CAMP: One-Tigris Northgaze TC Tipi Hot-Tent (preliminary gear review)
After my 20+ year old Walrus Rapeede 4-season tent stubbornly refused to let me repair it we needed a new tent for the annual “float” trip, and we needed it quickly, because our we were leaving in a few days. We looked at a lot of options, as I’ll go into below, but ended up getting a One-Tigris Northgaze Tipi hot tent to add to our gear garage. Read on for my thoughts on this tent (and a trip report from our annual summer car-camping trip to our friend’s farm on a little river in the Missouri Bootheel region).
The Walrus tent fix will be a story for another post, and will probably require some re-engineering to eliminate a continual failure point in the frame geometry, maybe swapping the pole sleeves with clips or loops of some kind?)… Anyway, not something that would be an immediate fix – Of course, I’d had the parts on hand to fix the Walrus since just after this trip last year, but it was a pretty low priority, and I didn’t realize it wasn’t going to work until a failed test drive in our living room (I replaced the broken plastic hubs with generic aluminum 3-way tent pole fittings from ebay. That worked great, until the poles stress-fractured at the connection instead of the hubs giving way as before… I had repair pole sleeves but wasn’t willing to go out with a known-faulty tent without some more tweaking or pole replacement)… Oops. I already replaced the shock cord, but not the poles… that’s another project… for another day!
Time to go Tent Shopping!
We checked the REI Outlet and Used gear sections, but weren’t in love with anything in our price range (or out of it). I didn’t want to just get a cheap big-box dome tent that wouldn’t last, and ideally this new tent would work in scenarios other than this annual early summer car camping trip we were about to go on – hot, muggy Missouri weather camped on a buddy’s farm between a bean field and a big creek with 20-30 other folks.
We used our Big Agnes Fly Creek 3 ultralight nylon backpacking tent for this trip a few years ago (link is for the newer redesigned HV version, that fixes one of my biggest issues with ours- that the sloping vestibule lets rain in during entry and exit- it’s annoying but not enough for me to shell out for the new one until ours dies… but I’m glad they fixed it!), and the currently out-of-commission old Walrus last year (which has more head room, and breathable opaque sidewalls instead of the full mesh top of the Fly Creek, so we can leave the fly off without flashing our friends).
But the Walrus gave up the ghost on us on this trip last year, and since we have the big dog (and his crate) with us this time, we were looking for something bigger and more comfortable for all of us. It’s HOT in that Fly Creek with the fly on (and without the fly, there’s no privacy for us or our tent neighbors… it’s a great backcountry tent but not ideal for this situation). There’s rain in the forecast that weekend, plus we want to save wear and tear on that expensive piece of gear for when we need it – when we’re carrying it in our backpacks! As much as I love our Fly Creek, this is not a great setup for this trip… We need a different tent (ok, I *want* a different tent, but still…).
Our Criteria for Picking this Tent:
This is somewhat of a glamping trip, where most folks are in big car-camping tents or even campers. We’re there to swim in the creek, eat good food, drink too much, sit around the fire at night with friends we often only see on this trip, and then try to sleep in the often muggy heat… not go fast and light. More like heavy and sloooow, put up a pop-up awning with lawn chairs, inflate the full-sized air mattress (I wish, but a lot of folks do) and the novelty pool floaties and maybe string some fairy lights (we didn’t, but someone did).
Anyway. Weight doesn’t matter here, but it’s gotta fit in the car, and ideally, whatever we buy will also work for fall deer camp, maybe for winter pulk sled trekking once we move up north, leisurely car camping trips in national forest spots, or even for future canoe trips to the Boundary Waters? There are limited trees on this site too, so it needs to be semi-self supporting, which rules out the possibility of hammock camping tents or hammock and tarp combos.
That (and our budget) rules out a canvas bell or wall tent or even a giant cabin tent, though someday, that would be pretty sweet! Nope… It’s tipi time. Especially after fussing with the other tent and it’s fussy geometry and delicate parts… I wanted simple. A tipi is about as simple as you can get.
A shape that is super stable in high wind, rain, and even more severe weather, with a clean but versatile design, and room to stand in the center? Yes, please. Unfortunately, mama ain’t got Seek Outside UL monies these days (or time to wait for a custom sew or to MYOG one- though that’s on my project wish list!). We needed off the rack and preferably, cheap without being CHEAP, you know?
2022 is the Year of the Tiger, so I guess it’s only fitting that OneTigris had just the thing for us. An acquaintance bought one of their hammock wall tents this winter and says it stood up to a Lake Superior squall and several winter camps in the UP so far, so I was willing to give them a shot. I wavered a lot between their lighter and larger Rock Fortress and the one I ultimately bought, the Northgaze. For this trip, and these needs, it should do the trick. The Rock Fortress would more packable for backcountry trips, but there are several reasons I opted for the Northgaze, other than it being slightly less expensive (definitely a concern right now!). I’m still not sure I made the right call, but I do like the tent we got for certain situations.
OneTigris Northgaze T/C Hot Tent
I searched a lot for reviews before buying this tent, but there aren’t many and the few that I could find were in Japanese, but still quite helpful to get a sense of the size and setup (auto-translated captions to the rescue, for at least the general idea):
- Izumi Camp YouTube review
- Naodes Camp YouTube review
- GodManZFamily YouTube review
- Yuuichi Takabatake YouTube review (including alternate pole setup with open center)
It’s a poly-canvas blend, so it’s heavy and bulky compared to any other tent I’ve owned, but also, cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, more breathable, and more fire-retardant than the lighter nylon or all polyester. This campsite gets HOT when the sun hits, and we’re usually up late, catching up with our friends and enjoying the cooler evening air, so any extra sleep in the morning is worth it. This tent is also available in a lighter 40D nylon version now, which would be more packable and more waterproof, but also hotter and less breathable, and more susceptible to spark damage if you’re using it with a stove… there are always trade-offs, right?
We put a tarp down on the wet sandy ground, and pitched the Fly Creek (without the rain fly) inside, since I didn’t have time to make or buy a mosquito net or pyramid inner tent, and it still got fairly hot inside the inner tent even with the door guyed and pitched out, but it was a lot less hot than previous years in nylon or polyester tents. I might look at sewing small hooks, velcro, or other attachment points inside the tent to tuck the snow-skirts up inside the tent to let a cross-breeze in from the bottom (and to be easily lowered from inside and not collect water in a storm, which they would if you raised them on the outside.
Double-Door Awning with Molle Webbing
We cut some cane poles from the edge of the field to guy out the double door awning (since it doesn’t come with those poles and we haven’t bought a set of tarp poles yet, and there aren’t convenient trees on these sites to guy out to), and the canopy was perfect to shade and shelter the dog crate (not needed when we camp in more remote places and just set up a zip-line for the dog between two trees while we’re in camp, but in this bustling weekend with lots of people and kids running around and other dogs, Tormod appreciates having a secure spot to nap and it gives all of us a break- and we appreciate not having a wet sandy dog in our tent). The molle webbing on the door flaps adds a bit of weight, but also a lot of utility, and was handy for drying wet suits and gear, keeping sunglasses up out of the way, and was perfect for clipping the Thermacell to keep bugs away while we were changing. I may also use it as an attachment point for mosquito netting in the future for the whole inside of the tent in bug season (I’m a mosquito magnet, unfortunately, and this creekside campground is especially buggy when there is no breeze).
They’ve started making an inner mesh tent liner specifically for the Northgaze now, that is pie-shaped, with an inset wedge and doormat that lines up with the door opening. This would be great for warm weather camping, as it would maximize the bug-free space under the tent and give you a waterproof floor and additional organization (mesh pockets) while still allowing use of the covered awning and place to keep your sandy shoes and dry wet gear outside the tent.
Obviously if you’re using the tent in winter somewhere cold enough to warrant a hot tent, you aren’t too worried about bugs, which is maybe why they designed the full mesh under-tent that doesn’t allow using the stove flap safely. But some folks want the convenience and peace of mind of an enclosed tent with a floor and side zippers (especially if you’re camping with a small dog or kid) but still want part of the tent open (for stashing muddy gear or bikes, or using the stove jack)… this won’t work for that! A liner or inner tent, even if it’s mesh, will help prevent frost condensation on you and your sleeping gear in cold weather too, and can add a tiny bit of warmth (more if you drape an ultralight tarp between the tent walls and the liner to block drafts and keep in body heat), which is another reason to want to be able to use a liner even after bug season, or of course, for camping or hunting in the shoulder-seasons where the weather may or may not be cold enough to have killed off the bugs, or to fend off early-season storms and extreme weather.
You can’t use this Northgaze inner mesh tent with a stove, which is one of the whole purposes of having a hot tent, so if that’s a concern, you might want to consider the half-moon shaped mesh tent sized for another one of their tipi tents (the Rock Fortress). Full-disclosure, I haven’t tested this, but I think you could set it up with enough clearance to use a very small hot-tent stove safely under the tent if you position it carefully. It’s a fair bit lighter (3.7 lbs for the Rock Fortress mesh liner vs the Northgaze liner at 5 lbs, since there is less material and simpler geometry), a little less expensive, and I think it should still fit under this tent, with room for a couple and a dog (or very small child) to sleep in bug-free comfort. The bathtub floor fabric rating is more waterproof on the Rock Fortress liner as well (4000 nm vs 3000 nm), although you give up a bit of headroom over the Northgaze liner as well as the smaller footprint inside the tipi.
It also was a perfect spot to fly our Nordic Animist raven flag, which is:
“… a marker of kinship with the land among people in the Northern hemisphere.
The project rests on Rune Hjarnø’s research in the Nordic Raven Totem as a part of a circumpolar transregional raven mythology that you find all around the Northern Hemisphere among very different peoples, Siberian, Native American, Inuit, European. Explanation here.” -Rune Hjarnø, Nordic Animism Project
This weekend is a time to let loose a little, but also reconnect with nature and with a sense of community that has been otherwise painfully lacking especially in the past few years. My partner has known some of these people and this landscape for most of his life, and it feels very similar to the land where I grew up and we both look forward to this trip, that has brought old and new friends back to this same place for almost every year of the last sixteen.
We float in the water, and our cares lighten a bit… and at night, the trees flash with thousands of fireflies against a backdrop of bright stars (last year our buddy brought telescopes, but this year the clouds didn’t cooperate… such is the way of the universe). Anyway, it seemed an important place for us to fly the raven flag in this place of gathering.
But back to the tent- the snow skirts helped keep bugs out, but also airflow- I’ll be looking at modifications to pitch it higher or to tuck and anchor the skirts up inside to allow airflow underneath, especially in inclement weather when you’d want to close the door(s). I also treated the base and doorways of the tent with permethrin once it was set up, and sprayed on a light coat of Nikwax UV protectant and waterproofer.
Tent Specs:
| Weight: 7.25KG/15.98 lbs (total weight as shipped) | |
| Material: TC/Terylene Cotton (65% Polyester 35% Cotton), 6065 Aluminum Tent Poles, SBS Zippers, aluminum guyline tensioners | |
| Dimensions: Diameter 11.8ft/360cm Height 6.7ft/205cm |
Obviously this is not a tent for gram counters, but about two of the sixteen pounds of the listed weight for the Northgaze are the heavy tent spikes they ship it with- you can shave a fair bit of weight for swapping out with some lighter aluminum stakes, like these, which will help lighten you load a bit, easily shaving 16-24 oz off the base weight for just a few bucks.
Also, as one of the Japanese reviewers suggested (I think, just going on context clues and the auto-translated captions) you can swap out the included reflective guy-lines and aluminum tensioners for lighter ones (like these ultralight plastic guys, which are 30 grams for the dozen and glow in the dark), and ditch the pole bag and peg bags (or swap it and the pole bags for a lighter one). There’s an external top loop, so if you know you’ll be camping somewhere with the right kind of timber, you could pitch it over a limb as well or an external tripod instead of the included pole.
I haven’t had a chance to test this tent in less favorable conditions, but will update with performance feedback when we do. So far, I am happy with it as an addition to the gear closet and look forward to seeing how it handles different conditions on future trips!
Post Script: Want to see more photos of this tent in action, check out this trip review of car-camping in the Hiawatha National Forest. We had a similar setup of our backpacking tent pitched under the tarp, and stayed dry and cozy in at least one pop-up overnight storm, with more room to change and store gear than our backpacking tent would have allowed.
It’s America’s Dog™ Approved!
(he does not, however, approve of all y’all blowing up our neighborhood with fireworks right now, and he suggest you all chill with some cheese and Benadryl instead… takes the edge off, ya know?)