Lateral tunnel tent?
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The Exped Orion is a bit like that .
Disadvantage ?
Maybe longer poles could be one .
But why all this for a side entry?
Because we have just discovered that front entry tents are almost impossible to get in and out of.
I fully expect to find mummified bodies from tents set up decades ago when the occupants were then unable to get out of those evil contraptions.It is strange that this subject pops up now, because just last week I resumed the construction of two similar lateral tents, after sewing some scale models about a year ago.
Both are designed as single wall solo tents, and after I made these 1:6 models (Barbie doll size) I mothballed them, probably because the detailed design process felt a bit ambitious. But now they are out in the open again.
I am currently working on the orange tent, named “Il Calzone” by my wife, and I have simplified it quite a bit. It will probably be rather impractical except in fair weather, such as a sun shelter on a beach, and it doesn’t have any door, instead you slide the fly up along the pole. I have also simplifyed the top vent quite a bit.
The setup is very easy, one pole and two stakes.
Robert Saunders designed a tent, the Spacepacker, that looks a lot like it. Google for “robert saunders spacepacker” to see it. I am not sure when he designed it, probably about 50 years ago.
I will start on the cyan tent, after I finish the orange, and plan to add a bathtub floor, insect netting, bottom and top vents etc. The extra pole causes a huge increase in headroom compared to the orange tent, and because it has a door a third stake is needed. And, of course extra stake out points and guylines are included in the construction.
A similar tent is the Redverz Solo Expedition Tent https://redverz.com/motorcycle-tents/solo/ – and, no, I do not own or ride motorcycles.
Another similar tent is the Reinsfjell Superlight by Helsport https://www.helsport.no/reinsfjell-superlight
It is a two person tent and seems much stronger than my cyan tent ever will be, because it has a third pole across the other poles.
Ib
I was playing around with overcurvature at the time I sewed the two scale models, and I thought that perhaps this principle could be applied as a removable bonnet-like cover on the top vent. I made a 1:1 version to play with, but dropped this idea as too fragile and impractical.
Ib
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2311
I had a play with the SilDome and from that the Luxe Outdoor Speedup was born.
I like the concept a lot but found the space inside less than optimal and I’m only 5’8″.
Robert Saunders was one of the pioneers in modern tent design.
He was the one that came up with the traverse hoop design as well as one of the first to use silnylon (back in the 80’s)
I think that the Spacepaker came out in the early 80s.
Coincidentally, Luxe Oudoor make a version of the Spacepaker called Peackarch
The “short ridge slant tunnel” I made (and named it), ten years ago. Oh, I missed my old Mariposa.
Free standing.
250 grams, fly only, 30D Silynon.
This is the tent Stuart made and talked about in that thread :
I don’t see much of a Warmlite inspiration there .
I did mention a Vango inspired design in that thread , this is one :
Look at the diagram of the tent’s profile on the first page of the thread: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/46644/#comments
My intent with the link was to get MYOG fans thinking about ways to construct something along the lines of what the OP, Rene, may have had in mind.
Roger, you are right about distinguishing an upright pole from a hoop at the lower end of the tunnel. Also, Stuart split the length of the tent into a sleeping area and a vestibule, as shown by the photo on the thread that Franco posted. Nevertheless, the tent outer’s tunnel shape is much like the late Jack Stephenson’s original concept.
So I’m suggesting a modification of the shape so the long floor dimension is between the hooped or arched poles, and the front end cover becomes one large vestibule, like Roger’s tunnels have, only larger. Here is a rough diagram, so please excuse the quality:
Although the dimensions are different, taut construction of the main canopy presents issues similar to Stuart’s and Jack’s tents. In this computer age, suggest that Stuart’s use of a wooden frame to set the shape of the main canopy seems to have produced a very taut result.
One drawback to my suggestion is the four foot wide unsupported section at the top of the main canopy (The floor is 3 feet wide, but a six inch cant on each hoop or arch increases the spread between the peaks to 4′). The use of the gothic arch and the slope of the canopy will help with that; but no, it is not intended for the worst winter weather. The trade-off is that it will require less poles, can use the new lighter fabrics, and will be a lot lighter, while still excellent for three season use. I’m occupied with a pack and a tent project now, but wonder if someone knows of or intends to build a tent like this. One big advantage of the tunnel design is that, like Roger’s tunnels, the poles can be inserted and the stakes planted while the tent is spread on the ground, and then with one motion, raised to its fully pitched shape. Considerably less wind exposure there than is the case with cross pole domes.
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