Make Your Own Gear - Tents

 Over the years I have designed and fabricated a number of tents. To learn more about my current design and fabrication techniques go to the Design and Fabrication section at the bottom of this page.

1999 Two-Person Half Dome

This Two-Person Half Dome was my first MYOG tent. It was modeled after several tents that were on the market but with a variety of innovations. It was one of the very first tents made with Silnylon fabric. The fabric was so new that the supplier had no idea what product to use to seal the seams. Because both sides of the fabric are sealed with silicone the nylon never gets wet and never sags.

It was designed for my wife and I and weighs only 2 pounds, about half of the weight of comparable tents at the time. The front side of the tent is entirely made of mosquito netting with a “D” shape door that won’t fall into the dirt when open. The front vestibule covers the door and a vent at the top provides ventilation. A lower vent on the back wall produces a good ventilation path from near the floor to the top of the tent and out the vent.

The interior poles eliminate sleeves or clips. The pole sections half way up the walls are pre-bent to make the walls a little steeper and the peak a little lower thus increasing the interior volume without adding any weight. I believe this was innovative for its day.

This tent is still used nearly every year here in Colorado. In addition it has been to Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Tasmania.

2004 Bivy Tent

I started to design a bivy sack but realized that the breathable fabrics available were so much heavier than silnylon that I could make a tent that was more livable and lighter. This was my first tent to use an innovative internal rain fly behind the mosquito netting door. The rain fly can be opened/closed from the inside. A gap between the rain fly and the door provides good ventilation. A large vent in the foot box provides additional ventilation. The poles slip into sleeves and proved to be a real pain to set up; never again.

  • Packed weight 16.5 oz.

  • Carbon fiber poles front and rear

  • Two 6” aluminum stakes

  • Minimal footprint to fit small campsites

  • Mesh rear and front windows for cross ventilation

  • Interior doors inside windows can be closed from inside and allow ventilation even when closed

2017 Stealth Tent

The 2017 Stealth Tent uses my fixed-length trekking poles instead of a separate dedicated pole set. It was my first tent to use Dyneema Composite Fabric and I chose a camouflaged print because I always wanted a tent that blended in with the environment. I used this tent on my 2017 Boulder-to-Durango thru hike. The tent features the internal rain fly from the previous design.

  • Packed weight 9.9 oz.

  • Trekking poles attach on outside in front

  • 18” carbon fiber rear pole folds to tent stake size

  • Six 6” titanium stakes

  • Pitches in less than 2 minutes

  • 4’ x 8’ footprint to fit small campsites

  • .67 osy camo Dyneema fabric to blend with nature

  • Catenary cut fly for a taught pitch

  • Stealth fighter shape to shed the wind

  • Mesh rear and front windows for cross ventilation

  • Interior doors inside windows can be closed from inside and allow ventilation even when closed

  • 3” seamless bathtub floor

  • 360° mesh gutter between fly and floor provides ventilation and drips condensation outside

  • Two mesh pockets for stashing gear

  • Optional interior clothesline

2021 Pyramid Tent

The 2021 Pyramid Tent is an evolution of the previous two tents. The use of adjustable trekking poles allows the tent to be taller to provide additional head room. I added a large mesh window opposite of the door for more ventilation.

  • Packed weight 6.7 oz.

  • Trekking poles attach on outside

  • Two 6” titanium stakes

  • Neon yellow guy lines for low light visibility

  • Pitches in about one minute

  • .51 olive green Dyneema fabric

  • Catenary cut fly for a taught pitch

  • Mesh rear, side and front windows for cross ventilation

  • Interior fly inside the door can be closed from inside and allows ventilation even when closed

  • 3” seamless bathtub floor

  • One mesh pocket for stashing gear

 

Coming in 2022

2022 Pyramid Tent

The 2022 Pyramid Tent is currently being designed. I expect to extend the adjustable trekking poles to their full length and adjust their angle to optimize internal volume while still occupying a small footprint. Changes:

  • Packed weight will increase slightly

  • Trekking poles adjusted to maximum

  • Adding a second side window

Design and Fabrication

For my latest tents I used Fusion360 to model the tent in 3D using the program’s surface modeling tools. This allowed me to visualize dozens of configurations with minor variations until I was happy with the result. The program can calculate the surface area of each surface of the design allowing weight vs. volumetric tradeoffs.

I used the ExactFlat program to flatten the curved surfaces into 2D patterns. I used my son’s X-Y CNC table to draw the patterns onto the DCF fabric using a Sharpie. None of the edges of the patterns are straight lines. I laid the fabric on a large table and used a piece of 1/2” x 3/4” wood trim bent to the exact curvature of the edges and clamped the wood trim to the table. Then I cut the fabric in a single stroke with a snap knife to avoid any stop-start irregularities.

The ridgelines and floor-to-fly panels are designed to have only shear forces on the seams. These seams are taped using 1/2” transfer tape and not sewn. All seams that can experience peal forces are sewn and then taped with homemade DCF tape cut from the tent fabric.