Tents, Tent Poles and Pins
(Page 2 of 13)

You need not confine yourself exactly to the dimensions of the army shelter-tent, but for a pedestrian something of the sort is necessary if he will camp out. I have never seen a "shelter" made of three breadths of drilling (seven feet three inches long), but I should think it would be a good thing for four or five men to take.[14] And I should recommend that they make three-sided end-pieces instead of taking additional half-tents complete, for in the latter case one-half of the cloth is useless.

Five feet is long enough for a tent made on the "shelter" principle; when pitched with the roof at a right angle it is 3-1/2 feet high, and nearly seven feet wide on the ground.

Although a shelter-tent is a poor substitute for a house, it is as good a protection as you can well carry if you propose to walk any distance. It should be pitched neatly, or it will leak. In heavy, pelting rains a fine spray will come through on the windward side. The sides should set at right angles to each other, or at a sharper angle if rain is expected.

There are rubber blankets made with eyelets along the edges so that two can be tied together to make a tent; but they are heavier, more expensive, and not much if any better; and you will need other rubber blankets to lie upon.

If you wish for a larger and more substantial covering than a "shelter," and propose to do the work yourself, you will do well to have a sailmaker or a tent-maker cut the cloth, and show you how the work is to be done. If you cannot have their help, you must at least have the assistance of one used to planning and cutting needle-work, to whom the following hints may not be lost. We will suppose heavy drilling 29-1/2 inches wide to be used in all instances.

 

[14] If the party is of four, or even five, a shelter-tent made of three breadths of heavy drilling will accommodate all. Sew one end-piece to each half-tent, since sewing is better than buttoning, and the last is not necessary when your party will always camp together. Along the loose border of the end-piece work the button-holes, and sew the corresponding buttons upon the main tent an inch or more from the edge of the border. Sew on facings at the corners and seams as in the army shelter, and also on the middle of the bottom of the end-pieces; and put loops of small rope or a foot or two of stout cord through all of these facings, for the tent-pins. You will then have a tent with the least amount of labor and material in it. The top edges, like those of the army shelter, are to have buttons and button-holes; the tent can then be taken apart into two pieces, each of which will weigh about two pounds and a quarter. Nearly all of the work can be done on a sewing-machine; run two rows of stitching at each seam as near the selvage as you can.