Hey all,
My friend mutt and i were out last weekend trying our hand at making a bender big enough for a couple of people. It took about 4 hours to build and was great fun We had loads of material to hand as we were in a small copice of alder, wych elm, and various other bits such as sycamore etc.
The bender was made in what i think is a traditional way by sinking the main poles in a circle and bending them over to meet each other in the middle.. (thanks to lightfoot for the supporting documentation lol)
We used only natural cordage (wych elm) and a large tarp (not so natural but hey) for the covering. We built a small fire at the entrance and whilst the fire was burning we had a quater of the roof rolled back to let out the smoke. We slept in the bender for the second night we were there and i had a wonderful nights sleep and it was quite warm once we had closed up the tarp a little.
Anyways loads of fun so give it a go!
thanks for looking
My friend mutt and i were out last weekend trying our hand at making a bender big enough for a couple of people. It took about 4 hours to build and was great fun We had loads of material to hand as we were in a small copice of alder, wych elm, and various other bits such as sycamore etc.
The bender was made in what i think is a traditional way by sinking the main poles in a circle and bending them over to meet each other in the middle.. (thanks to lightfoot for the supporting documentation lol)
We used only natural cordage (wych elm) and a large tarp (not so natural but hey) for the covering. We built a small fire at the entrance and whilst the fire was burning we had a quater of the roof rolled back to let out the smoke. We slept in the bender for the second night we were there and i had a wonderful nights sleep and it was quite warm once we had closed up the tarp a little.
Anyways loads of fun so give it a go!
thanks for looking