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Camp Curmudgeon, Montana's Little Belt Mountains

Are You Troubled by Water in Your Smoke Hole (WSH)?

Photos of tipi with new interior rain cover.

No, I'm not selling a new over-the-counter medication. I’m talking about the problem of tipi owners everywhere: rain dripping from the smoke hole.  Have you ever had to get up in the middle of the night to go out and close the smoke flaps? Suppose you have a fire burning: what then?  Such is the stuff memories are made of.  I don’t know about you, but I have enough of those memories.
 
Until now, I’ve used an outside rain cap that fits over the top of the tipi poles and guys out to the ground.  It works, but it’s hard to put up and can be problematic in those high-country thunder-boomers.  Today, I cut up my canvas rain cap to make an inside rain cover.  The Laubin’s book, The Indian Tipi, mentions inside rain covers as does Tipis, Tepees, and Teepees by Holley. But those designs seem as cumbersome as an outside cover.  My rain cover is small, light, and easy to install.  It should keep out the rain while allowing me to open the smoke flaps and have a fire.  I’ll try it out when I go up in the high lonesome this summer.  I sure hope it works - - - - I cut up my rain cap to make it!  I’ll keep you posted.

***Follow Up***
I tried it out through a summer of thunder boomers and all day rains and it kept me and my powder dry. A few drops of water managed to trickle down the tipi poles, but not enough to cause me any problems. I consider it a success and now it is a permanent part of the tipi. Not only has this cured my WSH, I made one for Brian in Helena Montana who was also troubled by WSH. 
 
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