Got given a nifty tent

[Tengu]

no brand and seems pretty old, the inner is of a loose cottonlike (though artificial) material so theres no risk of condensation (unlike my modern dome tent...do you know I have three ridge tents but only one dome?? Im pretty conservative)

no guys...does it need them?

only bad thing (aside from no bag, but I can improvise one) is steel poles, but Ill replace those.

 

[John Fenna]

This was a fairly standard desidn back in my youth and several makers made them of several material combos.
It pitches better if you have the ridge pole between the inner and the flysheet.
It is quite easy to add a porch on the front to make it better in very wet weather.
I have spent many a cozy night in this kind of tent and for rough weather I would add front and rear guys and little rain caps over the pole spikes to stop rain running down the poles into the tent - you can get them at most tent shops even today!
From the colours it could be an old Litchfield or Alpino.........

 

[Tengu]

Its got a polytarp groundsheet so I cant imagine it being a fancy brand

 

[mace242]

Now there is a blast from the past. I had one exactly the same when I was younger. As John says the pole goes between the inner and the fly. Also I had guys that looped over the end of the uprights connected to - if memory serves - little caps that stopped the rain running down the poles. I was just thinking about my tent like that - my dad bought it, my first proper framed backpack and my first penknife for me to have in the scouts - that would have been over 25 or so years ago. Nice one

 

[Tadpole]

When I was a lad I had a tent Just like that, and I mean that very colour. I bought it from Millets for £24,
I used it quite often for two or three years, mostly in the summer/autumn as it was not the most storm proof of tents. It had a habit of growing mould, and smelling bad, if packed away wet. Mine came with front and rear guys, plastic feet for the poles inside the tent, and little rain caps for outside the tent. Great tents roomy if I remember right, well roomy for one anyway

 

[tommy the cat]

Yep still got one of those tents....in green though.
Yes Lichfield did them Tengu and about 20 years ago were about £20 Bags were a bit crappy with them anyway! Used mine last at Glastonbury...198........dunno but the House Martins and Level 42 were on the mainstage...oh and The Cure.....have I digressed?
dave

 

[Tadpole]

Used mine last at Glastonbury...198........dunno but the House Martins and Level 42 were on the mainstage...oh and The Cure.....have I digressed?
dave

ah 1986, now that was a good year

 

[Beer Monster]

Looks like a Vango Force 10 - but without the porch.

Painful memories of lugging one of those beasts around Dartmoor in my youth . Still it was a bombproof tent and design.

 

[Tengu]

Its nothing like a force 10.

when its dry Ill put both up side by side so you can see.

has anyone those rain caps I can trade something for?

 

[Chris G]

I've got 2 of those in the loft!! Not bad little tents, even if you do have to make do with having poles in your tent with you (I'm a fan of my dome tent if you hadn't guessed!).

As for the force 10 - the Vango is made of much tougher, thicker and denser cotton compaired to this one (if it's the same as mine) which is thinner cotton with a nylon fly sheet.

Anyway - Tengu - want to buy a spare tent complete with plastic bits?

Chris

 

[dommyracer]

lol, nice pitching job.

This is the only kind of tent I have ever slept under, have never spent a night in a dome tent, I went from these to not sleeping out at all to tarps.....

Looks like you're missing some spacers (you should have the upright poles, then the inner, then spacers, then the fly), and also some dollies (rubber caps for the top of the uprights that stop the water going down through the eyelets.

You'll need guys as well.

 

[fishy1]

Speaking of vango force 10's, I'm considering making a copy of it in ventile. Any thoughts?

 

[dommyracer]

Speaking of vango force 10's, I'm considering making a copy of it in ventile. Any thoughts?

My first thoughts are 'heavy' and 'sponge'

 

[fishy1]

Heavy, yes. Particularly when wet. However, it would be bombproof. And breathable and if the walls were reasonably angled, water shouldn't drip through if I put a thin cotton inner in too.

 

[firebreather]

Speaking of vango force 10's, I'm considering making a copy of it in ventile. Any thoughts?

It works for the antartic explorers. Then again they are dealing with snow and cold so ????

http://www.ventile.co.uk/

Look under stories.

Greg

 

[fishy1]

Yes, that was kinda what gave me the idea. Would certainly be useful in the mountains in wintertime, however in wet conditions I'm not sure.

 

[John Fenna]

I understand that Pertex was developed as a synthetic equivalent to Ventile to make super light weight Force 10 type tents with Ventile performance....

 

[dp0001]

When I was a lad I had a tent Just like that, and I mean that very colour. I bought it from Millets for £24,
I used it quite often for two or three years, mostly in the summer/autumn as it was not the most storm proof of tents. It had a habit of growing mould, and smelling bad, if packed away wet. Mine came with front and rear guys, plastic feet for the poles inside the tent, and little rain caps for outside the tent. Great tents roomy if I remember right, well roomy for one anyway

Funnily enough, my first tent came from Argos as a birthday present when I was 11 (30 years ago),also cost £24 and looks something like that. Funny how some things have got so cheap, I'm sure I could find a modern equivalent for about the same price today.

Living in inner London and not having camping parents I didn't get to sleep in it until 8 years later. I did open it up in the living room as a kid and try to fathom all the zips and loops and things.

It's still my main and favourite tent. The wife is more for modern things and has got some big monstrosity off ebay which we haven't used yet. But I slept soundly through a hurricane at a Greenbelt festival when a great many tents collapsed. It could be better I suppose but it does the job and never let me down.

The bits that have failed or got lost are easily repaired or improvised. I'm sure modern tents are better in some way but that old design has proven itself in my books. I've never bothered to proof the flysheet as water has never got in. Oh, putting it up is simple even in high winds. Last year I travelled up to a site (Morris Minor National meeting) early with my tent and a mates modern fibreglass-poled thing. Trying to pull the poles into arches with the flysheet blowing was a real challenge. Perhaps that's just experience though...

Oh, I've now taken to using a tarp and spare pole to make a lean-to off the tent for cooking - like half of the tent extended.

 

[Beer Monster]

Its nothing like a force 10.

when its dry Ill put both up side by side so you can see.

Could have fooled me ! Same design at least - just lacking the porch.

 

[Jared]

Had a similar tent, with a green outer though. Operative word being had. Took it camping on the beacons in the 80s in winter.

Pitched it a valley, and slept well through windy conditions, but woke up to find a large section of the stitching between the fly & door had failed.