An unfriendly Good Companion

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Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
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Wiltshire
Or is it just me?

How does the wretched thing go up?

I have pics of one, but I cannot see how they work.
 

Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
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<scratches head>

Its a Blacks good Companion, a famous tent.

it goes up on a bipod thingy. I am mystified.
 

Squidders

Full Member
Aug 3, 2004
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Harrow, Middlesex
I asked a few random people and none of them could name a famous tent. Plenty of designs (tipi, yurt etc) but no famous models.

I found some photos and scans of sales pages online but no instructions.
 

Hog On Ice

Nomad
Oct 19, 2012
253
0
Virginia, USA
Blacks%2BGC%2Bactual%2Bpix.jpg
 

Hog On Ice

Nomad
Oct 19, 2012
253
0
Virginia, USA
well I can make a few guesses as to how it goes up but thats all they would be is guesses

my swag:

1. peg down the floor of the tent
2. attach apex of tent to angle pole top angle and raise angle pole (bipod thing I think) up positioning the angle pole so the high point is right over the apex of the tent
3. run lines out to pegs for the upper tie outs around the tent - at this point I think it would be stable but ... on the other hand there may be lines I can't see that actually hold the angle pole up
4. toss rain fly over angle pole and peg it out in a "normal" way
 

cranmere

Settler
Mar 7, 2014
992
2
Somerset, England
I just found this thread whilst looking for something else. I used to own one of these, it was a brilliant tent and stood up to some pretty severe conditions. To put it up you peg down the groundsheet and peg out the fore and aft guylines loosely. Splay the legs wide and hook the peak of the tent to the hook on the underside of the poles, then move the poles until the tent is about the right shape. Tension the fore and aft guylines then peg out the rest. I'm not very tall so I used to throw the flysheet over the top before raising the legs but if you're not a Devonshire dwarf like me you can do it after the main tent has been put up.
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,136
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Pembrokeshire
I asked a few random people and none of them could name a famous tent. Plenty of designs (tipi, yurt etc) but no famous models.

QUOTE]

Not even Vango Force 10, Saunders Spacepacker or Blacks Good Companion?
Either the folk you ask are non-campers or very young! :)
Cranmere has it right by my recall.... we used them as bomb proof lodgings for the teams of apprentices etc that we used to waltz around the High Peak in all weathers.
We used to issue OB1 and 2 rucksacks to them and sleepingbags that only just fitted in the pack if you spent 6 hours wrestling the thing into a small size....
GCs were state of the art...
 

Squidders

Full Member
Aug 3, 2004
3,853
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48
Harrow, Middlesex
I asked a few random people and none of them could name a famous tent. Plenty of designs (tipi, yurt etc) but no famous models.

QUOTE]

Not even Vango Force 10, Saunders Spacepacker or Blacks Good Companion?
Either the folk you ask are non-campers or very young! :)
Cranmere has it right by my recall.... we used them as bomb proof lodgings for the teams of apprentices etc that we used to waltz around the High Peak in all weathers.
We used to issue OB1 and 2 rucksacks to them and sleepingbags that only just fitted in the pack if you spent 6 hours wrestling the thing into a small size....
GCs were state of the art...

Non-campers they were John... but then again the point of fame is that it crosses areas of interest so that people outside of a given interest are still aware of the famous thing.
Fame is having a widespread reputation.

But narrow it down to those with the knowledge... Old campers... yeah, of course they will know... they know about lots of old camping equipment :p
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,136
2,874
66
Pembrokeshire
Non-campers they were John... but then again the point of fame is that it crosses areas of interest so that people outside of a given interest are still aware of the famous thing.
Fame is having a widespread reputation.

But narrow it down to those with the knowledge... Old campers... yeah, of course they will know... they know about lots of old camping equipment :p

Widespread - OK..
But I have heard the term "Famous Actor" used about Soap Stars... and I do not recognise any of the names... "Famous Singer"... and if they "performed" after the 80s then their names mean nothing to me... I have even heard the term "Famous Mathematician"!
All fame is relative and selective of audience :)
 

Squidders

Full Member
Aug 3, 2004
3,853
15
48
Harrow, Middlesex
Widespread - OK..
But I have heard the term "Famous Actor" used about Soap Stars... and I do not recognise any of the names... "Famous Singer"... and if they "performed" after the 80s then their names mean nothing to me... I have even heard the term "Famous Mathematician"!
All fame is relative and selective of audience :)

I agree about actors, especially reality people... but some things are famous... things that transcend mere interest and audience and make their way into common knowledge.

It's an interesting, albeit off-topic and short term discussion. I guess the reason I brought it up in the first place was to help expectations for Tengu with how few people might have first-hand knowledge of the tent.
 

oldtimer

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Sep 27, 2005
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Oxfordshire and Pyrenees-Orientales, France
To someone of my age the "Good Companion" tent was one of a very few available for back-packing or cycle camping. I always wanted one but could never afford it. They were made by Blacks of Greenock before the morphed into a high street fashion clothes store with a few camping things on sale.


As to the question. Peg out floor first then insert pole, then guys. Some modified the single pole to an A pole to provide more room inside. Flysheet goes over pitched-first inner tent.
 

cranmere

Settler
Mar 7, 2014
992
2
Somerset, England
I discovered that you could buy seconds quality for a good third off the normal price. Mine was deemed seconds because the panels were slightly different colours having been made from different bolts of cloth.
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
To someone of my age the "Good Companion" tent was one of a very few available for back-packing or cycle camping. I always wanted one but could never afford it. They were made by Blacks of Greenock before the morphed into a high street fashion clothes store with a few camping things on sale.


As to the question. Peg out floor first then insert pole, then guys. Some modified the single pole to an A pole to provide more room inside. Flysheet goes over pitched-first inner tent.

The 'A' poles were an option offered by Blacks. They used to be a great company

blacks anorak001.jpg

GC-1952-P26.-ICELANDIC-BAG.jpg
 

oldtimer

Full Member
Sep 27, 2005
3,202
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Oxfordshire and Pyrenees-Orientales, France
Wow! the old Black's Icelandic which I used for many years throughout Europe and the USA. It eventually got too thin and was replaced by a RAB bag. The "Icelandic" is now the stuffing to a cushion!

I used to drool over that Black's catalogue and bought many things from it. Although Blacks is but a shadow of its former self, I have to admit that the staff of the Oxford shop are knowledgeable, helpful and professional. Would that the stock was better.
 

Tengu

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Jan 10, 2006
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51
Wiltshire
Well, an old thread rezzed.

I still have the tent but its back home in Wiltshire....Ill try it when I return for Easter.
 

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