Building my own tipi

[Florida Mike]

This may be a dumb question but....would the cuben material add any significant advantage over the silnylon? Am I correct in that the cuben is only stronger than silnylon or does it have another advantage? Is silnylon strong enough or abrasion resistant enough? Somebody please discuss the differences between cuben and silnylon? Thanks, Mike

 

[couesbitten]

Florida Mike, I can tell you that silnylon is what nearly all of the premium tipi builders are using for their tents. The one big drawback for me was that the cuben was considerably more expensive, for example, the Luna 4 tent from BearPaw is $225 in silnylon, but $475 in cuben, that alone keeps it out of my price range.

 

[a3dhunter]

Design wise, I would suggest some tie off points on the inside for a hanging clothes line to dry stuff out, in case it was needed.

 

[couesbitten]

Good idea 3d, I was thinking that I'd do that very thing, and perhaps make a gear loft out of a heavy mesh, to suspend over the sleeping area in the tent, but additional tie-offs would be good for a clothes line.

 

[couesbitten]

All of my materials got here today, looks like top quality stuff. Now I've just got to find the time to start this project. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about it and what kind of things I'd like to do, we'll see how it all turns out.

 

[>>>---WW---->]

Curtis: No I never did pull the trigger on that Luna 2 from Bearpaw. Sure wanted to though. But I think I've spent enough on equipment already this year.

 

[bearguide]

what about using the cuban material

 

[couesbitten]

I think the cuben would be great, but it is 4X the cost of silnylon!

 

[couesbitten]

For anyone else interested in doing this, here are links to sites for supplies and information for these types of projects.

http://www.bearpawwd.com/
http://www.questoutfitters.com/index.html
http://www.diygearsupply.com/cgi-bin/isle.cgi?type=all
http://www.seattlefabrics.com/products.html
http://www.owfinc.com/
http://www.zpacks.com/

 

[Florida Mike]

So how's the tipi project? Mike

 

[couesbitten]

You know what I didn't order Mike, time! I've got everything I need but a zipper for the entrance, borrowed my brother's fancy, like new, sewing machine, but I've just got to set aside the time to get started. My son's soccer season is about done, and that's been cutting into my weekends, so i'm hoping to get started in another week or two. I'll post pics of the process and finished product.

 

[Florida Mike]

Did you ever calculate the angle of each piece so its symetric? I have not been able to figure that out or I would try to build one too. I know I want it 8' tall and 10' across but I'm not into geometry... and I'm not the sharpest marble in the bag either! Anyway when you get your dimensions figured out please post them. Mike

 

[couesbitten]

I've been out of school a few years, and math was not my strong point, but after my "self proclaimed genius" son explained it to me, it's actually pretty easy to figure out, the formula is a²+b²=c². So with your dimensions, if
a = 8² (height) is 64
b = 5² (width of base divided in half, or distance from edge of tent to center pole) is 25
c = 89 (64+25) The square root of 89 is 9.43'. So the length of the angled wall of your tent is approximately 9'-5".

 

[Chesapeake]

So what your son ran you through was calculating the hypotenuse (long side) of a right angle triangle.

Depending on design, your TP would comprise 4 to 8 triangular panels, and that 9.43' could be the edge length or center line length of each panel.

I believe what the folks are asking is how to calculate the dimensions of each of the panels.

So I'll take a stab at it for a hexagon (6 sides):

Each panel would be 5.7735' along the bottom and 9.8861' along each of its sides for a hexagonal pyramid with a height of 8' and a radius (from center to center bottom of each panel) of 5'. Radius to bottom corner of each panel would be 5.7735'.

Pretty sure I did that correctly.

 

[couesbitten]

You're correct Ches, my figures are based on a four sided tipi, 8' tall x 10' square.

 

[Chesapeake]

So for either your math, or mine, you run into a situation where the average 60" wide roll of silnylon wont be wide enough to make a panel. For the 10' wide square the 62" silnylon might just be enough, but 60" stuff wouldnt leave you anything to sew.

And now we get into why companies make designs that best utilize common material sizes.

So you could retain the 8' tall x 10' wide pyramid if you had 62" material. (or you can add a seem up the middle of each panel doubling how much you get to cut and sew) This is how a mega light is built. You may very well need the mid-panel seem to increase strenght and reduce stretch and sag.

Or you could do an 8 sided octoganal pyramid. This would fit the fabric, but would waste alot of it to cut-offs, and tripple your sewing.

Or you could do the 6 sided hexagonal pyramid with a seem in the middle of each panel. Again doubling sewing and wasting alot to cut off.

Or you could do the hex pyramid and drop the 10' diameter down just a touch to around 9' and make it fit the 60 or 62" material width.

I've oftern contemplated doing what your doing. I've built a few scabbards and stuff sacks, and repaired a bivey or two. I have a bunch of silnylon waiting for a project. But I have the Mega-light, so I've jsut never needed another TP that bad.

I have the Oware cat tarp in cuben also..... Its nice, but that 2 oz weight savings was expensive.

 

[couesbitten]

You're exactly right Ches. I originally intended to build an 8-sided pyramid, but when I drew everything out, I was going to be wasting a fair amount of material, which kinda bothered me. That's pretty much how I ended up with the 7.5' x 10' size that I am planning to build. I purchased my material from Bearpaw Wilderness Designs, and their material is 63" wide, so each wall of the tent will have a seam up the middle. And you're also right about the cuben material, looks nice, sounds nice, but DAAAMN! they don't want to sell it very bad at those prices!

 

[Ironman]

So for either your math, or mine, you run into a situation where the average 60" wide roll of silnylon wont be wide enough to make a panel. For the 10' wide square the 62" silnylon might just be enough, but 60" stuff wouldnt leave you anything to sew.

And now we get into why companies make designs that best utilize common material sizes.

So you could retain the 8' tall x 10' wide pyramid if you had 62" material. (or you can add a seem up the middle of each panel doubling how much you get to cut and sew) This is how a mega light is built. You may very well need the mid-panel seem to increase strenght and reduce stretch and sag.

Or you could do an 8 sided octoganal pyramid. This would fit the fabric, but would waste alot of it to cut-offs, and tripple your sewing.

Or you could do the 6 sided hexagonal pyramid with a seem in the middle of each panel. Again doubling sewing and wasting alot to cut off.

Or you could do the hex pyramid and drop the 10' diameter down just a touch to around 9' and make it fit the 60 or 62" material width.

I've oftern contemplated doing what your doing. I've built a few scabbards and stuff sacks, and repaired a bivey or two. I have a bunch of silnylon waiting for a project. But I have the Mega-light, so I've jsut never needed another TP that bad.

I have the Oware cat tarp in cuben also..... Its nice, but that 2 oz weight savings was expensive.

Oooorrrr, he could buy a GoLite Shangri-La 5 for $262.49 on sale, and quit thinking so much.

 

[Chesapeake]

Oooorrrr, he could buy a GoLite Shangri-La 5 for $262.49 on sale, and quit thinking so much.

You can pretty well buy everything cheaper than you can make it if you figure your time ect..... The miracle of mass production.

But what kind of fun is that?

I'm guessing that guy will grin ear to ear the first night he sleeps on a mountain in "his" tent. That right there is worth the price of admission if you ask me. And when guys ask; "where did you get that TP?", he'll be smiling when he says; "I built it".

Some folks like to roll their own. The folks that dont will likely never understand.

 

[bearguide]

diy is fun, you can say you did it