DYI: Vinyl Coated Polyester Bomb Proof Teepee Tent

[gizmotron]

Bob Wells recently did a video of a very nice and expensive ($2,200) Teepee tent for people that need a tent to survive. I'm linking it here because the design is the same as this one, at least very close. It uses a single, very strong, painters extendable pole as the center pole that you can get at almost any Home Depot.



I use two products. One is HH-66 adhesive:
https://www.mytarp.com/products/hh-66-vinyl-cement

The other is 10oz to 14oz Vinyl Coated Polyester tarp fabric sold by the yard in rolls. I use mytarp.com because I have had success from them in the past and they have competitive prices. I also use very large plastic zippers made for tents that I found off of Amazon. 10oz means that every 36" by 36" of fabric weighs 10 ounces. You can do the math from there on how much this will weigh. You will not need a rain fly with this tent You can make one for shade from some other fabric if needing it in summer. It naturally dissipates heat out the top using a crawl hole exit style design found on 1940's to 1970's A-frame mountaineering tents for a snow cave exit when a tent gets completely buried in snow after days of blizzarding. It's like a crawl sleeve that bunches together tight when closed.

The video below will show you how to work with the fabric and the glue. Making your own templates will be described lower down. It's just eight triangles all glued together, two big zippers glued in, a bottom glued on at the base, and a detached top cone that allows air out with a way to close it off to keep the heat in and the rain out. It's very close to the design of the one shown in the Bob Wells video above.

Here is how to glue (weld) this fabric together at all your seams:



There is no sowing required anywhere in this do-it-yourself method.

 

[gizmotron]

So, as posted earlier in a thread where this got started:

20 yards 10oz vinyl coated polyester ( many colors available )-- $170 shipped.
2qts HH-66 glue $60 shipped.
Tent zippers for the door $40 shipped
Center pole $40 Home depot
Brass Grommets and punch installer kit $40 shipped.
Dacron Sailing rope (sun resistant) used for top ventilation. $20 shipped

Looks like $350 to $400 with no extras like screen doors, clear vinyl windows with screens or wood burning stove pipes through tent wall mountings. You could have a really nice custom Teepee if you go for it.

I would make a footprint shaped and sized cheap ground cloth for going under it and a cheap rug to go inside that matches the floor. I would also add a screen door on zippers. The nice thing with this cut and glue methods is that you can add things like role up windows with screens and flaps for privacy later as you live in it.

 

[gizmotron]

So there is only one template to make in all this. You take 3 yards of the 61" wide VCP fabric and cut it corner to corner diagonally the long way. That gives you two triangles 9ft by 5ft. You make four of those for a total of 8 panels. Next you measure the shorter side of the two longer sides. It should already be 108" long. You then measure from the top point down 108" along the longest side of the triangle. From there you mark a line that if you cut that off would create a new bottom where the 61" bottom first existed.

Once you have all 8 panels completed you seam-seal them all together with HH-66 glue with one inch overlaps. It's best to only glue about 30" worth of seam at a time as the glue can dry out way faster than the video suggests. You want to bring them together right when the glue on both sides of the seam is tacky. This is a skill that you should practice using some of the scraps left over with first. For my big covered wagon top I used 2" wide seams. These seams will give each of the 8 panels extra strength to hold down the tent and make it rigid in the wind. You will place glued on flaps with grommets in them for hold down points nearer the bottom.

Before you glue all the panels together you should cut all of them off at 7ft up each equal lengthen long side, symmetrically. You keep these smaller triangles for scraps and a template to make the coned top with it's adjustment straps or ropes. You are now left with panels with four sides each. You can see why in the video above made by Bob Wells.

You can make mid-span pull out tabs for gluing them half way up each panel seam to be used as stabilizers when expecting higher winds. You fold those in half, install a grommet, and glue the reaming part of the tabs to the seams.

After you glue the floor to the panels you can make tabs with grommets for holding down the bottom at each seam point.

All that is left is the top cone for rain protection and holding in the heat. You have those smaller triangle left over after bobbing the tops off each panel. These are scraps and are useful for making tabs. You can make the top cone from these if used as a template. The new top cone must have wider bottom spans then the bobbed off tops of each big panel. This is done so that air can be let in or out and so that the top cone overlaps the tent's bobbed top at around 7 feet up. That's the tricky part of this design. So I will go into how all that works later. When you have all the parts assembled, the two zippers installed, and the hard points completed where the pole goes then you are ready to stand it up. From that you can make glue together a bottom, cut it to fit, and glue it in place. By letting a little extra material hang out on all sides you can cut it perfect to glue and fit once the tent is standing.

 

[gizmotron]

Here is the Painters Pole that I use:



This one is 6ft to 12ft. If that turns out to be weak I would lash three of them together and use 2ft rebar stakes. That should stand up to a light hurricane.

Sorry about the music, no dancing bears to go with this:

 

[Todd]

Thank you so much for this. You put me 10-steps ahead on my spring project, getting ready for "nomad version 2" this summer. I'm printing this out now...

 

[gizmotron]

Now for the next skill to know. Squeal like a pig. Where do all these DYI skills come from? They all seem to have lame sound tracks. LOL

Installing brass grommets.

 

[gizmotron]

Thank you so much for this. You put me 10-steps ahead on my spring project, getting ready for "nomad version 2" this summer. I'm printing this out now...

I can see volunteers making these things for new transplants to their vehicles. I would like someone to make a video of building one of these. It could be me or it could be anyone willing to take on the project. If I do build one it will be donated to HOWA for someone in need. I have some trucker knot tricks for the top. Got to figure out how to anchor the pole in the top cone too. I know this stuff. You need something that won't wear out in the very top.

 

[ahh_me2]

I found this quite interesting! thanks

 

[gizmotron]

I just got 14 yards of white 10oz for my tailgate kitchen shelter for bad weather. It's lightweight compared to 14oz that I have used in the past. For the TeePee build I would go with 14oz for sure. But I know 10oz will work. That big roll of 5ft wide 10oz 14 yards long weighed in at 16lbs. I would guess that 18 yards of 14oz would come to just less than 30lbs for a much stronger feeling fabric. It's sort of thin, like a slightly thicker rip-stop nylon that many backpacking tents are made of. But it's clearly stronger and won't change shape like rip-stop nylon does. It totally water proof too. Here is how it came:

 

[gizmotron]

I built this DYI 9ft wide, 8ft long, 7.5ft tall inside fold out / popup camper trailer with 18oz VCP and the top alone weighed in at around 50lbs. It was attached to the rig and folded up with the rounded rafters inside with all the camping gear.

Here it is set up. Also a version with tent parts for the doors on each end before I built the solid ends with wooden sun shade awnings. That's it in Palm Springs Thousand Trails.

 

[gizmotron]

OK, the four humongous 78" long tent zippers came today too.

 

[akrvbob]

I can see volunteers making these things for new transplants to their vehicles. I would like someone to make a video of building one of these. It could be me or it could be anyone willing to take on the project. If I do build one it will be donated to HOWA for someone in need. I have some trucker knot tricks for the top. Got to figure out how to anchor the pole in the top cone too. I know this stuff. You need something that won't wear out in the very top.

I’d love to shoot a video of making one of these—I’d be glad to buy all the material! Where are you located? Bob Wells

 

[GntlStone]

I’d love to shoot a video of making one of these—I’d be glad to buy all the material! Where are you located? Bob Wells

That's a video I'd quite enjoy watching. It sounds like a process that's useful for a variety of applications.

Be well Mr Bob! Have a wonderful new year!

Ps. Love your new rig! Thanks for inviting us in and showing us around.

 

[gizmotron]

I’d love to shoot a video of making one of these—I’d be glad to buy all the material! Where are you located? Bob Wells

I'm stuck in Southern Idaho and it's 6 degrees going on a high of 15 today. I had to stop my van build because of glue. My HH-66 is on hold until sometime in mid January. My FRP adhesive is lost in the mail if it was ever shipped. Looks like Spring somewhere perhaps. BTW, those glues both need at least 60 degrees to dry. I tried it once in a very cold month in Florida. It takes as much as 5 to 10 times longer for each gluing in cold damp weather. Normally it takes about 30 seconds to apply the HH-66 glue to both sides of a 30 inch long stretch of each welded section. Just about the time you are done applying it you can go back to the area that you started and start seaming it together. So it's about 3 minutes for each small 30" section of a seam. Even when it's quick it all adds up and takes time. I could glue one of these together in a day, with zippers & grommets too.

I see that Quartzite is perfect for doing it right now, temperature wise. I wanted to go but I don't have any of my solar installed yet. I'm building a tent room with role-up sides, for the back, out of 10oz vinyl coated polyester. I just figured out that it can also serve as a nice sized outdoor shower. I can run my large Buddy propane heater back there after I dig out two feet of snow for when I do my plumbing & electric install, this February. This is sick. I have almost all the materials to complete the job but two deliveries of glue are missing and holding this up.

Thanks for the offer BTW. I've learned a lot from your videos. It all started after 'Nomadlands' and was able to find a way to get a van. I had to work all summer, a few hours per day, building a barn. By the time that was completed there was not much time left to build the van with the same two to three hours per day. I've been living with heart failure since 2009. They have me on pills that reduce my heart rate & pressure. So I get warn out at about 2 to 3 hours and have to rest. This must be the slowest van build ever documented. The new owners of the forum found almost all my pictures. So there is that to be glad about. I caught them up to where I am now with it. The new software makes the pictures much better to view.

As I was saying, I need to find a way to reinforce the sleeve at the top cone where the pole ends. I know a trick that sail makers use for windsurfing sails. I'm going with that method. It uses the same glue and a foot of 2 inch wide flat webbing as a strong point inside the sleeve. I never want the pole to poke through the top. I'm designing this for bomb proof in 80mph winds. One of your videos talks about re-bar tent stakes. And anyone with a ratchet wrench could use some kind of large threaded long lag bolts too. I need advice for the best tent stakes. The Teepee will have tensioners at the base so that the 8 welded corners can be made tight. That is why the strong top hard points.

 

[gizmotron]

I just came up with a way to make a simple workbench for assembling these. This work bench will make it possible for just about anyone to do really professional looking and working seams. I have a 2ft by 4ft table I use for my outdoor kitchen. I also have an X-framed adjustable height keyboard stand I had laying around. The trick is to take a 12" wide piece of 3/4" plywood 8ft long and screw a few 2x4's to the bottom side of it. If you use spring clamps like they sell cheap at Harbor Freight then you can clamp the fabric in place and just fold it back to apply the glue on one side. The hardest part of gluing is having things move around. The plywood table will allow you to keep things stable during seam welding. The long side of each panel is only 7ft long. You let the fabric drape over the tables as it get larger, just like a large sewing table.

I just take the work bench plywood and set it up higher on the two tables I have so that it's right there easy to work on. I wish I had thought this one up years ago. I've been working on the ground all bent over and with no way to keep the parts from moving around. These clamps are perfect for this.

 

[Cammalu]

I’d really like to see this made. When ya coming south gizmo?

 

[gizmotron]

When ya coming south gizmo?

I can't make it this winter. So not until next December. I knew that I would run out of time on the build this winter. It's -1 f outside. I'm stuck waiting on materials. I wish I was down there already. I don't have to be the one that starts building these things. The idea of the workbench will make building these things easier. An 8ft by 15" sturdy bench would allow those cheap Harbor Freight spring clamps to stabilize each seam while gluing them. Once the glue is tacky you bring both sides of a seam together, wait about 5 minutes and the seam is done and not going to come apart. You can undo the clamps and start the setup for the next seam.

The top cone needs a small sleeve to accept the pole. Something just a few inches is more than enough. It needs a little flat nylon webbing glued to the inside to keep the pole from ever ripping through. The top cone needs to come down the sides of the main tent body past where the bobbed off tops stop, ( 7ft up the side seam ). So this way rain can sheet off the outside without leaking. The dimensions for each side of the top cone must be larger than the main body of the tent. I was designing a set of matching grommet holes so that the top cone can be drawn in tight against the main body and still be water tight. This would be done with glued on tabs on the inside of the top cone. All this sounds complicated to set up. But you just leave it all together when you take it down and to stand it up. You just open up the zipper, walk inside with the pole and insert the pole past the inner bug screen and close off damper all the way up to the end of the pole sleeve. You just stand it up and you are done.

Just like in Bob's video, you stake out the bottom first.

I know that I have a lot of experience with gluing this stuff, cutting the parts, adding zippers & grommets, the actual locations for all this stuff and cutting the bottom & gluing the bottom on after the tent is stood up. I will post a cheapest shopping list and where to get everything needed to build one. It would be a shame to wait a year for the first one of these. You have seen the skills. You have Bob's video. You can practice gluing with scraps. If you can cut fabric on a straight line then you can do this.

I suppose all this is simple for a carpenter that use to cut all the T-111 plywood siding for a custom home before ever installing any of it. I use to do that, and pre cut the trim too. It's common for a real carpenter to cut a full hip roof before assembling it. The same goes for stairways. Sure, a video will give someone more confidence. But at some point others will need to jump in and give it a go on their own.

The main body is easy. The top cone is artwork. I would attach the top cone to the main body with strapping. Before the bottom is cut and glued I would stand this up and stake it down first. Then I would work from the inside placing all the grommets and internal tabs. They make a set of pliers to install grommets without the hammering technique. I would use these so that you can do the job while the tent is standing.

This is not that hard. It just has some great stuff going on in the top.

Perhaps the top is way too complicated. I can use a different water proof technique for the top and get rid of the detached top cone. I just need to let out hot air for in warm climates. Four simple flaps with rain covers & bug screen could do the job. I had a nice tent that had these. When not in use they would just Velcro down. This is the best way to go. Keep it simple. Obviously I'm still brainstorming this. Now this way the top can all be done on the workbench before ever standing the tent. Yep, this is the best way to go with it.

I'm not needed for the video. You can find these top of tent blisters with pop out rain covers and Velcro on several already existing tents. I will search for examples and pot them here.

So don't bob off the top of these panels anymore. Now gluing the top will be more difficult but it makes the tent all doable on the workbench and way more simple to build. You can even build the vent blisters for the top right on the workbench. Cool! Now it makes sense. Just about anyone can do this. Goodbye to that top cone. Hello vent blisters.

 

[deryk_the_gypsy]

Really Interesting! I have been toying with the idea of a "rear" tent for my little transit connect for showering back there and leaving a porta potty (sorry no bucket lol)

 

[gizmotron]

That design is very simple if you have a rain gutter like my Ford Econoline has. I'm also using stainless steel D-rings to anchor my roll up room with. I use two 4ft to 8ft painter poles mounted in an "X" pattern so as to stabilize the room in the top. These two poles fit into sleeves. Then there are two poles that hold up the outside edge. I will take lots of pictures and include this in my van build pictures. This is way too boring to make a video. I'm no good at it. I don't have video editing software. The pictures will be good enough. It's nearly a copy of tent rooms that you add to RV's large awning at the entry areas of most RV's. The zippers just go straight up and down at the outside corners and at 24" in from the corners for doors.

 

[gizmotron]

I'm going to go ahead and make construction drawings for the Teepee design, including special close up drawings for the top, the vent blisters, and the zippers. I'll also provide tabs with grommets drawings that can be glued into place anywhere. In this way anyone can take off on this project without having to wait for me. I will have my workbench and clamps soon enough so I will add pictures while making the tent room.

Bob Wells can video any Tom, Dick, or Mary to get this up and running. I know these will be a welcome gift from HOWA if people will start building them. If you can lift 50lbs to 60lbs then 18oz VCP would be the very best. That could be with 2 inch wide seems also. This stuff is sun resistant and can last 20 years if you need it that long. Most nylon tents are worthless and rip after a few years in the sun. This design is made to deal with the wind. One thing about tents and the wind is that the sections tend to push inward and take away the space you use to shelter in. Adding mid span pullout tabs will get rid of these problems. So you would need 16 tent stakes to anchor this for the wind. I'll get the drawings up in a few days.