Category: Gear

I've now had a chance to pitch the shelter somewhere other than the garden, and so also have been able to spend the night in it. I took it on my recent Dartmoor trip to try out, although the forecast was such that originally I had decided not to risk it: quite windy and cold, … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 12: Field Testing →

With the tent "finished", I was obviously itching to see what I'd ended up with, so put it up in the garden. I knew it wasn't the neatest sewing job ever, but was hoping it would look ok. Results are a bit mixed, to be honest. Your eyes do not deceive you - it is … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 11: The Result →

The time has come. I've made a small prototype and am happy with the design. I've made some other items in the materials the tent's going to be made from. I concluded I'm as ready as I'll ever be to start on the real thing. And a 4 day weekend seemed like a good time … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 10: The Build ! →

In my last post, I only showed one picture of the completed 2/5 scale prototype, so here's some more. It was made from cheap polycotton fabric, with an assortment of various grosgrain ribbons used to create loops to stake it out, and for the big guy from the beak to the ground. It's pitched with … Continue reading I Made a Tent…. (sort of) [Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 9] →

After my wife's exertions, and the evolution of planning that came with it, it was now my turn to have another go. Since my first abortive attempt, I've practiced sewing seams a bit more, cutting them straighter and seeing the benefit in the end result. The lesson about patiently measuring and cutting has been learned. … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 8: Bigger and Better →

My big box of supplies from Ripstop By The Roll took a week to arrive. They had a fun journey from North Carolina via Memphis, Tennessee to the UK, and after some scare stories I'd heard recently from other people, in the end the import charges came out pretty much bang on what I was … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 7: The Supplies Arrive →

"...it was just shit generally." This was the verdict on my first attempt at sewing a scaled-down version of the tent. This weekend, with supplies on their way from North Carolina, I needed to make some progress on the "skills" side of the project. Anyone (?) who has been on the edge of their seat … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 6: More Sewing and Refining →

Over recent weeks I've been firming up what I'm going to need to build the shelter, and yesterday I finally cracked and put the order in. Here's a rundown of the main items... Fly There was a bit of last minute dithering over the main fly fabric though, the choices considered being: 1.1oz Silpoly (20D … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 5: Supplies →

When I left you last, I had a revised design which I was pretty happy with, and the next stage involves turning the concept into something practical... This involves answering the following questions: How do I arrange the pieces of my tent when cutting out the fabric ?In what order do I then join it … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 4: Learning to Cut and Sew →

In my previous post I went, at some length, through the design process, but that's certainly not the end of the story. Before committing needle and thread to fabric, I want to be confident that what I end up with is going to work. This is where prototyping comes in. Prototyping is no more than … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 3: A Prototype and A Re-design →

In my previous post, I set out the background to the plan to make my own shelter, and in this post I'm going to explain the design itself, explain the process of designing it, and the decisions that have been, or will need to be made along the way. The aim of this post is … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 2: Design →

At the end of 2020, I set myself a target of trying to buy no unnecessary outdoor gear in 2021*, and promptly went on a frenzy of going through the various websites to make sure anything I wanted I got before the end of the year. Equivalent to starting a diet, but pigging all the … Continue reading Making my Own 3 Season Tent – Part 1: Initial Thoughts →