Topic

Making a tent


Forum Posting

A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!

Home Forums Gear Forums Make Your Own Gear Making a tent

  • This topic is empty.
Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #1220071
    ian wright
    Member

    @ianwright

    Locale: Photo - Mt Everest - 1980

    Today I made a tent I’ve been designing out of black builders plastic to appease my curiosity and give myself a project.
    It worked out OK and was a good learning curve.

    So now I’m all excited about designing a tent the way I want it but would get a sailmaker or similar to make it.

    I’ve read up a bit about materials but am unsure of the right type.

    Silicone v polyurethane ?
    Which weight ?
    can one material be used for all of the tent ?

    Any suggestions to get me started ?

    #1366206
    Jim Colten
    BPL Member

    @jcolten

    Locale: MN

    As always, the answer is “it depends”.

    Silicone v polyurethane ?

    I believe the lightest fabrics will be silicon impregnated (unless you want to use cuben, to which this question does not apply)

    Bacteria will feed on PU coating if it is packed away wet for extended times, not so with silicon.

    Silicon impregnated fabric absorbs little water. PU coating is typically (always?) on just one side of the fabric leaving the fabric free to absorb water which you’ll be carrying if you have to pack up wet.

    Silnylon is slippery, good for not clinging to debris, but hard to not slide around on (Jim Woods has a solution to that)

    In a hard rain, silnylon mists thru (or maybe underside condensation is dislodged, I’m not sure). Ray Jardine claims to have silnylon treated to stop that but I’m giving that a big fat WDKT (We Don’t Know That) until I see independent test results. It only took me a couple rainy nights to stop worrying about the mist, YMMV.

    Which weight ?

    Ian, Ian, Ian … I know you’ve been around this forum enough to know the answer you’ll get here.

    can one material be used for all of the tent ?

    That one really does depend on the design and its intended use. Tell us more.

    #1366242
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    > Silicone v polyurethane ?
    Silnylon is lighter, and even lighter again in wet weather.

    > Which weight ?
    Silnylon is fine even for pretty bad winter weather.

    > can one material be used for all of the tent ?
    Yes.

    Have a look at: http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_DIY.htm
    and:
    http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/DIY_RNCTents.htm
    for my experiences.

    #1366397
    ian wright
    Member

    @ianwright

    Locale: Photo - Mt Everest - 1980

    Thanks guys.

    WEIGHT: The LIGHTEST of course !!!! The only website I have looked at so far is Seattle Fabrics (?) and they recommend 1.3oz so I am tempted by that. The tent won’t get heavy use so does not need to be extra robusto.

    MATERIAL TYPE: Silicone nylon sounds the go. (Does anyone know a supplier in Australia?).

    TENT USAGE: I’m more of a ‘world traveller’ who does some hiking/camping as part of a trip. Short bursts of only a few days at a time and usually good weather, no winter stuff. So keeping out some rain is the only challenge.

    DESIGN: My idea is for a minimalist tent design to keep the weight down and not needing any comforts or features. My current design needs no zippers which I think is good, just a few press studs. It may not be possible to sit up in it which may be a pain or who cares cause I want it to sleep in only.

    In another thread the conversation got sidetracked to a Montbell tent called a ‘Zelt’ which is fairly new and not much info about yet. I love the simplicity of it but in reality it may be too small and the floor not leakproof so getting something made may be the best option.

    I will post some layouts of my tent design later so I can get some critique and maybe provide a few laughs !!!

    See Ya

    #1366409
    Jim Colten
    BPL Member

    @jcolten

    Locale: MN

    Ian,

    I don’t know about Austrailian sources but you might want to check with:
    http://www.thru-hiker.com
    http://www.questoutfitters.com
    http://www.owfinc.com
    http://www.owareusa.com
    I’m partial to thru-hiker but have used each of the above when they had something I wanted to try but didn’t find at thru-hiker

    #1366545
    Mark Watson
    Member

    @mwbike

    Locale: Northwest

    Anyone know where I can pick up a few of the Tarptent guyline tensioners? I love my 1-yr-old Rainshadow 2, but I’d like to add the ability to retension from under cover. (It’s been known to rain here in the NorthWEsT)

    Thanks,
    Mark

    #1366555
    Mark Watson
    Member

    @mwbike

    Locale: Northwest

    I just emailed Tarptent, [email protected]
    And within minutes, Henry emailed me back saying that he’ll send me a few free! A+, top-notch customer service.

    #1366618
    ian wright
    Member

    @ianwright

    Locale: Photo - Mt Everest - 1980

    As much as I love designing stuff, in reality it would be an effort to get a tent made and it may not work (though I still may do it one day). I just had a look at a Tarptent Contrail with floor and it seems to be a great option for me. See me posting a thread asking about it soon ! Thanks !

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Forum Posting

A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!

Get the Newsletter

Get our free Handbook and Receive our weekly newsletter to see what's new at Backpacking Light!

Gear Research & Discovery Tools


Loading...