Input, Thinking of building a shelter like this.

[Troy Ammons]

Not an entire tent, just a fly shelter.
Basically just one carbon fiber pole, two half cone ends, and a cord to set the width.
Inner will be just an UL bug tent if I need it.
Sort of like a moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C2X2dmtYTI

Basic weight with pole and fly without an inner net tent would be 18-20oz for silnylon and 11-12oz for .5 cuben.

Size would be 7' wide by 12' long 3'-6" high in the center.
Should have a ton of useable room inside.

One thing I like about it is no zipper.
Just slide the fly up the pole to enter/exit.
Also nice is you can slide it up and leave it there and have a huge open side.

With no zipper for it to function correctly in a half circle layout you need two equalateral triangles so the distance from the end point to the pole is always the same.

With a zipper could make it most any shape I want.

Only issues I can think of for a non zipper setup are wear and if you need to stake out the sides of the poles in heavy wind. That would limit the opening.

You could also use an additional crossing pole similar to a moment and that would add about 4-5 oz.

[Jerry Adams]

I made a similar shaped tarp, but with a zipper.

I got a lot of condensation because the volume is small and the wall is close to my face where the water vapor comes from

That's cool how it opens with no zipper

[Troy Ammons]

If you look through the video closely you can see one end has mesh panels. That sounds good to me or you could leave the ends open.

I have also considered making the top shorter than the pole for ventilation, but I guess you could just slide the side up too.

Yes I am also thinking completely closed there would be a lot of condensation. Definitely would need a couple of top vents

From doing a preliminary layout in cad, what is interesting is if the plan layout is 2 equilateral triangles, the fabric panel for each side is exactly 1/4 of a circle.
Sew together 2 1/8 pie pieces x 2 then lay them on top of each other and sew away.
With no zipper seems like a really easy build.

I had considered just putting the pole underneath, but kind of like the sleeve they created and the pole would wear on that and not the body.

[Steofan M]

You could use more net inside to decrease weight and condensation. I really like the low, wind proof design. Thunderstorms on the open plains can send wind and rain up to 80 mph and from three directions in one hour of the night. This design looks perfect for my needs.

[Troy Ammons]

Originally I was trying to set this up so you could pitch them low or high etc, but when you change the arch geometry its not equal distance to the ground any more.
I am calling these darts.
Dont know why, but it sounds like a good name.

Did 3 layouts so far.

Also did a layout of one that was a typical A.
That is the lightest but no sliding door and a lot less
interior room and you would want to pull out the middle of the sides so 4 more stakes and cordage etc. With that you are not stuck with am equilateral triangle.

Also did one that was between the two trying to get a higher interior.
Really want it 4' tall in the center, but that means 8'w and long and heavier if a round slider.

The third is a pointed dome, but to get it to slide the geometry would have to be the same IE based on an equilateral triangle for the curve.

[Sam Farrington]

Ordered an Exped Vela when they first came out.
Very cramped – returned it.

So agree with the comments about 4 feet height or so in the center of the arc.
The cones would have to extend out far enough to allow enough width for head and feet, and enough height at head and foot ends to allow sitting up.
Guess that's one reason why Henry elevated the ends on the Moment.

[Troy Ammons]

Something with the dimensions of the Vela dont add up.

It is 77" wide and if everything is equal distance then that would put the height at
38.5 but it is listed as 41. Maybe they cheated a little on the height, but you can only go so far until it wont work correctly.

Once you get away from that half circle geometry it goes from very simple to a lot more difficult.

I could build it 8' wide and that would give me a 4' height but it would be almost 14' long. It would be huge in the center.

Also more weight of 13 oz in cuben or 22 in sil. That would give an interior space in the middle lengthwise of 8' long and 3'-4" wide with the ends 1'-8" high.

Also the pieces are so big, you could not get the needed 1/8 pie out of one piece of sil. YOu would need to do the ends in thirds or piece in a small area at each side.

Cuben would have to be pieced in anyway.

Still not bad for the space, but I am trying to keep it at 16 oz for the shell, IE 24oz total with a 8 oz net tent inside.

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