Tent.

I find it hard to believe that it's been 4 years since I first made this tent! And I'm still working on perfecting it. And I still don't have good photos of it. It's hard when it only gets brought out once or twice a year.

So I guess I'll start with addressing my last post, all those years ago.

1. Install grommets in the top of the canvas and corresponding nails in top pole. This was to keep the canvas tensioned properly so the top stayed on top. But it was a stupid idea. Putting holes in the canvas would make it too easy to rip. Instead I sewed a pocket on the inside to thread the top pole into. It has its pros and cons.

2. Install flap over grommeted opening to serve as further rain protection, and as a pocket for the canopy pole. I did this; it was good. Makes it easy to open the tent to make a booth.

3. Install better ties that go with the grommets. Did that, it's good.

4. Install ties on the door flaps. Too lazy, haven't done. The door flaps overlap enough that it hasn't been necessary. A good idea that should be implemented eventually, however.

5. Carve Viking design in the pole heads. I have a few designs, but this is still "maybe... eventually... whatever."

Current stuff:

0. Made a cosmetic change. When first sewing the canvas, I sewed trim over the raw edges of the seam allowances to make it stronger/cover the edges/avoid folding the seam allowance to sew it down (Very thick fabric; hard enough to sew through two layers.) The trim I used was metallic, and I think it looks tacky now, so I glued some other trim over it; cotton in a brown plaid design. It's much more appropriate, even though gluing is inappropriate.

1. I kept losing all the pins that hold the poles together, so I got some bolts and nuts. A good idea in theory, but the bolt heads dug into the wood poles and were too difficult to remove, plus harming the poles is no good.

Last idea to fix this: Use rope pieces instead. They block the poles enough to keep them together, and tie together so they don't fall out. Again, good in theory, but when I tried this, I found that the tent was incredibly unstable, like it could be pushed over. And previously, the tent survived some very windy and rainy weather, without budging, and without even being staked down in any way. I figure the ropes just didn't provide enough friction to hold everything tightly in place.

New idea: See if I can find flat-head or t-head nails with round shanks that are relatively long and thick. Something like this, but the head has to be flush with the shank at one side. Scadian Nazi says: "But metal pins aren't documentable!" To which I reply, "I am trying to make this WORK." If I can't find those, get a dowel and cut it into longer pins, which for some reason I feel like won't fall out as easily.

The holes through which the pins go are tapered--the idea being that with pins to match the shape, they wouldn't fall out. But they still did, and the pins were pretty short. I don't have scientific knowledge to back this up, but I do feel like longer pins, even if they're not tapered to fit, will stay in place better.

2. The canvas shrunk a bit, I guess, because it's been retardedly difficult to erect the tent because I can't get some poles together because it's too tight. After some experimentation regarding switching poles around and changing the size of the pocket for the top pole, I've decided to install loops along the top of the canvas, on the outside, and thread the top pole through those. We'll see.

3. Canopy. The side of the tent still opens up to make a canopy/ booth-type space, but what if I want a bigger canopy? Or a canopy without opening the side of the tent? So I made another piece, with loops to go over the crosspoles at the top, and the same mechanism for erecting it. But, of course, it didn't work out perfectly.  It's too saggy no matter how tightly I pull things, the fabric is too dark (therefore hot) and probably too heavy. So I'll make a new canopy of lighter, lighter fabric. (You see what I did there? Light instead of dark and light instead of heavy.) With the new idea of the top pole being outside the canvas, I can tie the canopy to the top pole at interims, which will hopefully hold it in place better and make it less saggy.

4. Stakes. As stated, I've successfully used this tent in foul weather without stakes, but I've needed stakes recently. But I've broken all the stakes I've used... so I need to get some really strong iron ones, which would look more authentic anyway. Scadian Nazi: "But there were no stakes with the Oseberg tents!" Me: "Yeah, because they were inside a ship, and there was no ground to which to stake the tents! Sheesh go get an enema or something."

That's my plan for now. It's inconvenient to work on the tent because I just don't have space at my apartment, and there's not a lot of flat space in my parents' yard, and hauling the poles in my car is a pain. But it's still possible. I've given myself a deadline to get this done before October (That doesn't give me much time! Dang.) It's a fairly arbitrary deadline--usually we go to Great Western War at the beginning of October, but we're not this year.

The point is that I should work on it while I'm thinking about it. I've been thinking about it since mid-July when I last used it, and it took me that long to think things through clearly to come up with my current plan.