This ultralight tent is a backpacking bell tent or tipi with a short wall. It can be pitched high for luxury comfort or low for strong wind survival. It is also optimized for hot tenting and also for use with a snow pit with a central ULTRALIGHT TENT STOVE or the improved KISS Stove (~400g) in the link below.
It can be pitched with; a telescopic pole, a bush pole or no pole at all which is particularly nice in the snow when you have the comfort of a snow pit to sit around in comfort, as in the photos below. At ~800g it is a very light load for spacious walk-in shelter for two people and their gear.
The design makes the whole canopy layout as a nearly flat plain which makes it simple to sew and very quick to dry when there is even a short break in the weather. The peak of the tent finishes in a deep reinforced hem that is sewn to the tent with multiple rows of ganged stitches. A drawcord is threaded through this hem to attach the tent to the pole or a cord from an overhanging branch as in the photo below.
The above 12 sided ultralight tent was a great success, but it had some major drawbacks;
- Need for a big pitching site,
- Excessive time delays fiddling around properly setting out the first 12 base pegs before the tent could go up to provide basic weather protection for packs and people in wet or snowy conditions,
- Too many pegs and cords,
- Dry/wet stretching of the silicon proofed ripstop nylon required frequent re-tensioning of the many guy ropes,
- Guy ropes tangled when drying the tent in the wind if they were not tediously bundled up when packing the tent up and
- It had many tiny rope tensioners that needed adjustment and added to the guy rope tangling problem.
The next tent design kept the luxury and eliminated the above drawbacks.
For my ultralight tents, I carefully design all the panels so as to have all major seams comprising a combination of a straight grain edge with a biased grain edge. This means that seam stretch is limited and even for all seams. To join my tent panels I sew a ‘lay-flat’, ‘flat felled’ or ‘French’ seam. In the sewing of the seams, I always wrap and pin the straight grain edge around the biased edge. This technique limits the stretch while sewing and make it easier to sew. My Mum taught me this sewing method which; is simple, does not require a second cutting or pressing and allows the wrapping of cross-grain edge within the straight grain during the first line of stitching that is the most difficult. For more details, please see LAY FLAT SEAMS.
This is at odds with the methods described on Youtube FLAT FELLED SEAM.
My method that I use to seal the seams is described in SILNYLON GLUEING.
Features of the square-based bell tent:
- Will pitch on a 2.5m square site,
- The tent top has a universal mount that allows the tent to be erected on a telescopic pole, bush pole or in hanging mode with no internal pole,
- Only four pegs required to quickly erect the tent for temporary weather protection and the same when packing up,
- Still can be pitched high or low, for luxury comfort or strong wind survival,
- Provides easy walk-in access,
- It has spacious room for two with gear,
- Simple, soft and light protective stove flue gland near the centre (GLAND DETAILS),
- Only one peg required for each pair of tie-outs,
- Each pair of tie-outs are formed with one cord,
- The tie-out pairs also shared one shock cord tensioner that can adjust both cords to allow for the dry/wet stretch in the tent canopy,
- The tie-outs can be anchored in the snow with sticks or ULTRALIGHT SNOW ANCHORS if above the tree line,
- The tent has a partial floor that makes a breeze/snow skirt,
- The canopy pegging tabs allow the use of sticks as pegs and
- The canopy can be easily opened flat for quick tangle free tent drying.
For backpacking, I have made a very simple and effective conical stuff bag for the tent. The large conical opening of the bag means that the slippery silnylon tent canopy can be easily stuffed into the bag and then compressed down into the taper when required. When packed it will flexibly fit anywhere in my pack, but more importantly, it can easily be packed or hung on the outside of my pack when wet. This means that it can drain while walking and is easily and quickly available to hang out to dry when a brief opportunity presents itself on the trail.
Please see my post on DIY breathing polyester tent to see how a similar tent made of breathing polyester has improved performance and my spreadsheet for designing square pyramid tents. Also, you may be interested in my latest use of Hot cutting and welding to prepare tent seams for easy sewing.
Other related post:
Tim
Hi Tim,
I will follow up this response on the newer vestibule tent post.
Hello Tim
I’ve only recently found your website in my quest to learn about making mid shelters. Great work, lots of thoughts to pour through.
I will post all my questions here even though they might be related a particular post, perhaps they can benefit others.
What are your thoughts on the midpanel seam (where the two triangles join) acting effectively as another tension point to turn a square shelter into a “faux” octogon? (so each of the four panels gains an additional tension line)
The draw-string apex finishing method is quite clever, but it must have something on the pole to cinch around, otherwise it would fall down the pole, right? Compared to a traditional mid where there is a solid pocket.
Have you ever used two poles in a ‘V’ configuration to gain more internal space (avoids the pole in the center), like so: https://blogpackinglight.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/myog-a-frame-update/.
Are you worried about the full length zipper compromising strength? That zipper is under quite a lot of force, no? And I can’t see if you have a clip at the bottom to relieve tension? What number zips are you using?
I also like the idea of a full length zipper to also enable the whole shelter to become a flat tarp if needed.
-On bell walls-
I really like the idea of bell walls to increase interior volume when the weather is nice, and be able to pitch low when in foul conditions. Why do you imagine it isn’t more widely used? Have you used your square design above the treeline much? At what kind of winds does the bell wall become an issue?
What are your thoughts on adding top vents? If a snow skirt is deployed I imagine ventilation becomes quite an issue, but perhaps in the conditions you want a skirt you don’t mind so much. What kind of condensation do you get in the winter without using a stove, and your breathable fabric? The other issue I imagine with the bell wall is considerable more stakes needed, and more difficulty getting a tight pitch. More material to flap around also?
Finally on size…What do you imagine would be the minimal base dimensions you would want for two (cozy) people with a short bell wall? I’ve also looked at your new design to add a vestibule. I worry the vertical walls of the vestibule would negatively affect wind resistance. And needing an extra pole is a downside. But for no extra footprint space its a nice feature. Perhaps a small one would not impact wind resistance too much.
Cheers,
Kai
Hi Kai, I am back from my ski trip so I can answer your many good questions as promised.
This is an old post and has been left a little redundant by the improved design of the DIY polyester pyramid (https://timtinker.com/diy-breathing-polyester-tent-for-backpacking/)and now A Pyramid Tent With A Vestibule(https://timtinker.com/pyramid-tent-with-high-vestibule-entry/). I consider that the improvements made during the evolution of the basic design answer some of you questions. So some questions really belong with the evolved posts. Anyway hear is a brief response that has become rather long and I would be happy to discuss further under the later posts.
Mid panel seam. For a start, I find that a rectangle or a square base to a tent is optimal for human bodies to share and utilize efficiently. So all my designs use this shape and I employ a stright-grain/cross-grain combination in EVERY radial tent seam. This minimizes and standardizes seam stretch and the tent can be easily pitched with taught corner seams.It also preserves the original rectangular base shape. The use of polyester instead of stretchy silnylon also helps the stability of the taught tent shape in wet snowy and windy weather. I can not explain why others use straight/straight and cross/cross seams in their designs and I have only had failure when I have tried it!
Apex hem and draw cord. The apex draw cord can be tied to a pole securely with knots such as a series of clove-hitches. A suitable long branch with several forks on it can be used and the apex cord can be passed over a suitable fork and passed back down through the hem and tied off on the pole from the comfort of the tent. The other forks can be used as coat hangers. If using telescopic aluminium poles with a tent spike on the last section, I have a small permanent loop (tied with a bow-line). I twist this many times until the loop is so tight that it can not slip down from the spike.
Zipper strength. I have use a wide range of zippers from fine to coarse and all have worked well without failure, although fine ones can become contaminated with soil and grits where they are in contact with ground and rainwater. Usually, I use the coarse plastic ones (usually in pairs, with open both ends, in series along the true ridge joins.I purchase the appropriate zips according to my tent design or fudge my design to match the available zips. Either way I make the zippered seams open from apex hem through the snow skirt, so that the tent canopy can be laid out flat for sewing and drying. For the door and window openings, I use the light plastic zipper by the meter that I cut to the required length. These must be blind sewn at one end. Such zips are quite strong enough for the task as the spread the load evenly over the entire tent panel. I no longer feel the need to have a load bearing keeper at the terminal point of the zippers.However my guy out devices can be used to provide a closing force if needed, but it makes easy exit and entry to the tent more difficult.
Number of zips and ventilation and fabric permeability. It is tempting to put one long zipper in a seam, but finding such long zippers is difficult, so the use of a series of zippers is very practical. If used in the best way they, can provide brilliant upper tent ventilation and star-gazing tent features. My vestibule tent has such venting features. I will always use a big top vent if possible, however with the best intentions all my silnylon tents had condensation problems with or without such venting (even a fully open top to bottom doorway slit!). This is why I changed to polyester umbrella fabric. It breaths moisture away so quickly that condensation is absolutely minimal with or without venting.
Bell walls.Bell walls make the tent more complex to make and pitch. For my vestibule tent, I have simplified the making part by making a continuous part of the tent panels so that it can be pitched as bigger pyramid or as a smaller pyramid with walls. I usually camp in the trees for wind protection, but all my tents have plenty of guy out points that allow them to stand up to strong winds. The Breathing Polyester Tent survived a horrid wind very well in an open camp site with walls deployed I don’t think that the vestibule makes the tent significantly less wind stable and if camping in or near trees a branch can be used for extra ridge support.
Ideal floor size considerations. I like a tent to have plenty of space for keeping gear dry, drying damp gear, defrosting and draining wet gear (away from me/us and our dry gear and room for a central heating/cooking stove. Consequently, the tent needs to be a body length in one dimension with a bit to spare so that I don’t need to touch the walls while sleeping. Regarding the other dimension it could be just another body width for the other person. However, I make as wide as it is long and this makes the design very simple, as there is only a single panel shape to cut. I also am more than happy to share a tent and cooking and meals with others. It is a fun, efficient and safer way to do such adventures. So a 2,250mm square is about my minimum for a comfortable tent for two with a permanent stove or three with gear and removable stove. My next size step up is a 3,000 mm square tent which is made efficiently from currently available 1,500mm (plus selvage) fabric. This can provide comfortable accommodation for three with a permanent stove or four with a removable stove. When such spacious tents are shared the weight per person is exceedingly low ~500-400g per person. Regarding, your own tent design, I will be happy share my spreadshit tent model with you so that you can test various scenarios that might fit you needs.
To add a vestibule or not? Having solved the condensation problem of the mid with polyester,the last Achilles Heal of these wonderful tents is the dreaded exposure of the occupants and their gear to the elements every time someone enters or exits the opened tent zipper in bad weather (good weather for us skiers). The funny looking vestibule extension solves this problem by having a perpendicular door way for stooped entry on one side and a window on the other and if combined with snow steps to a snow pit it becomes a walking entry with a generous head clearance gear changing area with draining and drying area included and firewood storage.
Tim