for years doing rendezvous. While the space was nice in some ways I'd still go with a smaller lodge for heating purposes, etc.

My opinion and as always others will differ.....

Thanks Chuck. Your advice is consistent with what I am reading elsewhere. Mine would be used with my wife and a couple kids or myself and several hunting buddies, which is why I am thinking a 20' might give us a little more room. Other than heating did you have any other issues? Also did you use a wood stove?
Thanks,
Josh

Lodges are very cool, but I wonder if you have looked at all of the tentage available? Plus if you are thinking living history, some of the events don't allow a Lodge.

Well be that as it may, you wrote you were interested in camping with the youngster, and group camping...., The Baker was a favorite of early campers and hunters from the 19th century through the 20th, as was/is the Whelen tent. The Baker seems smaller on paper than a lodge but with the rear wall you get an increase in useful room. The Whelen is smaller, and an open faced shelter, so a lady may want more privacy. They were/are popular as more easy to transport than the Baker or the Lodge, but you do sacrifice some stuff. A Whelen is probably too small in any case for you.

For ease of transport, setup, AND for the advantages of a Lodge but without all the poles, a Pyramid tent is a really good tent, and even more room may be had by erecting two poles outside thus /\ to support the peak, instead of single pole within. Alas it also does not pass muster at all events, but of all of your concerns, and at a much lower price with shorter poles, I'd suggest you at least consider the Pyramid.

LD

P.S. ..., it is also an equally valid reason for you to chose a 16' lodge, simply because a lodge is really cool.

Thanks for the info Dave. I have spent the last year looking at pyramid tents and they definately have alot going for them. However I am really wanting to be able to have the option of the open fire. the tipi's i have been in also seem to vent better for hot weather use. I enjoy living history and visiting rendevous but wont participate in them myself for the reason you stated. I can't abide by all the rules. I can appreciate why they have them and I have learned from the however.
Thanks,
Josh

howdy j_d - I didn't use a stove but know of some others I know did/do and they love it. The only other problem I had was some "tourists" coming across it (I was on a private ranch backed up against a wilderness area) and deciding that they were at Frontier Land while I was gone on a short trip. They were surprised when they found the owner was a hairy mtn man with hawk in one hand and a pistol in the other a pistol. Wouldn't have minded if they had had to stay for shortwhile, but they drank all my whiskey and ate up most of the deer ham I'd smoked.

A 20' tipi is great for a group. But when that group does not show up or help.....you are in a large tipi that is hard to heat and set up. As for a stove....there are many people who use a type of stove in a tipi. The problem is making sure you do not burn the tipi down with a hot stove pipe. Here is a site that goes into some ways of heating a tipi. http://www.tipis.org/fire_places.htm This site also deals in Historic set up of tipis and not the Laubin Modern camping. Depends on how you want to use your tipi or the look you are after. www.tipis.org is the short cut to the main site. Then who will make your lodge???? materials, and style. I have over 40 years of experience with lodges....and some great stores on their use.

Thanks for the replies. I can't imagine what kind of person would go around drinking an other man's whiskey and eating his ham.

I have looked at Nomadics but have not decided for sure. One of the two I have been able to check out was made by them. I understand the concern about help not showing up but I am confident I can get at least two helpers. As far as heating it would not be full time winter camping, mostly for some get togethers. Its kind of a friend and family tradition to do some winter camping and we usually stay in lean-tos made made from a wood frame and tarps. The tipi seemed much more comfortable. I get that bigger is harder in some aspects but the !6' seemed a bit small and while I suppose I could go for the 18' the 20' seemed like a safer bet for the room we would use.

I will check out the links and appreciate the input.
Josh

Are there any pow-wows in your area, or could you travel to one where you could see different sizes set up and compare the various sizes? I readily admit that I don't know enough about tipis, pow-wows, or tentage to even put forward a completely workable suggestion... that question just sort of popped up for me. I know that even here in Virginia I see advertisements for pow-wows although I haven't been to one.

quote:

the tipi's i have been in also seem to vent better for hot weather use.

Well that's true, you can lift the sides on a lodge and get some good air flow, and the other tents don't quite do that very well.

LD

Just returned from 4 day Ancient Ones of Maine Vous. First camp in my 18' Panther tipi.Three fair Fall days one day rain. GREAT! Learned how to handle drips,locate and regulate fire,and host cold wet guests.I would advise 18' max and if needed a separate "gear" tent for a group of hunters.At age 72 I can put this up alone (help is welcome) transport of 24' poles is PIA.

For what it's worth....,

You can tell around my area who's transporting a lodge, as they have a single post on their front bumper topped with a fork Џ shape to support the poles in the front, and run them from the luggage rack forward to the front bumper, and sometimes the same out to the back bumper. I've also seen Ґ shape where they lash them on the top of a T but with a side support on top to prevent sliding or a ╤ arrangement and compress a bar over the top of the poles onto the top of a T like a ski holder, to hold the poles in place.

I've seen some sedans set up that way, and the owner told me he preferred to run his poles forward as well as back, as he could keep track of them and knew they hadn't shifted, nor had they dropped off behind and into traffic

LD