I'm going crazy trying to decide what design I should use for a tent. I would like a floor and full bug protection. If I can do 2 person for little weight penalty I will but if not I may make 2 different designs. I like the idea of a pyramid but you either get a pole right where you don't want it or you end up making it huge to compensate. I have come to realize fewer poles means more nylon and more poles equals less. I keep crunching numbers but its time I asked for some input from you! What are your favorite 1-2 person designs for practicality & weight?

Hi Bender

> I'm going crazy
Errr ... we didn't ant to comment, but...

You haven't said whether you are planning on using this in the sheltered parts of America which have 6 months with zero rain and little wind, or on an alpine col with 3 m of snow, some of it going past you horizontally rather rapidly.

Cheers

I am looking for a design for zero snow with little rain or wind. Bugs can be a concern however no-see-um can be added to most with little effort. My criteria would be 1.5 lbs for 1 person or 2 lbs for 2. This would include poles and stakes because the tent would be primarily for bike camping. I would be nice to use my bike in place of a pole but its not as easy when you have an enclosed shelter.

Hi Bender

Many many options.
You could visit Henry Shires web site.

Cheers

If you aren't one that needs a self supported style of tent, the original tarptent MYOG designs from 10 years ago are still pretty relevant, as is the rayway tarp and net tent. Most of the designs since then have moved much closer to tents, adding weight, features, privacy, and weather resistance.
From a design standpoint, I like the moment and the rainbow from TT above all others. The rainbow can fit 2 and is close to free standing sans hiking poles, and the moment can be free standing and bomb proof with optional poles. Both are a bit complex for MYOG i think.

What design styles have you been considering so far?

I just finished my henry shires tarptent for 2 and am VERY happy with it. it sets up very quickly and is very lightweight. It is VERY spacious as well; I actually would've been just fine with the tarptent for 1 and I'm a big dude. Thru-hiker.com even sells a kit that comes with everything for the tarptent and tarptent for 2. All said and done (including kelty triptease guyline, MSR groundhog stakes x8, and custom easton poles) it cost about 70 bucks. I made mine floorless and use a tyvek groundsheet that I made. The whole set up weighs about 20 oz with tyvek groundsheet and about 18oz without.

Here is what I am thinking of for a 1 man tent. I will have a few inches of no-see-um mesh connecting the floor and walls. The entire tent will also be raised up a few inches for ventilation. The 52" pole would be slightly slanted toward the bottom of the door to give more usable space. I plan to have a mesh internal door to the small vestibule. The main door is not shown obviously. The entire tent body would use 13oz of sil-nylon. With zippers, mesh, pullouts, stakes, poles and stuff sack it should be under 1.5 pounds.


I realize the drawing doesn't show everything so let me know if you understand.

Guess a hunch here but I reckon it will be massively too short for you.

By my back of the envelope, you will only be able lie under something at least 8 inches high, and by the time you have done that you lose 14 inches in length. Giving you 76 inches to lie down in!

See MLD's DuoMid for another example of sizing.

Edited by maelgwn on 11/04/2009 15:43:54 MST.

well it is almost identical to the Nemo Meta 1 ( the De Luxe version of the SMD Lunar Solo) so might as well look at that for size.
http://nemoadventureanywhere.blogspot.com/2009/08/2010-sneak-peek-meta-1p.html
http://www.nemoequipment.com/2010catalog.pdf
mind you, since it is such a simple shape, should be easy to stick a pole up and run a piece of string up to it and down the other size and see what you are comfortable with.
I would suggest you lay on top of your mat and inside your bag, not on the floor..
Some people don't mind fabric on their face (or so they say) others need "headroom" laying down. The closer your face is to the fabric, the more condensation you will get.
Franco

I checked out the similar tents from Nemo & MLD. The MLD is 107",the Nemo is 100" and both are a just a little wider and taller than mine. I used string & a pole the other day for rough sizing but I'll give it another try now that I know what I want to make.

Edited by Bender on 11/04/2009 08:28:05 MST.

Bender, Nicely done drawing!

I have no personal experience with 'mids, but my initial impression is that your 90" length is a bit short. Assuming a 50" height (52" pole at an angle), usable length is 68" with 12" of headroom , less if the walls sag at all or are wind blown. You don't want your bag touching the walls. Design your mid around usable space. Consider your pad, bag loft, footbox height, and room for rolling over. Remember your feet/toes will extend and bag loft will add a lot to your standing height.

Here's a quick drawing with usable headroom thrown in:


Good luck and success!

Edited by Lancem on 11/04/2009 10:56:44 MST.

Thanks for the sketch Lance. I am going to do 110" and add about 10" to the width. Most of the materials, like 1.1oz ripstop, will come from owfinc.com. What style/size zipper would be best? What would be the best way to finish the peak of the roof & attach the pole?

Pyramid with adjustable pole has one huge advantage over many silnylon tents- if it sags you just raise the pole a bit instead of going outside to retension guylines.

I will be sewing a new pyramid or two before next summer for my family of four. My wife has a design requirement of sewn-in floor and netting so she can zip the ants and creepy-crawlies out. I have an idea to allow inner condensate to drip down through mesh at the edge but still have a bathtub floor. Since most of our use is for bug protection, it will have a mesh section near the peak covered by a rain bonnet in wet weather.

My wall-to-floor connection idea is to have a few inches of mesh to allow some ventilation and let condensate drain out. Hopefully the attached sketch makes some sense.

For what it's worth, I really like the basic design of the MH Lightpath 3 tent... way too heavy for ultralight packing, but I think the idea is solid and could be done well with much lighter materials.

Basically, the tent has poles in two parabolic arcs -- a larger one in the front and a smaller one towards the back. These provide virtually vertical sidewalls down near the ground where you will be sleeping, allowing for a smaller footprint than sloping walls without a loss of functional space.

Not sure if this is of any help -- I'm newly learning the ultralight world and haven't attempted to make any of my own gear -- but it's a design that seems simple and highly effective. Good luck in your tent-making.

James I think I understand what you are saying. I will have an adjustable strap holding the bottom of the pole so I can tweak the angle from inside. This should be helpful getting the perfect tension.

Tim I really like the 2 arch designs. They are more efficient with usable space but you end up having way more poles. I have a 5.25 pound Kelty Zen I will loosely copy out of UL materials for a 2 person tent. I had a pole break and the rest were in bad shape. Replacing them with Easton poles dropped the tent to 4 pounds 14 oz. I figure by removing some unnecessary features and using better materials I can drop 2 pounds off.

I ordered a bunch of Sil-Nylon from OWFINC as well as zippers, thread and No-See-Um. I need to get a grommet kit, silicone sealant, and probably some material for tie outs. I'm going to try Permatex Silicone Windshield Sealant if I can find it locally.

Bender,
What helps me is to to make a scale (2"=1 ft) model of the tent with 1.1 oz nylon and music wire on a cork board, and cut out a piece of mummy-shaped foam about 14" (7') long and 2" (1 ft) thick to see how it fits into the available space. Sewing a tent takes so much time for me that I want to be sure about the inside space before starting.
If you find a good sil nylon sealant that works and will save me the mess of mixing white gas and silicon gel, please do a new post. It would be most welcome.
Sam at Chocorua

Edited by scfhome on 11/09/2009 21:35:12 MST.

Samuel I am going to give Permatex Silicone Windshield Sealant a try. Supposedly its better than Mcnett Silnet and I should be able to find it locally. I like the idea of a mini mock up.

you can make your mini version from paper of card stock too for even less time invested.

-Tim

Tim having a computer model I can print out the pieces to scale and tape them together. For the full sized version its nice having the exact dimensions of each piece.