DIY Tut XL

[530Chukar]

I decided to pull the trigger on the new Silpoly XL for my Tut XL design. As it looks, it is very similar to Kifaru's Tut, but just taking advantage of the Extra wide fabric. Final footprint is 11'6" x 11'6" and right at 8 ft tall. I haven't had a chance to weigh it yet but my guess is right around 4 lbs including stakes and center pole. I'll have to say I was very impressed with the silpoly over the silnylon, much less stretch and a little bit easier to work with. At the end I figured around $250 in all the materials including the stove jack yet to be installed and about 25 hours worth of my time. A big thank you to everyone who has posted their projects on the forum in the past. I took a lot of photos from other people designs that helped a lot with the Guy outs and reinforcement points. I've never sewn anything in my life other than a few pullouts from the tutorials on this website. If I can do it, anyone can. Anyone that's on the fence about a shelter project just take it on.

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[Pinewood]

That's awesome! Great job!

 

[bowhunter15]

Nice work. I also have a bunch of the Silpoly XL sitting at home for this project so I may have some questions along the way.

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[gudspelr]

That's fantastic-it looks great. I also decided on the silpoly XL for mine, it's going to be a straight pyramid style. I started with quilts, just finished a tarp, and the tent is next. I'd love to see anymore pics you have of how you did yours. Looks like you reinforced the peak on the outside (vs the inside)? What did you do for your pole? I was thinking of going with a Ruta Locura carbon fiber one, but not sure.


Jeremy

 

[durangobrad]

I ordered the same material when it was on sale. Making that exact shelter as well when I get the time this summer.

 

[WoodBow]

Nice work. How many people do you think it will sleep comfortably?

 

[530Chukar]

That's fantastic-it looks great. I also decided on the silpoly XL for mine, it's going to be a straight pyramid style. I started with quilts, just finished a tarp, and the tent is next. I'd love to see anymore pics you have of how you did yours. Looks like you reinforced the peak on the outside (vs the inside)? What did you do for your pole? I was thinking of going with a Ruta Locura carbon fiber one, but not sure.


Jeremy

The peak and guy outs were all reinforced with 500D cordura on the inside and outside glued and then sewn together into place. I used gutted paracord bar tacked onto the reinforcements. Inside and outside is probably overkill. I originally just added them to the inside but did not like the look or the raw stitches from the outside of the shelter. They aren't the prettiest but they are pretty strong. Had it set up last night and the dog ran over the guy lines several times without any damage. The center pole was just an adjustable aluminum pole from Amazon up to 96". REI has the same also and I think it was $28. I'd deffinetly go with a carbon fiber pole if cost isn't an issue.

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[530Chukar]

Nice work. How many people do you think it will sleep comfortably?

I built the shelter to support 3 guys with gear and a stove. If you sleep one along the left, back and right walls it leaves the center wide open. I'd say even 4 guys would be pretty roomy. I may take a few more pictures tomorrow with the sleeping bags later out for reference.


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[paleraider]

That is a great work, really well done!

 

[gudspelr]

Thanks, Chukar I appreciate the details. I was thinking of just reinforcing the peak on the inside (saw my friend's SL-5 was made that way), but not sure. Getting all the peak points to line up nicely also has me wondering a bit... A reinforcement cap on the outside would help cover any small issues. Did you use the same cordura for the stake down straps at the bottom of the walls?

Jeremy

 

[530Chukar]

Thanks, Chukar I appreciate the details. I was thinking of just reinforcing the peak on the inside (saw my friend's SL-5 was made that way), but not sure. Getting all the peak points to line up nicely also has me wondering a bit... A reinforcement cap on the outside would help cover any small issues. Did you use the same cordura for the stake down straps at the bottom of the walls?

Jeremy

Reenforcing the peak on the inside is a must. My outer peak reinforcement is mainly to make it look a little nicer where the seams all meet up. When I sewed the 4 sides together I made sure to line up and bottom seams together so that any small length differences could be covered up at the top. As for the stake down points, it is 500D cordura as well but I've only got one piece on the outside as I didn't think they'd get as much stress as the guy outs. I'll try to get another picture of them tomorrow but the mid points were 6x4 triangles and the corners ended up diamond shaped but make a triangle when the corners are staked down.


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[gudspelr]

Gotcha. I've heard someone when stitching the walls together, to start from the bottom and go to the peak. I've also heard start from the peak and go down. I realized that if I'm not careful if I started from the bottom and sewed to the peak, there may be a little creeping and the points at the peak may not match up... Which made me think starting at the peak might be good and I could "adjust" the bottom to match up if there's some creep.

Anyway, thanks for all the good information.


Jeremy

 

[Superkodiak38]

Looks good man !

 

[Flydaho]

Very nice, that thing looks spacious! Should be easy to fit 3 guys plus gear in there.

I would highly recommend the inside cone at the apex, Kifaru puts that there for a reason.

I like the alternate zipper location you used, seems like a better use of the extra space you have and you could really open it up to vent.

Nicely done!

 

[530Chukar]

Very nice, that thing looks spacious! Should be easy to fit 3 guys plus gear in there.

I would highly recommend the inside cone at the apex, Kifaru puts that there for a reason.

I like the alternate zipper location you used, seems like a better use of the extra space you have and you could really open it up to vent.

Nicely done!

Thank you. Can you clarify what you mean by inside cone? I did sew a 6 inch piece of 500d at the apex and sewed parallel with the seams as someone had mentioned here in the past. The outer one was added mainly to hide the seams coming together at the top but does add a little more rigidity to the first renforcment.

I was much happier with the center zip vs the corner zip. It seems to open it up a little more. I'll definetly be using that to vent the tent as it was over 90 this week when I had it setup and it felt like a sauna in there. I'll have to explore a true vent in the future.

Here's a photo with three sleeping bags for a size reference.

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[Flydaho]

I mis-read a post above. I thought you only reinforced the outside, but it sounds like you did both the outside and inside (good choice).

Let us know what the total weight comes to (pole, stakes, tent, stuff sacks) when you get around to it. I'd love to know what it comes out to. The XL fabric is 1.1 oz (1.3 oz with coating) right? Should be pretty acceptable weight, especially for the room you are getting with that 11.5'x11.5' footprint.

 

[gudspelr]

The picture with the sleeping bags inside really put it in perspective. How do you think an 18" cylinder stove would do between the pole and the "rear" sleeping bag? I was planning on putting in a stove jack there, but wanted to see what you thought based on the room inside yours. Putting the stove on the door side would solve things, but a friend had a good point when he told me they've had some issues crawling past the really hot stove pipe when anyone is going outside the tent....vs the guy in the back, I suppose...

Jeremy

 

[530Chukar]

The picture with the sleeping bags inside really put it in perspective. How do you think an 18" cylinder stove would do between the pole and the "rear" sleeping bag? I was planning on putting in a stove jack there, but wanted to see what you thought based on the room inside yours. Putting the stove on the door side would solve things, but a friend had a good point when he told me they've had some issues crawling past the really hot stove pipe when anyone is going outside the tent....vs the guy in the back, I suppose...

Jeremy

I haven't purchased a stove yet so I can't say for sure. I'm planning on putting the stove jack into the door panel at the highest point that I can to keep it close to the center pole. I think there'd still be plenty of room to walk around it. If there are 3 guys in the tent and the stove was on the back side I'd think it would be. A lot harder for the back guy to get away from the stove. I can also see the need to keep the front door flaps controlled while you have the stove burning in order to keep the wind from blowing the door against the stove. That could make you unhappy.


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[gudspelr]

Aaarrrrg.... I keep thinking I know what my plan is, then I start questioning it... I want to put the stove in a spot that is least likely to cause a problem to sleepers (i.e., kids). I may need to re-visit some of this before I get too far. Thanks for the extra pictures.

Jeremy

 

[bganz]

So awesome! Where did you come up with the measurements for this? I would love to do something like this. Fantastic job. Where did you source your materials from? Thanks again for posting!