Tipi | Page 2 | SouthernPaddler.com

Tipi

mike

Well-Known Member
Jun 29, 2009
694
9
TEXAS!
tx river rat said:
I doubt the hides had much smell at all , they were continually being smoked, these hides were tanned hair gone and the indians oiled them just like you do a pair of boats , bet they were pretty water tight.
Ron

I'll bet they smelled something awful. If they oiled them regularly, where do you think the oil came from? Rendered animal fat. That's all they had. It goes rancid and smells. Bad.

Mike
 

tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
Did a little reserch on the buffalo hides. they were scrapped so thin they were translucant and let light in they were so thin and I am sure to make them weigh less, as far as water shedding ability they used a mixture from different plants and animals to water proof , pine tar , sap ,
brains that they tanned with contained the same oils as neetsfoot oil and then they were smoked ,plus the continual smoking they got from the fire pit. Taned leather doesnt smell when it is wet ,now rawhide is a little different.
Ron
 

tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
I did a little more playing and reading . I changed the tipi to a miners tent configuration, 4 poles , It works better with the straight sides of the pyramid and uses less material.
miners1001.jpg


miners1003.jpg

Cot fits much better.

miners1004.jpg


There is a lot of room for one person and gear. two might be a little tight .
This is one 9 ft by 19 ft tarp and squares out to an 8+8 .
Next I am going to try setting it up with just one center pole.
Ron
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
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Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
If you had a floor in it , it would simplify the set up...... With a floor in it you can just pull the sides out to where they are tight and stake them. Then get in it with a center pole and raise it up to the desired height.

The floor staked out makes the shape you want ( 4 , 6 or 8 corners ) and the center pole determines the height.

Like the Go Lite tent I have from Go Lite.. This one has the bug screen and floor in it but it can be set up with or without it. Without it I use a floor saver so I know how far to stretch the sides when putting the pegs in the ground. As long as the sides are even but just a wee bit outside of the floor saver and pegged into the ground I am assured of a universal height , the distance I like.

Nothing more then a adjustable center pole , which can be set at an angle to offer more room in the center and the sides pegged out.

buck%20003.jpg


Chuck.
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
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Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
You gain a geometrically more efficient floor space. I think that the flat sides will not shed wind as well as will round ones?

Ask Chuck over, let him face the tent, and have him talk. That will give you a good idea of winds and how each tent configuration will react. :wink:

(OK, Chuck, your turn now.) :wink:
 

tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
Sort of what I thought too seedtick ,but it is in how the tarp is folded .

Look at the bottom of this page at the miners tent.

http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/tarp/TarpShel.htm

the diagonals make the tarp have a longer bottom line.

That cot sitting inside is right at 7 ft and not touching the sides , and it is wider at the bottom
The tarp I used was a measured 19ft 4 inches , ( I had to get the center before I started)
So I guess I am a tarp stretcher.
Ron
 

rngrbill

Member
Mar 26, 2011
5
0
Hello gang, I know this thread is probably died out but thought I would add my 2 cents here. Give a Yurt a real good look, not as portable but alot more room and excess stability. Saw a couple over here in Afghanistan and some of the other intersting places Uncle Sam has sent me. I have been so taken by these things that I plan to build 1 when I get home to use for deer/duck camp and possibly ice fishing. Awesome post and great discussion.
Bill
 

SundayForever

New Member
May 18, 2011
3
0
Ron, now that you have a pattern, you may want to make it from a different material? Polytarps are the noisiest thing to have in a camp; they keep you awake with all the crackling.
 

mommicked

Active Member
Nov 18, 2006
28
0
Coastal NC
We used to make tipis in the back yard when we were kids. We used the ridge pole from a swing set, an antennae, a flounder gig, and a few long straight saplings for the poles. For the canvas, we used some of mom's old blankets and curtains.

We usually built a fire in it to sleep at night. This taught us a few quick lessons. Sweep the floor. Leave a hole at the top. Leave a little ventilation gap at the bottom. We'd pack leaves around the bottom of the outside of the tent to cut down on drafts, except at the down wind side where the incoming vent for the fire was located. The door fabric, complete with staff folded over the door hole; we didn't have any proper door frame per se.

Our tent wasn't waterproof, but we didn't camp on rainy nights. When the fire went out in winter time, it got cool quick, and it was a good alarm clock.
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
mommicked said:
We'd pack leaves around the bottom of the outside of the tent to cut down on drafts, except at the down wind side where the incoming vent for the fire was located. The door fabric, complete with staff folded over the door hole; we didn't have any proper door frame per se.

Out camping there is nothing better then to find a campsite that has a lot of the pine straw or leaves on the ground. That makes for a good cushion to put a tent on after you remove the twigs or pine cones. I never can figure out the reason for folks to brush all of that out of the way to bare earth to set up a tent , that duff on the forest floor is like an additional mattress. :D
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
oldsparkey said:
<SNIP>I never can figure out the reason for folks to brush all of that out of the way to bare earth to set up a tent , that duff on the forest floor is like an additional mattress.:D
That duff sometimes hides pull tabs, bottle caps, broken glass, or silver dollars. (The silver dollars are much better hidden - cause I've never found'em yet.)
 

mommicked

Active Member
Nov 18, 2006
28
0
Coastal NC
oldsparkey said:
I never can figure out the reason for folks to brush all of that out of the way to bare earth to set up a tent. :D

1. Pine straw, left on the floor of the tent, catches fire, which causes the tent fabric to get warm and glow brightly! After this, the remaining poles, if any, are poor insulators! :mrgreen:
2. Pine straw inside the tent (our home made, back yard tipis had no floors) attracts the swamp angel's tiny red allies: red bugs! (aka chiggers in other parts of the country) Those little demons could make a boy itch for days, and at the age we were at the time, no alcohol was permitted for 'medicinal uses'!

Now a piled up bed of oak leaves might be a tad safer.....
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
They have primitive ( pioneer ) gatherings around here where everyone goes way back to the old days and ways of living. A couple of the guys have tipis and one of them on the inside of his he has the floor covered with animal skins , everything from a buffalo down to a fox.

That makes a really nice and comfortable area to sit or lay down.