Tents, yurts, camping shelters of all kinds

[Divash]

My dream: To build my own yurt and have it come out strong, comfortable, and looking as Period as possible within the bounds of reason.

My reality: I just bought a modern Coleman camping tent, for now. It sleeps twelve, which actually means that about six people plus their gear could sleep in it if they're close friends. But in truth, it's only for two people (me and my RLSO), plus a couple of our best friends may join us once in a while for camping. It will admirably fit us, all our camping and/or SCA gear, and still leave us room to stand up, socialize, take our meals from two small folding tables while we sit in folding camp chairs, and not feel too crowded even if it rains all weekend.

Why would I buy a modern tent for $200 when I could make my dream yurt for about $700 (or purchase a yurt for $2100 to $8000 depending on where I go)? I'll tell you why. Because my RLSO is a reasonable person who enjoys listening to my dreams and then reminding me about reality. The reality, says RLSO, is that the last time either of us went camping was about 12 years ago. We were younger and less used to luxury when we were poor college students. So we're planning to save our money this year so we can afford to buy yurt-building materials, garb, camping supplies, and so on. Meanwhile, we'll go camping in a modern, mundane fashion with some meet-up camping groups we found online in our area, just to make sure we still like camping. It's better to know before we get into the expenses that we'd incur if we really got back into the SCA, only to find out that we can no longer stand to sleep outdoors.

So, what's your encampment like/going to be like? Where is it now, and what's your next step? Describe in detail, please!  

[LittleGreenGirl]

I would love to make a period tent, but I would need to buy a van or truck in order to camp, then. For now I'm happy with my large mundane tent that packs into a small bag so that I have more room for all my cooking gear. Cannot sacrifice the cooking gear! (especially since I usually end up feeding half my camp)  

[Anghared Starwing]

I usually camp in a canvas A-frame, which has break down oak poles, and fits in mom's Jeep Cherokee Sport. Also, the wind that knocked down every other tent in our encampment one year didn't do anything to mine except make the doors flap. I love my tent.  

[Divash]

LittleGreenGirl

I would love to make a period tent, but I would need to buy a van or truck in order to camp, then. For now I'm happy with my large mundane tent that packs into a small bag so that I have more room for all my cooking gear. Cannot sacrifice the cooking gear! (especially since I usually end up feeding half my camp)

I don't even own a car. I get to events either by ride-sharing with someone with a bigger vehicle, or by just renting a cargo van. It's surprisingly cheap. Just google your address and then click on Search Nearby, and search for Rental Truck. You'll have to pay for the truck, the gas, insurance for the days you're renting, and occasionally they make you pay for mileage. However, you don't have to pay for full ownership, year-round insurance, or year-round parking on the vehicle, so it works out much easier, unless you attend a camping event more than once a month. I do about three a year, at most.  

[LittleGreenGirl]

Divash

LittleGreenGirl

I would love to make a period tent, but I would need to buy a van or truck in order to camp, then. For now I'm happy with my large mundane tent that packs into a small bag so that I have more room for all my cooking gear. Cannot sacrifice the cooking gear! (especially since I usually end up feeding half my camp)

I don't even own a car. I get to events either by ride-sharing with someone with a bigger vehicle, or by just renting a cargo van. It's surprisingly cheap. Just google your address and then click on Search Nearby, and search for Rental Truck. You'll have to pay for the truck, the gas, insurance for the days you're renting, and occasionally they make you pay for mileage. However, you don't have to pay for full ownership, year-round insurance, or year-round parking on the vehicle, so it works out much easier, unless you attend a camping event more than once a month. I do about three a year, at most.

Yeahhhh... that's a bit expensive for my budget. I've moved enough times to know that it's much cheaper to keep my own vehicle out at my parents' house and use it when I go out of town, and take only what I can fit in it.  

[Divash]

LittleGreenGirl

Divash

LittleGreenGirl

I would love to make a period tent, but I would need to buy a van or truck in order to camp, then. For now I'm happy with my large mundane tent that packs into a small bag so that I have more room for all my cooking gear. Cannot sacrifice the cooking gear! (especially since I usually end up feeding half my camp)

I don't even own a car. I get to events either by ride-sharing with someone with a bigger vehicle, or by just renting a cargo van. It's surprisingly cheap. Just google your address and then click on Search Nearby, and search for Rental Truck. You'll have to pay for the truck, the gas, insurance for the days you're renting, and occasionally they make you pay for mileage. However, you don't have to pay for full ownership, year-round insurance, or year-round parking on the vehicle, so it works out much easier, unless you attend a camping event more than once a month. I do about three a year, at most.

Yeahhhh... that's a bit expensive for my budget. I've moved enough times to know that it's much cheaper to keep my own vehicle out at my parents' house and use it when I go out of town, and take only what I can fit in it.

When I rented a truck about a year ago for a non-SCA purpose, I picked it up on Thursday and dropped it back off on Monday morning. It cost about $120 including the 4-day rental, gas, mileage, rental insurance, and the occasional parking meter when I used it to pick up supplies for the task at hand. Doing that 3 times a year would still be cheaper, at least for me, than buying a reliable car ($2000 at least), paying the insurance ($500+ every six months), paying a city parking fee ($70 per year just to get a sticker to let me park on a city street that isn't metered), and the gas and maintenance money I'd surely need for year-round usage.

Of course, if your parents just hand you a car, pay for the insurance, and you never have to park anywhere but in their driveway, sure, that would be cheaper.  

[Divash]

Update: I didn't want to buy a modern tent, but the RLSO said it would be smart to do, just to go camping a few times the 'normal' way and be sure we both still like it. We got a deal on a 12-person tent. It's heavy, definitely not a backpacking tent at all, but it'll be fine for what we want. It's big enough for us, our best friends, and all of our gear. We figure on going out to some Kampgrounds Of America site nearby and just spend a weekend. If we hate camping, we just won't do it, and we'll sell the tent on eBay or Craig's List or something.

If, on the other hand, we both still love camping, THEN the RLSO will let me build the yurt of our dreams. I've been saving money for the supplies. Here's my parts/price list, so far:

Wood: $150 for forty 1"x2" sanded cedar poles from Home Depot
Canvas: $175 for five 5'x15' painter's dropcloths for the walls, plus 12'x15' dropcloths for the floor and ceiling from Tarps.com; I'll also get my floor tarp there, to keep the yurt floor dry, and another 12'x15' dropcloth to cover the tarp so people can't see the out-of-Period plastic tarp
Hemp rope: When my co-planner emails me back to tell me what weight/strength of rope I want, I'll get it here, probably for under $50 even if I get a bunch extra
Incidentals: Thompson's Water Seal for the canvas (it won't flake when bent/folded, like paint would); linseed oil or more Thompson's for the wood; possibly a few metal clamps or bolts to fasten roof poles to the center ring; tough leather lacing to tie the wood together for floor-surround, roof-surround, and walls; tent stakes to hold the yurt to the ground in a high wind (they'll be hidden by the canvas, so I'll use the plastic stakes from our 12-person modern tent); possibly some canvas paints for my artist friend to decorate the interior and/or exterior. All-in-all, I expect to pay about another $100 for all this stuff, maybe a wee bit more.

So, under $500 for my own yurt. Considering that you can buy a yurt made by someone else for anywhere from $2000 to $8000 depending on how fancy they get, not to mention the shipping charges, plus it'll look like THEY want it to look rather than like I want it to look... Yeah, this is way better.  

[Aribella_Adrieanna]

Anghared Starwing

I usually camp in a canvas A-frame, which has break down oak poles, and fits in mom's Jeep Cherokee Sport. Also, the wind that knocked down every other tent in our encampment one year didn't do anything to mine except make the doors flap. I love my tent.

Is yours a Panther Primitive? My friends and I are planning to go to Pennsic after our senior year (celebratory trip) and we are looking at getting our tent(s) from them. They seem to have really good quality and really good customer feedback. biggrin  

[PhoenixFirecat]

We (my parents and I) are in the process of finding a new tent that could theoretically fit 10...or getting them a tent that could fit 8 people and I get a 3 person tent for myself.

Since I run around with a lot of Vikings, Gypsies, and 11th century British, I would love to have either an A-frame tent or one of the pavilion tents. As it is, since my "household" does the breakfasts at various Ansteorra events, we tend to just sleep in the back of the cooking tent, which is a 30'x20' canvas pavilion. We have a trailer to haul that up there, considering each of the 20 stakes are about 12 pounds each!  

[Mrsbruhaha]

my dream is to eventually get a little guy camper and put it under a simple plain white (that i'd eventually paint) modern 10X10 easy up with walls. i also want some wooden chairs and a rug/blanket for a seating area, that could also be used as a daycamp at indoor events.

*sigh* for now, we've got a basic two room coleman dome, and folding camp chairs....but someday....someday  

[Divash]

It's not attractive, no, but modern campers do a few things that may be important.

1. They're a first-try vehicle. If someone's trying out the SCA and not sure they want to commit to the hobby yet, why pour money into new camping equipment (Period or not), when they've already got the modern camper sitting in their driveway?

2. If someone has a medical need for certain technologies, campers typically supply those. People need to refrigerate their insulin, power their wheelchairs or oxygen tanks, plug in their blue lights at night, or take care of other needs that require electricity, running water, or a VERY-nearby toilet.

3. People who didn't grow up in the SCA often start getting Period with their clothing, then expand to gear, and only after several years of saving do they have the wherewithal to start looking towards their tent/shelter.  

[Runa Whynd]

I currently have a modern coleman tent that claims to fit six. This means it works well for two people an their gear. After observing (and helping to set up) various types of period tents and pavilions, I have decided that I want a nice Viking A-Frame. They're fairly simple and it has the bonus of being perfect for my persona. No I just need to look into cost.

A note on waterproofing. Avoid period waterproofing. It's basically animal fats or oils and while it will keep your tent dry, it also makes it sticky, and stinky, and highly flammable. I know someone with a tent like this. I think this is a perfect example of when to use modern methods in your gear.