Input on MYOG tarp/tent design?

[Kevin Beeden]

Did you put cat seams on the [brain's gone; can't think of the word] 'hem' at the bottom edges of the tent? If not, they'll also help keep the sides taut, by providing a tensioning force on all sides of each panel.

[David Drake]

I do have templates made for cat cuts along hem, but haven't cut yet. It will certainly tighten up the edges. Will prob. post another pic when I change the hems.

[John West]

Looking really good David, anxious to see what the final product looks like/weighs.

[Henk Smees]

Hi David,

Just found out about this very interesting post. After reading your comment (on 05/23/2011 15:58:20) >> Going tips down would probably be more secure, but I haven't figured out a socket for the pole grips that's nearly as elegant as pole tips + grommets << it occurred to me that something I made a few years ago could be of use to you (with small alterations).

As pics are more explicit than words:

Foto 1 : This is my solution for keeping the handles of my poles together to form an A-frame for my GoLite Lair 1. I see no reason why you wouldn’t be able to use a longer bar with a strip of webbing and a ladderlock at both ends so that each of your handles would be pressed against the outside walls. This was made when I wasn’t worried about weight, but when I get around to making me own (Cuben) tent, I plan on using a “skinny” Ti bar (instead of Al) and 10mm webbing + side-release buckles (to reduce weight). Don’t know yet whether it’ll be an A-frame again or something like your design.

Foto 2 A & B: This is how I made the “unit” (can’t think of a word to define it): Started with a strip of aluminum, made the hole with threading to hold the screw for the fabric loop on the top front of the Lair 1 (not necessary is your case) and afterwards bended the strip in exactly the same shape as the outside of the handles.

Foto 3: 8 holes on each side worked out to be enough to sew the webbing to the aluminum.

Foto 4 (A, B & C): Finished "unit".

Foto 5: Top/front view securing the handles of the poles.

Foto 6: Complete view of both poles (pay attention to the 3mm cord that holds the poles from drifting apart). Never used this cord in the field (wasn’t needed, the tips have always held well, even on rock), but I think one could benefit from this cord when in use with a spreader bar. If the handles of the poles form a good solid union with the “legs” of the unit, I could imagine tension being created (by having the cord a bit “too short”), so that the canopy would be a bit more taut (tauter?). I’m sorry but I’m having problems trying to explain this with words: Let’s say the poles are 5 feet long, the spreader bar 1 foot and, in our design, we want to have the tips of the poles 5 feet apart (so the cord will have this length). When bending the aluminum (or Ti) strip, we want to make sure the legs are positioned in such a way that, when united to the poles, the tips of these will be 6 (or even more) feet apart. Then, tying a 5 foot cord to the tips, we are creating the tension, which -I would think- will be beneficial for tautness. Hope this makes sense.

Foto 7: Detail of cord with tip.

Foto 8: In use (sorry for poor quality pic):

[David Drake]

Very nice–thanks for all the images. Real possibilities there, I think.

I had the 'brilliant' idea yesterday that a wiffle-type practice golf ball cut in half might make good sockets for pole handles. Tried it, but diameter is too small.

[David Drake]

Started experimenting with sewing silnylon today. Straight stitch worked well–machine runs nice and smooth, stitch is pretty well balanced, no real problems with slipping. Fabric puckers a bit from holding it taut while sewing, but I figure this will help prevent strain on the thread when pitched. Here's a picture, showing straight stitch joining two layers of sil:

The problem I had was hemming and flat-felled seams. I have a 2mm hemmer foot, which I think is too narrow. Plus, the sil is "springy" and doesn't iron well, making it tough to get the hem folded right to start through the foot. Probably I just need more practice, but I'm wondering if binding with grosgrain might not work better (obviously at some weight penalty). My seams and hems will be cat-cut, if that makes a difference.

Basically, same issue with flat-felling the seams. The feller foot I have works fine (better than the hemmer) but makes a very narrow seam. It looks like I can get a wider feller (4mm or 6mm). I tried felling without a special foot, which was okay, but much more difficult than when I've used a fabric that irons well. I also wonder if it won't be a pain to feed material through when sewing the actual tent, and having to have a big wad of material bunched up to the right. Again, edge-binding seems easier, although I prefer the look of a flat-felled seam. Here's the flat-felled seam pic (sewn with 2mm feller foot on top; using standard foot on bottom):

I have an adapter for my Bernina and can get a generic binding foot for not too much money. Anyone used one (with grosgrain)? Worth it?

Thanks for any insight.

[Kevin Beeden]

Henk,

I toyed with ideas for some sort of gadget like yours, but then remembered that I'd once made an ad-hoc bipod for my mirror telephoto using the poles and their straps. By adjusting the straps, you can get the poles to lock together without needing a bracket of additional strap. That was the starting point for my crossed-poles design posted earlier. The separation between the pole handles can be much smaller than I used.

The tent design has to accommodate for the offset nature of the poles, but, once in place, it seems quite secure, even with simple draped and pegged fabric; I'd imagine it would be even more seucre with a properly-constructed flysheet.

I also have sketches of very similar cord setups for the tips, but (as ever) I fussed about the fact that the cord would be 'off the ground'. In reality, the tips will just sink in to the ground… Ah; I remember; I had the loops being held by the snow/mud basket, not the tip. I think I came up with some little triangular 'pocket' arrangement at the end of the pole; over-designing as always, and not actually building…

Such a cord could also be used to define the 'correct' pegging/layout for the tent, provided it's formed of a network of triangles. Whether such 'layout cord' can be stored without getting in a huge tangled knot is another matter…

[California Packrafting]

Did this project ever get made?

[Jacob]

A lot of Daryl’s links on page 1 just take me back to the forums homepage, is it just me or anyone else unable to see those posts? that’s happened a lot of other places too for me on this site, especially when following links to older and older threads, but I haven’t kept track.

[Jordo _99]

The links are broken for me too…the new site used a different URL scheme IIRC.

EDIT: I found a way to make it work…but you need to be willing to edit the old URL to match the current “URL scheme” that the new site uses:

New URL = https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/47007

Old URL  = http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=45748&skip_to_post=390874#390874

(editing) = http://www.backpackinglight.com/    cgi-bin/backpackinglight    /forums/    thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=  45748  &skip_to_post=390874#390874

(working link that reference the old system) = https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/45748/   (add “topic”)

NOTE: post numbers changed with the new system…so any links to a specific post won’t work

 

EDIT — Just throwing this out there…but if someone from BPL is interested, I’m sure that the old links can be updated in this way with a simple script (powershell code, if it’s windows server…bash code, if it’s linux server) that would be run on the back-end of the server.

[Roger Caffin]

Curious. I have used many old links, and the current BPL web site translated them automatically for me.

Cheers

[Jacob]

Thanks Jordo!

I use RequestPolicy Continued, NoScript, and some ad blockers on firefox so most websites break for me in some way or another…

[R]

I stopped clicking on cgi-bin links a while ago – none work for me.

Chrome and Safari on OS X El Cap.  Ad block makes no difference.

[Sam Farrington]

Also have the same issue with links to other threads.  Will continue to put them in my posts, as they seem to work OK for Roger and others.  Thank you, Jordo, for the suggested fix.  Will try it.

[Author]

Posts