[Periodencampments] Spam ain't Period :-)

[John LaTorre]

Gabriel Johnstone (BBR) wrote:

> Has anyone made a fixed wall, pavilion?  I am currently finishing my tour in
> Korea and will be returning to the states shortly.  Upon my return I have
> several projects in mind, but first on the list is a square, fixed wall,
> pavalino design pavilion.  I am interested if anyone has any advice on known
> week points in that type of design, or if there is a recommended minimum
> slope to the walls on a fixed wall design.  I have only made tents with
> detachable walls that clip or tie on, so this is uncharted territory for me.
> That's in advance for your assistance.

I've made both styles. There are benefits and drawbacks to
each style. The benefits of the one-piece design:

A little faster to set up.
No guy ropes required IF the sides slope out* (you're
looking for roughly a 15%-20% increase of the diameter of
the tent over what it would have been if the walls hung
straight down)
A few less pieces to carry around or misplace.
A more positive seal against the elements at the eave.

The drawbacks:
A little harder to set up ... more weight to have to contend
with.
If the walls replace the guy ropes, you can't fold them back
or drop them entirely in hot weather
The pieces themselves are heavier and more unwieldy
(although this obviously depends on the size of the
completed tent and the material it's made of).
Increased complexity in sewing (with the same parenthetical
comment as the item above)

So the answer depends greatly on your needs. I'd calculate
the total weight of your intended tent's fabric and then ask
yourself whether you'd feel comfortable carrying that amount
of weight in a single piece and raising it to a vertical
position, possibly in a wind or other adverse conditions. If
you're going the guy-rope-less route, ask yourself if, under
the conditions you generally intend to camp in, the
advantage of no guy ropes outweighs the ability to raise,
drop, open, or remove sections of wall for ventilation
purposes.

*It is possible to design a guy-rope-less tent with
detachable sidewalls, but it requires either that some
method of holding the center pole(s) upright (temporary wind
lines, portable holes, or burly, patient people) until the
sides can be attached and staked down. Or you can attach the
sides before raising the whole thing. Generally, this works
much better for smaller tents than larger tents, and you
still have the problem of not being able to remove the walls
as needed for climate control.

Besides Ceara's excellent website, you might investigate
Dame Mira's site:

http://www.currentmiddleages.org/tents/index.html

or my own site:

http://midtown.net/dragonwing/previous.htm

for insight on designing and making your tent.



--

John LaTorre (Johann von Drachenfels)

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