Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Debuted at SHOT Show earlier this year, Two Vets Tripods unveiled some prototypes of an innovative new type of tent. Their Tripod Tipi is designed to be “a field expedient shelter to long stay shelter to a field expedient hide.” Weighing in between 1.5-2.36 lbs and ingeniously designed to mount directly onto a tripod, it offers a unique solution that trims both weight and bulk compared to traditional tent setups. What’s more, this shelter effortlessly folds down to the size of a Nalgene bottle, ensuring it occupies minimal precious space in your backpack.
Table of contents
The Tripod Tipi Features:
Weight & Material for Multicam: 1.5lbs, Waterproof ripstop and coated
Weight & Material for Solid Colors: 2.36lbs, Nylon Packcloth
Anchor points: 7
Recommended minimum tripod height: 65.5″
Storage size: Roughly 8″ x 6″ x 5″ when compressed
From the Factory
When ordering the Tripod Tipi, it is available in Multicam, Coyote Brown, or Alpine color schemes. It does not come with a tripod but does come with a stuff sack to store the canvas in. This can compress down to reduce the volume needed to store it.
READ MORE: The Tripod Tipi Tent — SHOT Show 2023
Tripod Tipi Setup
No user manual comes with this tent, but none is really needed. It took me all of like 2 minutes to set this up with no instructions. Setting up the tripod to use with the tent was the longest part. As all tents use some sort of poles to give stability and structure to the waterproof canvas, this one utilizes a tripod. For hunters, this is ideal. It minimizes the amount of gear required when out in the field if a tripod is already part of your kit.
The tripod has 6 internal velcro straps which wrap around the legs of the tripod used. These work in place of traditional hooks that tents use to clamp onto the poles. They held tight and never worked themselves loose during my testing. For this review, I used The Kit by Two Vets Tripods. While this is a tent review, I will say I spent time using and shooting with this tripod and it works great. A solid platform to shoot from, and apparently to use as a structure for a tent!
All three corners, the middle of each long edge, and on each side of the zipper have a 5-50 cord anchor point to stake the tent down. The Tripod Tipi does not come with any stakes, so you will have to find some of your own. Staking down the tent is a necessity. Where all tents I have used in the past had a floor, this one only provides a roof and wall for the shelter. This means packs, gear, or even sitting in the tent can’t keep it from blowing away.
Special Features
Each of the three corners of the Tripod Tipi has a sewn pocket with an elastic bungee that wraps around the legs of the tripod. This bungee can be used to loosen or tighten how tight the corners are pulled against the leg of the tripod. These held up even in high winds of up to 50mph.
The top of this Tripod Tipi features a sort of pocket that goes around a ball head that is used for mounting optics or rifles. One thing I wish Two Vets Tripods would have incorporated would have been a way to remove this pocket. I think it would have been ideal to have the tent or hide set up with a rifle mounted on top. This could have been a sort of dual-use observation station, but to mount anything on the tripod, the tent needs to be taken down. Also, while a headlamp could be hung from the tripod itself, there are no vestibules or pockets for storing gear inside the Tripod Tipi. This is truly a minimalist design.
Portability
One cool aspect of this is the ability to move the tent as a sort of hide. Without a floor, it is easy to just stand up and walk with the tent around to reposition in a different location. While not ideal, some may even be able to use this method to stalk up on game if brush and timber aren’t thick.
For those who would like just to tear it all down and move, it takes just a couple of minutes to remove the tent, throw it in the stuff sack, and collapse the tripod. Again, the stuff sack does not take up much room to help improve mobility.
Tripod Tipi Access and Entry
The Tripod Tipi has a single zipper on the middle of one of the faces. This is simplistic and all that is really needed for a tent of this size. While there is no velcro to cover the zipper flap, I never had the zipper work itself loose in the wind.
Interior Space
Now for the useability of this tent. Being a tipi with three legs, the internal space is not ideal. Most tents are rectangular with head space all around. However, with the Tripod Tipi, the headspace is all concentrated in the center of the tent. As a guy that is 6’2″ or 74″ I cannot lay down flat in the middle of the tent without my head and feet hitting both ends. I have to lay on the very edge and then I still am almost hitting both ends. I made the image below to help visualize what I am writing about:
READ MORE: Backcountry Prep: Test It!
On paper, it looks like I should have some clearance, but due to the nearly 45-degree slope of the edges going up to the top of the tent, there isn’t much wiggle room. When I lay along one of the three edges, water can easily flow underneath and potentially wet my sleeping pad or bag during rain. The only real idea I have for waterproofing this tent would be a separate homemade triangle tarp that could lay flat on the ground with excess material on the edges that could velcro to the Tripod Tipi on every internal side.
Also, I would not consider this to be more than a 1 person tent. The floor area may seem big enough, but the layout is not suited for laying down. There is plenty of space for gear with one person, but not enough for people to be sleeping.
Durability
So how durable is the Tripod Tipi? Well, it sort of depends on which model you get. The Multicam model is lighter weight and made from a ripstop material. The thicker nylon packcloth that the solid color versions are made from is more hardy. I took this tent with me on a 10-day road trip/camping through Iceland and only used it once. Due to the constant rain, this was not as good of an option as the other tent I brought along since it didn’t have a floor. Also, while setting up this tent a gust of wind sent it falling down on the rocks.
While I didn’t immediately notice any damage, I found a quarter-sized hole in the side later on, with multiple other small pin holes through the edge. The Tripod Tipi material feels thin yet comparable to most backpacking tents.
Tripod Tipi Summary
Two Vets Tripods was on to something when they first imagined the Tripod Tipi. For those already hunting or shooting with a tripod, a design like this seems to be a no-brainer. However, the end product doesn’t make much sense to me as a “long-stay shelter.” I think where the Tripod Tipi shines is as an expedient field hide. Or being used for some other form of concealment. The Coyote Brown model has an MSRP of $375, and the Multicam and Alpine models have an MSRP of $475. In my mind, these prices are quite steep for a glorified tarp that mounts to a tripod. If there was a way to waterproof the base this starts to make more sense in my mind. However, the overall shape still makes it a tough fit for me coming in at over 6′ tall.
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I just finished reading an article in The Backwoodsman Magazine in which the author stated that even if the tent he is in is floored he puts his ground cloth down immediately under whatever he is sleeping in, not between the floor of the tent and the ground as we have all been taught to do. He contended that the floors purpose in life is to make the tent set up easier. Not sure I agree with that but his point was that floored or unfloored a ground cloth needs to go in the tent immediately under your sleeping bag.