4 person family Tent

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

Here is my latest project. It is a pyramid style tent with bathtub floor made with 0.6 cuben fiber. Joints are bonded. There will be covered vents at the top and 6 inches of nano-se-um mesh between the bathtub floor and the walls. Here is a sketchup drawing for the size.
Here is the picture showing prgress so far. I haven't sized the pole yet but I have weighed most of the parts and expect the weight to be well under two pounds.

Here is how I make the stake outs.

[Franco Darioli]

Not sure about the shape of the tie outs. Looks to me that the stress would be confined to a few stitches .
Franco

[Haiqing Qiu]

it looks nice!
could you please tell me what is "0.6 cuben fiber",and where to buy?
is it strong enough in wind?
thank you!

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

Franco,

There are no stitches. The tie outs are bonded on. I personally think that sewing "plastic" makes no sense. Cuben fiber is basically just that plastic and the spectra fibers will just pull away from the plastic laminates when loaded significantly. It has worked for some gear primarily because the loads are so low.

[Aaron Granda]

I like the way those tie outs look. Very professional. How did you bond them? Was it difficult? I may have to try something like that.

[Matt Lutz]

SketchUp = awesome.

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

Haiqing,

The cuben fiber comes from http://www.cubictechnology.com. The material itself is used to make sails. It is very strong by itself. However it is all about the joints. I Have not had it out in the wind yet to see how it will perform. You will see lots of stuff in the forums that people have made with this material.

[Steven Evans]

Scott, that thing is looking freakin' sweet. Nice job!!!

And now, my questions:

1) I really like your tie-outs. It look's as though you cut a piece of cuben, folded it in half, and then bonded it to the inside and outside?

2) Is that a tube of some sort that you have bonded/placed into the fold of the tie-out and then run a guyline through? If so, that is an awesome idea…really distributes the load and no grosgrain tieouts need to be sewn on. I may have to borrow that idea on future products :)

3) How are you planning to attach the mesh to the cuben. I only ask because my attempt at bonding mesh to cuben have given rather poor results. I didn't exhaust all my options but I found that the mesh didn't hold well to the adhesive. How have you found your technique will hold up?

4) Which product are you bonding with? I use the Hysol stuff.

5) Does you wife think you are crazy because you "built a tent out garbage bags"? ;)

Again, great work!

[Brett Rasmussen]

I've been thinking that a cuben fiber tee pee would be the best shelter for family camping. I would have started one by now if it were not for the cost of the cuben fiber. As I hope to undertake a similar task I hope you might cater to a few questions:

1) Have you found a pole of a weight worthy to be matched with the cuben and stay straight at the given load?
2) I am familiar with taping the cuben fabric and agree with the limitations of sewing it. Can you explain the process of bonding it?
3) Have you thought of any plans that would allow ventilation to be keep open while maintaining protection from rain?
4) What measures do you recommend to maintain integrity of the peak notwithstanding the narrowness of the cuben fiber caused by ventilation openings.
5) Do you plan on keeping the floor separate from the from the upper portion of the tent? If so what is the advantage?
6) Do you thing it is feasible/practical to suspend the peak from a rope tied to an overhanging branch and thus eliminate the pole?
7) Do you have an estimate on the cost of this type project?

It all looks very promising. Any information you can offer is very appreciated.

[Aaron Sorensen]

Scott,
Nice work.
So what type of glue did you use?

The one thing I would do is make a stake out in the middle of each side, (where the seams are) so it doesn't flap in the wind.

Love the design.

[Haiqing Qiu]

Thank you!
and I also want to know,
what type of glue did you use?thank you!
:)

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

Steve,

>1) I really like your tie-outs. It look's as though you cut a piece of cuben, folded it in half, and then bonded it to the inside and outside?

You are correct. I use two layers bonded together before hand. Then it is folded and bonded to the inside and outside.

>2) Is that a tube of some sort that you have bonded/placed into the fold of the tie-out and then run a guyline through? If so, that is an awesome idea…really distributes the load and no grosgrain tieouts need to be sewn on. I may have to borrow that idea on future product

Yes, it is a nylon tube to carry the compression load from a loop of string. It is bonded in at the same time as the tie out is bonded to the body.

>3) How are you planning to attach the mesh to the cuben. I only ask because my attempt at bonding mesh to cuben have given rather poor results. I didn't exhaust all my options but I found that the mesh didn't hold well to the adhesive. How have you found your technique will hold up?

The mesh is overlayed onto the cuben by 1/2" and bonded. I then take a one inch wide strip of cuben the shape I need to go around the mesh and bond this down. The mesh is sandwiched between two layers of cuben. I think this will hold up well.

I am bonding with Aqua seal. This is a urethane bond similar to the hysol. It has the advantage of a longer working time but the initial tack on the cuben is excellent. It sticks and holds together immediately and yet the seam can be adjusted for at least 30 minutes after initially putting it together. You also don't need to mix it. I also found that I can get a beautiful 1/2' really thin layer applied by holding the tube upright and drawing it along the seam. I have some Hysol but I tried the Aqua seal first and it has worked so well I have not tried the Hysol yet. Aqua seal is made by Mc Nett for wetsuit repair.

>5) Does you wife think you are crazy because you "built a tent out garbage bags"

This is my second tent project and she is getting tired of the living room covered in plastic. My first one was a double wall tent that took over 6 months to puzzle out.

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

Brett,

>1) Have you found a pole of a weight worthy to be matched with the cuben and stay straight at the given load?

I haven't yet, but I believe a larger diameter Easton pole will do the trick. I still need to figure out how to make the pole adjustable by about 4 inches. I think this will be helpful in the field for setup. Thinking about scavenging the mechanism from adjustable ski pole. The tent itself is so light that even a 1 lb pole is tolerable.

>3) Have you thought of any plans that would allow ventilation to be keep open while maintaining protection from rain?

The vents at the top will be covered with a hood that will shed rain and keep out moderate driving rain. Right now the door will have to be closed in the rain. Although I have had some thoughts about some kind of awning out front to create a vestibule.

>4) What measures do you recommend to maintain integrity of the peak notwithstanding the narrowness of the cuben fiber caused by ventilation openings.

I use a matching pyramid of foam cut with hot wire. This is fully bonded to the cuben at the peak. This spreads the load. The base of the styrofoam will be reinforced with a plastic layer sufficient to deal with the compression load from the pole. I will also include a loop that also passes thru this block of styrofoam that can be used to attach a rope thrown over a handy tree branch and leave out the pole.

>5) Do you plan on keeping the floor separate from the from the upper portion of the tent? If so what is the advantage?

I plan on sewing the floor to the walls. This connection has a peel problem so the bond will not survive the ravages of my kids. I bonded a 1/4' grosgrain ribbon to the outer surface of the wall. The nano-see-um mesh will be sewn through this, then I will overcoat with the bond again.

>7) Do you have an estimate on the cost of this type project?

I had to buy two 9 meter panels of cuben for this project. This cost me just under $380. There is about another $50 in zippers and nano-see-um mesh

This project is going to take nearly 9 lbs between the 6.5 to 7 lbs of tent plus 6 lbs of external frame pack my wife carries. I love this stuff

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

The one thing I would do is make a stake out in the middle of each side, (where the seams are) so it doesn't flap in the wind.

Aaron,

I do have this tie out. You are right that this is a long stretch of material and needed a tie out.

Thanks everyone for the comments. If anyone has a great idea for the addition of a vestibule I would like to hear your ideas.

[Steven Evans]

Scott,
Thanks for the answers. You have this well thought out.

Aqua seal…hmmm, I'll have to give that a try.

Nice idea on sandwiching the mesh between the cuben. That will not doubt create a stronger bond.

Can't wait to see this thing finished!

[. .]

Nice.

My old Mountain Hardwear Kiva has a pole that would probably work well for this set-up. It is an Easton AL pole that has one section of pole made adjustable with a cam-lock, inside of the last anodized section. You could probably get one from Mt. Hardwear fairly easily, if you give them a holler.

An idea for the vestibule could be to have a zip-in vestibule, using a single or double-trekking pole for support. For full stormworthiness, it may require the addition of a zipper to the bottom edge of the entry side as well, so that doors could be added and the sides sealed.

[Franco Darioli]

Have a look at the Luxe Nashorn. That is more of a protected entry than a vestibule but might give you some ideas.
http://www.luxeoutdoor.com/eng/catalog-topic-gallery-view1.asp?id=906&selfpath=/12/134

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1TvHfkJz9Y&feature=channel

Franco

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

My tent is now usable. There are a few things I still need to tweak but the basics are there. Final weights. Tent body = 20.5 oz, tent pole = 10 oz, Stakes = 1.6 oz. I still have a few ups and downs on weight but I am now confident that the final weight will be just at 2 lbs. Here is a photo of the outside.

Here is a view from the inside.

[Kevin Egelhoff]

Scott,
Looks GREAT !! Hope to see a picture of this out in actual use all staked out !!

10oz. for the pole, Almost half the weight of the tent body seems like too much weight! Tell me what the height of the pole needs to be at the max length… might be able to make up something for you in Carbon. Been working on a new carbon tent pole design that is adjustable ….

Kevin

[Brett Rasmussen]

Looks great. Your project encouraged me to finally start my own cuben family tent. I recently ordered the materials. I'm planning on connecting the floor at the very bottom of the walls all the way around and placing vents on 2 or 3 of the walls about half way up. I don't think that I will add a mesh door to it. I would like to use a waterproof zipper for a single straight zipper entrance, with the zipper ending before reaching the floor. I wonder if such zippers are sufficiently waterproof if the seam sewing it is sealed. For some reason I've never seen them incorporated in tents. It will require at least 6 stakes and may end up with as many as 12 stake points. I would like it to be 4 seasonable. I recently purchased a pole used for the GoLite Shangri-La 4+ for it:
http://www.golite.com/product/proddetail.aspx?p=SH6209&s=0

I plan on sewing most of it then adding tape to stress points and sealing all other sewn seams with silicone.
While I'm waiting for the cuben to arrive I made a miniature out of some walmart ripstop for my daughter (without the vents).
I'm planing on following your directions for attaching the noseem mesh. I would really appreciate any feedback on this project.

[Tim Marshall]

have fun wiggling in and out of a straight zip. I'm not sure on that idea. But if it works you will have skipped all the hardest parts of making a mid a tarp tent. I'm very interested to know if the single zip works out.

-Tim

[Jim Colten]

Very nice!

Questions and comments:

1) How did you attach the zipper to the cuben?

2) Looks like an added benefit of the bonded tieout loops is to reinforce the end of the glue joints holding the panel pieces together. nice!

3) what is the red stuff where the netting is bonded to the walls?

4) How much glue needed for your project?

[Steven Evans]

Scott, that thing is looking sweet. Can't wait to see that thing in the field.

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

>10oz. for the pole, Almost half the weight of the tent body seems like too much weight! Tell me what the height of the pole needs to be at the max length… might be able to make up something for you in Carbon. Been working on a new carbon tent pole design that is adjustable

I agree but it was quick and available. The pole is from an old tent (20 + years) but it happened to be about the right length and the diameter fit perfectly with some old adjustable ski poles. Carbon would be great. I need to double check the dimensions but it is something like 5' 5" to 6' adjustable.

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

>have fun wiggling in and out of a straight zip. I'm not sure on that idea. But if it works you will have skipped all the hardest parts of making a mid a tarp tent. I'm very interested to know if the single zip works out.

Tim,
There are two zippers. The outer zipper is water resistant type and is straight but it opens all the way up and folds back. The second zipper is in the mesh and is 7' feet long in an L shape. I can easily walk in and out of the tent.

Edit: Just realized you were referring to Brett's design.

[Author]

Posts