PE - List feild tents for Royals

[John LaTorre]

Cherie Nolan wrote:
> 
> i am going to be working on a new tent for my kingdom an have not a lot of materials or documentation in this area. My Crown is really in need of some thing
> nice.

Greetings to you, Marguerite!

Except for the pictures I'm sure you've seen of the Field of
the Cloth of Gold, I don't know of any encampment that
specifically designated a royal tent. So you're on your own.

Having made the West Kingdom's royal pavilion, I'll advise
you to make it, above all, rugged and simple, because it
will inevitably be set up by new bunches of people each
time. Many times, the setup crew won't have a clue how to do
it correctly and will end up straining the tent in ways you
never thought possible. Total idiot-proofing is impossible,
as long as they keep coming up with more inventive idiots,
but don't count on people understanding stresses and
leverage the way we do. (I'm sure your lord, the engineer,
can tell you stories about this that would curl your hair. I
sure could.) If possible, design things to only go together
or come apart one way. Most of the owners of our tents
become familiar with the sequence and the parts after a
while, but expect that the royal setup crew will come to the
task completely ignorant of the process. And this will
happen not once or twice, but constantly.

The sides need to be tall, for unobstructed sight lines to
the Royalty even with awnings and such. The West Kingdom
tent started out with 7' sidewalls, but this was increased
to 8'. (And it was a bitch stretching all those poles...)
You'll also need a minimum of poles in front, so as to leave
the view unimpeded.

Size matters. Our tent was designed to accommodate five sets
of thrones -- The Royals and four of the five Coronets of
the West (including Royal heirs) at any given time. All six
sets could probably be put in if they all smooshed together,
with no space or tables between them. Ansteorra probably
doesn't need that kind of frontage, but you know best what
sort of demands your court protocol will impose. By all
means, include some experienced court heralds or past
royalty on your design team.

If possible, design your frame components so that, if they
break, repairs can be made immediately from locally
available supplies ... no fancy fittings or non-standard
hardware. People should be able to be able to cobble parts
in a half an hour from components available at any hardware
store. 

Provide set up instructions with it ... several copies,
laminated for hard use. Give the regalia officer the
originals, but keep an extra set handy. I've had to replace
the instructions four times so far in ten years. 

The West Kingdom tent had some other weird design parameters
... no pole more than 7' long (that's what originally
dictated the 7' sidewall height) because that was the length
of the old regalia trailer. There was a specified weight
(200# including ropes and stakes, I think) that we couldn't
exceed, again due to the capacity of the old trailer. The
King dictated its dimensions and framework ... we kept the
dimensions, tossed the frame design. 

I know I don't need to give you any advice on how to make
tents! These are just thoughts that come to mind about how
the Royal Tent differed from all the others I have made in
its design, care and feeding.

-- 

John LaTorre (Johann von Drachenfels)

"Always do right. It will gratify some people & astonish the
rest."
--Mark Twain

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