MYOG winter tent ver 0.65

[jeremy089786]

Hi Guys,

I just produced my first semi prototype of a tent I have been working on for quite a while. More info can be found here:

http://hiking26.blogspot.com.au/2012/06 ... n-065.html

Unfortunately the pics are too big to be posted here

All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for looking.

[Franco]

Hi Jeremy,
Some comments ...
So far you have a frame and a tyvek sheet draped over it.
That is easy and quick to do, the hard part has not started.
(I can and have done several 'project ideas" like that but cannot do the rest...)
I would estimate that you have maybe 10% of the required work done so far.

For the hard part...
Cuben is a rather difficult laminate to work with (no personal experience except having handled several items made with it)
Not only it is difficult to stitch/tape together you also need to work out the panels to a very exacting degree because there is no stretch in the material.
Going from draping to exact size is not all that simple and very difficult if not impossible without a good CAD programme.
Folds/wrinkles on the finish product means a noisy and less wind/snow resistant shelter.

The tricky bits are details such as vents, air flow , door panel design, pole hubs, pole pockets, zip placement.
As for setting the frame up you do need something to keep it together however that is usually done with a floor such as a tent footprint and best done if pegged down.
see for example


On your lawn it maybe easy enough to attach those poles to that freeflow ribbon , on snow in particular it may not be so.
Anyway something to consider.
Franco

[jeremy089786]

Hi Franco,

Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed response. Indeed I have a bunch of hurdles in front of me!

Regarding cuben, I like working with it better than sil or something similar as it can be bonded (avoid sewing). So far I have found bonding it (some dry bags, a vbl and some clothes) to be ok and more fun than sewing. As far as the pitch is concerned, I am currently cutting out the individual panels and sticking them to frame and when I can get a good pitch out of the tyvek I will cut it down the seams and use this as a pattern for the fly (there is an article on BPL about doing this somewhere, but don't have it handy).

Regarding hubs, I have had good success so far making them from plastimake but as for doors, I can imagine them bogging me down a bunch! I have also found some nice little pole connectors which I plan to use instead of pole sleeves, but will have to report back as to their success.

Regarding the stabilization of the frame, my aim was to try and avoid a floor so a.) I can dig out the snow underneath to increase my living area, b.) save weight when I bivy underneath it c.) to avoid flooding it in pouring rain. Indeed it does remain to be seen how well this ribbon works, but it is a very similar concept to the floor (complete with grommets).

As always however, the proof is in the pudding and I will try and put some photos of my progress up in the coming months.

All the best,

Jeremy.

[Nuts]

It will be interesting to see how it comes out. I considered a poled tent when building mine and wasn't convinced cuben was the best fabric for the job. It doesn't stretch but does creep from tight angels and over complex curves (even a bit tricky where concave angles meet at standard tarp corners. Good luck though, i'm sure its possible to get a tight pitch. I find tarp style tents hard enough with cuben, the building is easy enough just the tensions, biases, with in mind the 'snapping' strength of cuben (not kept tight) were a bit much (for me). Keep us posted eh