Hello everyone! This is my first post- I've been lurking for a while, mostly gathering information about making gear. I've been working on my tarptent for a while, but it's finally (almost) finished.

I started with the nightwing pattern but added 5 inches to the width on each side and added catenary cut side-center pullouts. The top is sewn with a flat felled seam.

I completely ditched the pattern for the mesh and floor part, and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. The mesh, floor, poles, stakes, and tie-out loops were reused from old broken tents my parents had lying around their attic, which saved a lot of money. The floor is heavier than I would have liked, but it was also free. I ended up only spending $88 on the whole thing, mostly because I already had a lot of the supplies.

I don't have trekking poles right now, but as soon as I buy them, I'll replace the poles, which will save some weight. I used old rope for these pictures, but I ordered some spectra-core line with tensioners, so I'm planning on replacing the rope as soon as I get it.

The current weight of the tarptent is:
body: 2 lb 3 oz
poles: 8 oz
stakes: 5 oz

It's heavier than some, but I've spent most of my time backpacking in New Hampshire where a floor is pretty necessary. I spent five days last summer in a rainstorm that washed out two nearby roads.

There are more pictures/descriptions at http://www.flickr.com/photos/68043416@N00/sets/72157603715525069/
if anyone's interested.

If anyone has specific questions, I'll try to answer!
I wish you all luck in your own gear-making adventures.

~mouse

Hi mouse and welcome to WhiteBlaze :welcome. Nice looking tent.

nice job:)

That looks EXACTLY like the tarptent I have about 50% finished. I used a heavier urethane coated ripstop for the floor, 3" tubbed and round-corded to the four corner staked, and the same smoke gray sil nylon a-frame top. if it works for you, it will work for me.

Excellent job, Mouse!!!

Even funnier, I scavenged a lot of parts to build mine from an old Eureka just like yours...

Nicely done. Is it urethane-coated nylon, or sil-nylon.

Very nice Mouse, Welcome !!!!!

Great job, looks nice and roomy.

BR360, the top part is grey silnylon. I'm not exactly sure what the bottom is, it's from a eureka 6-person tent. Urethane-coated, maybe?

thanks everyone!

and aaroniguana, cording the floor to the stakes sounds like a great idea. Maybe I'll try that once I get my cord.

Its a lot of work to sew that kind of gear, and you did a great job. Most inspiring! :welcome

Nicely done, Mouse. It should give you many years of satisfaction on the trail.

Now if we could just convince all the other mice. ;)

Cool tent! I was lazy and ordered a rainbow 2 (it's not here yet) but am still tempted to make one of my own. I thought about the jardine tarptent but yours looks simple and functional. I don't have any spare mesh but I've seen bug netting from campmor in several configurations, it wouldn't be too hard to attach it to a silnylon tarp.

I might make something like that for my emergency bag. It would be a lot lighter and easier to pack than the other ones.



I don't know if anyone here has ever seen that show "I should not have lived" where people get into some kind of near death experiance where they almost die, or in some cases they really do. There were a couple of jungle disasters that seemed particulary gruesome. In the one a couple goes to a camp or something in the rainforest, one of the nice ones where they have cabins and stuff. Anyhoo, they become so enamored with all the animals they get lost on a well marked trail. They are lost for several days and have made a suicide pact. They guy disovers moving water as he is washing up for his death and they follow it and someone recues them.

In another one a group of fellas is on a rainforest river trip and they boat, kayak, canoe or whatever they are in wrecks, or something like that. They guide and another guy have a dissagreement on how to get back to civilization, they separate, and chaoes ensues. They guide and they guy he is with is never heard from again. The other two guys also become separted, one is rescued, and they rescue the other one delirious and near death.

The thing that struck me in both of those cases is how miserable the bugs made them. The could not sleep at all at night for the bugs, which never let up. The bug nets are compact and light, pretty easy to keep with you if you ever find yourself hiking in the subtropics. A bug net would be an important part of ones survival gear.

Great job! I like your idea better than the Jardine. I was sold on his tarp, but the height of Ray's net tent seemed too low. Yours has the best of both worlds. Let us know how it serves you. Thanks

Looks very professionally constructed. Good job.

Looks great, wish I had the patients and time to make gear like that!:)

Very nice job. I've seen several home made tents of the same basic design on the internet. Looks nice and airy. Hint: Leave the Tire at home. :p

Welcome!

Hi Mouse,
What a great job. Definately a project you put your time and creativity into, and to reuse old tents, that's really excellent! :)

That is So cool!! Wow. Congrats and welcome!

Tarp looks good, very similar to my ray jardine ray-way tarp. One question can the front opening shrink closer to the ground? I would be worried about it in high winds. The ray-way's netting is adjustable in height for storm pitching. Probably fine if you pitch it down wind.
Home made is always the best.
Peace

Yeah hobojoe, the front can go closer to the ground. You can take a section out of both of the front and back poles if the weather gets nasty. The mesh will be a little more funky-looking, but it will still work.
Fly Rod, I was also a little worried about space with the Ray-way tarptent. I like mine because if it's nice, you have a little more room to move around.
I'll definitely tell you how it works, although I won't be using it anytime soon, as it's 6 degrees outside right now!

The more room you have the less condensation you will have on a damp night. I'm sure you will spend many a dry night under her.
Happy trails,
Hobo