Tepee building

[bushcraftbob]

I would like to spend a couple of nights in the woods after christmas and was thinking of constructiong a tepee to sleep in. I would construct it out of long hazel branches and i have 2 tarps to use for the canvass. I would like to make a small fire inside as it will probably be cold. Has anyone tried this? I will hopefully pick a weekend where it will be cold rather than wet...Can anyone give me some pointers or tips in order for making this? i.e. size, dimensions, size of fire or anything really.

Thanks all

Jim Bob

 

[Mike Ameling]

These are more properly called a woodlands Indian Conical Lodge. They were used all across North America - especially around the Great Lakes. Many other native peoples around the world have also used their own versions of these. Simple reason, they work. And they are pretty easy to construct. We have also done some "traditional" versions as semi-permanent camps. Tall poles covered with a combination of birch bark and pine boughs (where legal to do so). The Sami up in the Scandinavian countries use a similar structure - both temporary/portable and semi-permanent.

Tips?

- The larger diameter you make it, the harder it is to heat up - but you need more room if you are going to use a fire inside.
- Any fire needs to be of really dry wood. You need flames or coals. Anything in between will tend to smoke you out if your head is more than 1 1/2 to 2 feet above the level of the ground.
- Be careful how TALL your fire ends up getting. The top of your conical lodge can get pretty hot above the fire.
- Watch out for ... wandering sparks ... and "popping" coals from your fire.
- Close off any holes or drafts around the bottom edge - except for a little "air hole" by the door to help your fire burn and clear out smoke.
- Body heat from sharing your conical lodge with several friends tends to help keep it at a comfortable temp a little better than a fire - and without the smoke and worry of that fire spreading to other things.
- Have your "door" opening facing away from the normal direction of the wind.
- Keep your walls/poles at a pretty steep angle - it helps shed/drain water and it's easier to move farther out from the center and closer to those walls - less wasted floor space around the edges.

Just a few humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. These type of traditional shelters are shown in a couple movies.
Black Robe - set in 1634 travelling from Quebec out the Lake Huron
The Pathfinder - the version that is based on the Sami legend

Be careful if you look for the movie The Pathfinder. There are at least two others also called the same thing. One is set in the mid 1700's during the French and Indian War (Seven Years War). And the other is a fairly new movie, about Vikings invading North America/Canada to plunder (?) the Indian villages. It's sort of a poor fantasy version of that old Sami legend, but set on this side of "the pond".

 

[gregorach]

Try and get your poles as smooth as reasonably practical - if they've got stubs or nubbins on then these will act as drip points if it rains. Smooth poles will let any drips run all the way to the ground. Hazel might be a bit bendy for poles, now I come to think of it...

 

[OzaawaaMigiziNini]

These are more properly called a woodlands Indian Conical Lodge. They were used all across North America - especially around the Great Lakes. Many other native peoples around the world have also used their own versions of these. Simple reason, they work. And they are pretty easy to construct. We have also done some "traditional" versions as semi-permanent camps. Tall poles covered with a combination of birch bark and pine boughs (where legal to do so). The Sami up in the Scandinavian countries use a similar structure - both temporary/portable and semi-permanent.
QUOTE]

...Actually that is exactly what a teepee is. A conical shelter. The difference is what covers them. In the Woodlands, the Ojibway and other Algonquin tribes, used birch or elm bark. While on the plains, the Lakota and Crow, used buffalo hide. That really is the only true difference.

 

[Mike Ameling]

Actually, there are several "design" differences between the Conical Lodge and the Tipi.

The tipi has an outer covering that is made from leather or canvas. That cover comes down all the way, or most of the way to the ground on the outside of the poles. There is then another layer of leather/cloth on the inside of the poles. This "liner" goes all the way to the ground on the inside of the poles, and forms a seal with the ground to stop air/drafts from blowing in. And the liner then only goes up the inside of the poles somewhere between 4 and 6 feet. The outer cover also is open a little at the top and down the front side - to allow smoke to escape out the top. It also has an extra flap of material on each side of that opening. These extra flaps act a lot like the lapels on your jacket when you turn them up to block the wind.

Those two layers of covering then act a little like a "chimney". Air flows from around the bottom, up between them, and helps clear the smoke from your fire out through the opening at the top.

These "design" details are mostly to help your comfort level when you are using a fire inside. The tipi has some natural "chimney/draft" properties that the conical lodge lacks.

The tipi is obviously derived from the conical. But it was adapted to more open landscapes, different availability of materials, and for portability. I've made and used both over the years. Each has it's good/bad points. In the end, just get out and DO IT. Make and/or use both, and see what works for yourself. And enjoy the experience. The "journey" is often more interesting than the destitation.

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[philaw]

Are you using tarps of the aussie army variety? Two of them might not make a big enough shelter to keep the material away from sparks. Mine's as hard as nails, but I bet sparks would be like kriptonite to it.

I'm no expert, but suggest a mock-up in your garden or using cheaper material/ tradtional, more spark proof covering. good luck!

 

[bushcraftbob]

No Im just using army surplus basha's, they were £15 each. I did wonder about the danger of sparks tho! I'm going to make the fire small, with as dry-a-wood as I can find so hopefully sparks will be kept to a minimum.

 

[Eric_Methven]

If you make your fire in a small fire tray it will give you the opportunity to smother it if it gets too big, or sparks become a problem. A Cadbury Roses tin with an inch of sand on the bottom would do for a couple of nights out. Set it on a couple of rocks to keep it off the ground and then you can also have a groundsheet covering the entire floor of the shelter.

Eric

 

[spamel]

Any idea which of these Pathfinders it is please Mikey?

http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=The+Pathfinder&x=16&y=12

Edit: Got it! Made in 1987, also called Ofelas.

 

[Arth]

Hi I made a tipi out of spruce trees and two parachutes. what we usally do is lay three poles on the ground lash them together pull them up by rope and tie the rope to the nearest tree and spread the poles out so that they are self standing. Then we just sit the rest of the poles on to the tied poles.

 

[Mike Ameling]

Any idea which of these Pathfinders it is please Mikey?

http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=The+Pathfinder&x=16&y=12

Edit: Got it! Made in 1987, also called Ofelas.

Yes, Spamel. That's the one. It is subtitled in English, but most of the time you can ... understand ... the meaning of what they are saying. Funny how those ... emotions ... come through.

The 2007 movie is a joke. Old legend/story meets hollyweird fantasy vision meets ethnic stereotypes meets hack-n-slash --- and spirals down from there!

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[spamel]

Strangely enough, the 2007 version was mentioned on here two years ago! I only know as I was looking at an old thread about films and both were mentioned in it!

 

[h2o]

you will need a lot of ponchos to make a tipi big enough for a fire .Probably about 10 ponchos

 

[Greg]

If your just wanting to give it a go why don't you buy a couple of those cheap and nasty tarps. You can get some really big ones I have one that is 7m x 5m and only cost me about £5. Two or three of those and you would be in business and with no worries of damaging your decent tarps!

 

[Steve R]

http://www.tipis.org/designs_and_patterns_for_tipis.htm


http://www.tipis.org/

 

[bushcraftbob]

They are some nice sites cheers Steve R. Where can I get some of those cheaper larger tarps from? Do you mean the sort you get from B&Q for builders etc?

 

[Mike Ameling]

Most any of the lumber supply or building supply places carry those woven plastic tarps - blue, green, tan, gray. A few years ago, I picked up several tan 12 foot by 20 foot ones from the local Menards store for around $20 usd each. They also have 5x7 feet ones on special sale all the time for around $2 usd. These small ones they advertise for covering your garden tractor or woodpile. Yeah, they are woven nylon strips, and "rattle" like any sheet of plastic will, but you get a lot of very good water repellant cover for very little cost.

Note: these woven plastic/nylon tarps are water resistant - not water proof! They shed water very well, but if you have water puddling on them, it will eventually start to leak through. Some local farmers found this out on their hay stacks when they first came out. Water puddled, then started leaking through, and rotted a lot of hay!

But also go over to the PAINT section, and look at their Painter's Drop Clothes. They have the plastic sheets, but most also have CLOTHE ones. They are generally made of around 10 ounce cotton or cotton/nylon blend canvas. You can generally pick up a 12x15 foot canvas dropcloth for around $20 usd or so. It will not have any waterproofing or other chemical treatment, but that's a lot of tarp for the money - especially when regular canvas is selling by-the-yard for at least $4 to $6 a yard.

If you know a trucker or trucking company, a lot of the big trucks hauling grain have green canvas tarps covering the trailer. These need to be replaced every couple years. The old ones often end up in the dumpster. That's a LOT of good using canvas to salvage! Yeah, it's HEAVY, but they would work great for making a Lavvo or Indian/Sami Conical Lodge!

Just a few humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[bushcraftbob]

I am hoping to do this over the wkd. I have bought a large tarpauline from Tarpaflex which I am going to use as a flysheet of the tepee. It will be me and my brother sleeping in the tepee and we are going to make a very small fire inside for warmth, as i have heard this is going to be a bit nippy this wkd to say the least!

I was just wondering how do i actually attach the flysheet to the poles? I was thinking of using small bits of paracord, threaded through the eyelets of the tarp and then tied to the first pole. Then pull the tarp round the tepee, and secure the other end of the tarp the same way, is this the best way or doing it?

Also i have heard that its important to make sure the tepee is draught free, how do i make sure the tarp stays flush to the ground? Should i say put some stones on the outside to weight it down? Never done this before as you can probably tell...

 

[Bernie Garland]

I am hoping to do this over the wkd. I have bought a large tarpauline from Tarpaflex which I am going to use as a flysheet of the tepee. It will be me and my brother sleeping in the tepee and we are going to make a very small fire inside for warmth, as i have heard this is going to be a bit nippy this wkd to say the least!

I was just wondering how do i actually attach the flysheet to the poles? I was thinking of using small bits of paracord, threaded through the eyelets of the tarp and then tied to the first pole. Then pull the tarp round the tepee, and secure the other end of the tarp the same way, is this the best way or doing it?

Also i have heard that its important to make sure the tepee is draught free, how do i make sure the tarp stays flush to the ground? Should i say put some stones on the outside to weight it down? Never done this before as you can probably tell...

Heres a link bob

http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/native/skills/teepee.htm

Bernie

 

[bushcraftbob]

Nice site that one