DIY tents

[dtalbot]

Well I'm getting into this diy kit stuff, I've got a very comfey Thai hammock and an even better ventile jacket which just needs some finishing touches.
Thinking of another project does anyone know of any good DIY lightweight tent designs for those times when a hammock and tarp won't quite do?
Cheers
David

 

[Smudge]

The only idea that springs to mind for me is the Alpha tent its been posted so many places im sure is been here too at some point ...
http://www.alpharubicon.com/prepinfo/ponchotent.htm
Hope it helps

 

[Andy]

how many people will it need to sleep. the easiest design i can think of would be the vango force ten type thing only smaller or a simple tunnel. how good are you with the trig to sort out the angles, lengths you need stuff to be. my mum made an inner tent once. do you want it to be double skin skin or single. if you want a tunnel the only tricky bit its the end.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

on my recent course the single hoop variety were very popular due to low weight and packed size.

as an ex salesman (Blacks, and outdoors)i would guide you into spending £50 to £100 as a minimum, you will find bargains cheeper than this but generally speaking anything less will not be as good quality, it will still work but not as well.

secound bit of advice, actually get in the tent! any good shop will allow you to see and inspect the product, don't feel embarresed to ask, it's thier job!

it's always worth asking for a discount, we were allowed to give a discretional 15% discount (helps if you are friendly!)

with the tent, remember if the weather turns nasty you could be in there for some hours, so make sure the tent is big enough to move around in.

alpha tents are fine (i have one) but they do get some funny looks on camp sites, and you could be refused entry, worth phoning ahead to check

 

[Smudge]

RAPPLEBY2000: dtalbot wants to make one not buy, plus if its just for general bushcraftin at the prices I see for a half decent tent I dont blame him :roll:

 

[dtalbot]

Yep,
Havin a look round designs way out of my good job but three rugrats pocket I recon somthing like a Hex 3 will be fairly easy to create, my SWMBO made me beaut of a ventile jacket (piccies once the finishing touches are done) so I think she will be able to create a pyramid tent in next to no time!
Cheers
David

 

[Andy]

what material are you using for it? Ive only ever been involved with making a yurt in the past

 

[dtalbot]

what material are you using for it? Ive only ever been involved with making a yurt in the past

Still at the research stage so not quite decided yet but kight, strong, waterproof are the requirements so somthing like silicone coated ripstop is looking promising.

 

[Ed]

so I think she will be able to create a pyramid tent in next to no time!

Thats probably your best option as its a nice simple design.


Ed

 

[Exploriment]

Probably the last resource you will ever need when it comes to making your own shelters
61 pages (yup) of info about tarp tents from the always superb, Equipped to Survive.
http://www.equipped.org/tarp-shelters.pdf

 

[Stuart]

Good link!!

I'll read though that this evening

 

[dtalbot]

Yep,
thats a good one I found some months ago. Another one I've found that you folks may like is www.tarptent.com yep they sell them for mega bucks but if you look in the 'project' section there is a nice DIY design that will probably tempt me away from a pyramid. Problems with pyramids is the ammount of fabric needed and the number of seams to leak to get a decent size!
Cheers
David

Oops sorry, an extra 's' in the URL to start with, OK now!
David

 

[Ed]

Cheers for those links guys..... very interesting

Ed

 

[mmcniven]

I made my own tent last year along the lines of a teepee but more at a slant giving more room at one end. Fairly simple to do i modelled the tent in 3D which gave me the size of all the panels ( fairly hard to do if you are not used to using this kind of software but it could be worked out using some easy maths). It is single skin and i made a detachable ground sheet. I have used it quite a bit and was real easy to sew up.
Take a look at my website www.polardesigns-uk.com there are some pictures in there under the whats new section.
Hope this is of some help

Michael