[Artemisia] Tent Opinions

Tue May 1 14:36:49 CDT 2007

Oh, my. I seem to have hit the motherlode!

Thank you, everyone, for all the advice on this matter. Let me see if I can 
address most of the issues raised without resorting to a dozen cut-n-pastes.

I’ve been going to SCA camping events for roughly three years, staying in 
the nearby cabins at Uprising and hotels at Estrella. The local events – 
Harvest, Quest, Middle Eastern War– are close enough that I’ve been able to 
drive home to overnight. This strategy doesn’t work so well; gas prices have 
jumped again, I’m always fatigued by evening, and I’d really like to stay 
long enough to catch more bardic circles. I’d also like to attend some of 
the events farther north. Several gentles have been kind enough to offer me 
crash space in their own tents or bring an extra...but it’s time for me to 
get my own

This sounds like a simple, easy decision for most people. For me it’s not. I 
have all too vivid memories of being crammed into far too little space with 
far too much stuff and far too many bodies during dysfunctional family 
camping trips and cross-country moves. (Malkin’s line about fighting 
siblings and structural integrity really hit home.) Earth domes or steeply 
sloped triangles feel claustrophobic. Quite literally, I need my space.

I’d love to plunge right into a period marquee of my own, but I’m not yet 
ready to sink upwards of $500 into gear that will spend the majority of the 
calendar year in storage. I need to improve my camping skills first so I can 
attend events at sites with fewer amenities. I’m also constrained by 
transport and muscle: The tent and all my other SCA Stuff(tm) has to fit in 
my little Dodge Neon, packed and hauled by my own scrawny skeleton.  I’m not 
about to buy a trailer or a truck (yes, I know where the path to authentic 
camping leads).

Making a my own tent is a bit problematic. I have the sewing skills, but my 
house doesn’t have the space to manipulate great swaths of heavy fabric.  
Even stitching a tiny 7x8 arming pavilion takes more room than the biggest 
Elizabethan skirt. (Hey, that would make for a fun A&S display.) Then there 
are the mechanical skills necessary to constructing the support structure. I 
have no experience in wood or metal engineering, so I’d go thru a very steep 
learning curve and likely produce a lot of almost-functional prototypes. 
Sewing and rigging my own tent would be a project I’d have to pursue during 
a long winter. And, as Mistress Maire points out, applying the fire- and 
waterproofing chemicals would probably affect my less-than-robust lungs.

So I’m looking for an inexpensive transitional tent to last me maybe three 
seasons. If I can amortize the total cost over the course of, say, 15 events 
before the tent wear outs,  I figure I’m doing adequately well.

The Ozark Trail "vacation home" caught my eye while I was cruising Walmart 
for baronial boffer helmets. It’s an 8x10 cube with a peaked roof, windows 
and doors designed to make it look like a simple cottage. At that size it’s 
more than enough room for me and all my stuff; with the internal wall 
divider I’d even be willing to offer space to another body. Frame, fabric, 
clips, & stakes (don’t remember if it listed ropes or ground cloth) all in 
one carrying case. Light and small enough for me to lift, not an EZ Up brand 
but claims it’s easy assembly (don’t they all?).

The exterior appearance makes a good stab at the 10-foot rule. Just the idea 
of a tiny landholding surrounded by grand pavilions and space-aged hobbit 
holes appeals to my perverse sense of humor.

The joke will be on me, though, if a passing weather front flattens my house 
and leaves the visibly modern tents standing. Ozark Trail is Walmart’s own 
brand of camp gear–which means mass manufacture for quick sale at low 
prices. Poly/nylon three-season fabric, probably hollow aluminum poles, I’m 
betting plastic zippers. No floor model, so I can't check the strength of 
the seams.

I don’t like the smell of nylon fabric, but that’s something I’d have to 
face with any tent not made of canvas, so I’ll deal with it. Even Coleman 
uses plastic zippers now, I’m told. The stakes I’ll replace immediately with 
long, heavy-duty metal ones–the consensus I’ve found on most SCA camping 
sites is that almost all modern tent kits come with stakes inadequate to the 
task. Proper ropes & staking angles go a long way toward strengthening 
weather resistance...but maybe I’d be better off with fiberglass poles?

The price of the vacation home kit is $75, so with improved accessories I’m 
thinking I can construct a reasonably reliable shelter for less than $150. 
Am I dreaming?

Several kind souls have recommended various camping supply retailers. I’d 
already visited Kirkhams before I posted – my first thought upon seeing all 
the canvas Springbars was, “I wonder if I can paint this boy-scout green 
fabric without compromising its weather resistance?” I adore Lady Loveday’s 
charming one-person Springbar (I’m sure it would be advertised as “sleeps 
2"), but they don’t sell that size anymore. For the price of the 7x8 
Springbar I may as well invest the extra $100+ in the smallest arming round 
from a period tentmaker.

All the other local tent retailers cater almost exclusively to the hiking & 
hunting crowd. Very modern designs and lots of camouflage. Cabela’s is 
scary–they stock more firepower than tents.

Morgan, my dear, Damned Vicar, advised:
>remember that armor and elizabethan garb count as one person each.

Wise words for indoor event planners as well. ;)

>Maire
>beginning to wonder if she and HE Ugg should get together and work out a 
>class on this

Yes, please!  I took the tent-making seminar at Estrella two years ago. The 
handouts and notes were great, but a hands-on demonstration of the different 
weights of fabric and how to run a multi-layer corner seam thru a sewing 
machine would be even more useful.

His Excellency Conrad offered:
Google Saxon Geteld Tent and you will get plenty of links including this 
one: http://www.ydalir.co.uk/crafts/tent/pattern.htm

You know...this pattern looks like the logical precursor to the Burgundian 
bell wedge.  Without that sleeve for the exterior  ridge pole, it would very 
much resemble the shape of Loveday’s Springbar.

Some other  links to consider:

Considerations for sewing a large tent
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62543

A real house among tents (no, I’m not insane enough to try this...yet)
http://home.jtan.com/~cellio/house/

Things I’ve Learned the Hard Way
http://www.housebarra.com/PastTimes/articles/tentmaking.html

Articles on tentmaking
http://midtown.net/dragonwing/previous.htm

Tentmaking blog with pictures
http://www.housemorien.org/paviliondiary.htm

Aurora
the compulsive-obsessive planner

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