I thought I'd share a re-purposed gear project that may be interesting. Perhaps it may inspire others to dust off an old gear item and give it a new life. Basically, I converted a simple homemade 10'x10' sil-tarp from yesteryear into a roomy Double-Rainbow-esque tent that can be set up using trees or hiking poles.
Background: so as a wedding gift for a couple of friends back in Fall of 2009, I built them a tarp. I liked it, so I built my wife and myself one as well. Here's a pic of the tarp being used on the Skyline-to-Sea Trail back in winter '09:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pJ2CL1oa_PY/SzMTLzy8v2I/AAAAAAAACyQ/zrV_b22S0a8/s1600/IMG_0983.jpg
When it started getting buggy out one spring (I think 2011), I decided to add some netting around the side and simple A-frame set-up doors. The great thing is that the doors could be tied back and the tarp could retain its versatility for other configurations. Oh yeah, I also added two guy-out attachments. Here's a pic circa 2013 of the palace:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jvgeBF0x5NY/UF4nL5SP-aI/AAAAAAAAG4Q/g_-cNfnfGpY/s1600/2.JPG
Fast Forward to now: as expressed in another MYOG thread,
I'd been pondering a tent build. My favorite tent of all time is still the Double Rainbow I used on my AT hike 2007. After heeding the forum's advice to forego expensive cuben for the build, I thought I might as well try re-purpose the aforementioned tarp. Results:
Here's a pic showing the front. Lots of room for two people and dog. Background shows our more permanent MYOG "tent" (that one took a little more effort to build)
Here's a pic of the side:
I used cordlocks to adjust awnings along the guy line:
Total weight with eight stakes, extra cord (for rigging between trees) and stuff sack: 34 oz.
It's not pretty, it's not perfect. But one thing I've learned: it doesn't need to be. It was a fun and challenging project to convert tarp to tent. Maybe one day I'll start from scratch…
