[Artemisia] Tent Opinions

[ravenmacleod at comcast.net]

I have an Ozark Trail tent. At least I think it’s an Ozark Trail, could be a different brand patch that they sewed on it at the manufacturing plant in Korea but it’s basically the same thing. Here’s what I’ve found…
 
The first one I had made about 4 SCA camping seasons including the Uprising of torrential downpour referred fondly to as Mudrising. It worked great we had very little leaking while living beneath the waterfall that year in fact the only thing that we had any trouble is the when it was set up properly and the sides were taught the zippers eventually gave out and we had trouble getting the doors closed. We only just got rid of it after last Harvest War because one of the poles broke and we could not get a decent replacement. 
 
We got a new one two years ago and it’s holding up fine. We’ve done a couple of repairs to the bottom of it (should have used a ground cloth). And we’ve re applied the seam sealer. We put it up after every camping event to sweep it out and pack it back up nicely and I expect that it’ll last me another 2 or three seasons. 
 
One thing to remember is that if you spend 100.00 on a tent your going to get a 100.00 tent not something that is going to last through the ages and even period tents will fail if not properly set up. 
 
I guess what I’m saying is that if your comfortable in the tent at Wally world you should go for it. You’ll probably have to replace it in a few years but I think that’s worth your time and you can start working on saving up for the nice Marquee later :D 

Period tents are cooler but you go with what you can until you get what you want ;)

--
Raven MacLeod 
Esquire 

En fides abunde virtus, en virtus abunde fides. 

If people knew how hard I worked to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful after all. --Michelangelo 


-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Dawn Tavares" <dtavares1 at hotmail.com> 

> 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 
> 
> _________________________________________________________________ 
> Mortgage refinance is Hot. *Terms. Get a 5.375%* fix rate. Check savings 
> https://www2.nextag.com/goto.jsp?product=100000035&url=%2fst.jsp&tm=y&search=mor 
> tgage_text_links_88_h2bbb&disc=y&vers=925&s=4056&p=5117 
> 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Artemisia mailing list 
> Artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org 
> http://lists.gallowglass.org/mailman/listinfo/artemisia