Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

[MacGyver]

I've owned almost two dozen tents in my lifetime and I find that I think a lot about having one made to my own specifications. With every one I've had, there's always been something that I would have liked to have been done a bit differently. I'm wondering if anyone here has actually gone and had one made who could relate their experience with it.

[hwc1954]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

I don't know how feasible custom tents are these days. The biggest change from my circa 1990 Sierra Designs Meteor to the 2013 Marmot of a similar size is how much tauter everything pitches. I think this is a direct result of computer design (and computer driven cutting of material). They can just get everything to fit tighter over the complex curves of tent poles.

If a custom tent meant giving that up, I don't think it would be worth it. There are so many companies making slight variations of the same basic tents, that it ought to be possible to find what you are looking for.

[Mike]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

I have friends who have had custom canvas tents made and I have a friend who made his own custom canvas tent. They get these tents made with their own choice of canvas as well

Mostly they use them for winter camping with wood stoves. Old canvas tents would do, but the flammability factor of the old tent material is too scary and the bigger old canvas tents are too heavy/bulky to sled to camp

The only custom made tents I have seen were tree suspended or single-pole, so the framing was not required by the manufacturer

The folks I know who have had tents made are happy and proud of their tents and always excited to use them

[MacGyver]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

I wasn't very specific in the OP, but canvas was mostly what I was thinking about. With my backpacking days (regrettably) over, I've had some ideas about some heavy duty, beat-any-kind-of-weather tents that I'd like to see become a reality. I've done some Google work, but most of the companies I've found that make custom tents are more a market for party tents. The others I can't find enough reviews on to make a decision who to go to when I'm ready to make a purchase.

The designs I have in mind would all use external frames so that isn't an issue. I can make those out of EMT or even wood. One idea I have is modeled on the first tent I ever camped in. It was a miniature wall tent - 7 x 7 feet with 1 foot walls. It was really a piece of junk a friend bought from K-Mart but I remember it being very spacious and easy to set up with it's two pole design. But I can't imagine it would've handled any kind of adverse weather. Made out of canvas, or even ballistic nylon, it would be virtually indestructible!

[Mike]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

Check out the book "The Campers Bible". Bill Rivière 1961. It has lots of canvas tent designs with illustrations. Bill describes the pros and cons of each design in meticulous detail.

It is a great book for folks who used to camp in the 1950's, 1960's, and early 1970s. Very nostalgic and very informative at the same time. If you use vintage equipment like Coleman lanterns and stoves, you will get a kick out of it. Bill also reviews those new fangled European backpacking stoves like the Prius and SVEA.

[ppine]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

I ordered a tent from Rex Tent and Awning in 1980 for hunting trips with my Dad and two brothers. We used to go every fall to a different state to hunt deer, elk, and antelope. Tags were easy to get in those days and not very expensive.

The tent is canvas duck about 12 oz and 10 X 14 with sod flaps, an asbestos stove hole, vents at the ends and 4 foot side walls. I used wood poles for decades but recently bought some frame joints to build a steel frame from 1 in EMT. It is easier to set up with one person, and takes the wind better. In Nevada wood poles are sometimes tough to find. The tent does everything a tent is supposed to do especially with the wood stove going. I lived in it for a month at a time and it has been through many blizzards, thunderstorms and trips with below zero temperatures. It is one of my prized possessions. It will be set up for the big Nevada Day party on Oct 26 in the backyard campsite overllooking the million acre backyard.

More recently I bought a canvas Baker tent that is 10 x 10 feet. It has a stove hole, and I have used old tipi liniers to close up the front in cold weather. It is relatively cramped when closed up and better opened up and used in moderate weather.

I used to hang out with buckskinners and watched several of them sew their own tipis. It takes a pattern to get the geometry right and an industrial sewing machine for French fell seams in 12 oz canvas. They were spectacular. Once we had a lodge dedication ceremony for an 18 footer in a guy's backyard near Denver. We started at noon on a winter's day in a snowstorm and quit after midnight. That is the most fun I have ever had in a backyard.

[Irate Mormon]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

You could go all-in and make your own. You can get computer programs to calculate stuff like caternary curves. On the BPL forums there is a subforum dedicated to making your own gear, plus several articles explaining the process.

[Mike]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

You could go all-in and make your own. You can get computer programs to calculate stuff like caternary curves. On the BPL forums there is a subforum dedicated to making your own gear, plus several articles explaining the process.

True you can make your own, but if you are using canvas, you need a very heavy-duty sewing machine. Sewing a canva tent will burn up household sewing machines and the results won't be that good. My DIY friends keep swapping a VERY old industrial sewing machine among themselves for the heavy duty sewing projects.

That said, there are a LOT of very good old sewing machines available at thrift stores lately. You can pick up some really nice heavy-duty household sewing machines from the 1950's and 1960's like Pfaff and others. These older machines had much better drive train than the cheaper sewing machines of the 1970's, 1980's, and beyond. IMO, the machines from the 1980's and 1990's are the worst quality of all time. Sewing machine quality today is actually better than in those two decades.

Look for sewing machines with metal bodies - usually steel or aluminum or sometimes even cast iron. The body doesn't do much for the sewing, but it is an indication of robust quality. The old foot treadle sewing machines are also very good for canvas sewing and you can still pick them up for less money than they are worth to a DIY man/woman

These older machines are often limited to straight line sewing, but it is enough for tents and most other applications. You often cannot get a zig-zag stitch or other fancy stitch patterns, but a straight stitch pattern usually is all you ever need for most DIY projects

[ontariocamper]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

Myself personally no......
But I found this fascinating........a book entitiled "Conquering the Impossible", by Mike Horn.
Details of his 2 year solo unpowered trek around the Arctic circle.

In this book he uses a custom made tent that is wind tested for him in the wind tunnel at Volvo in Sweden.

That must have been one helluva tent!!

[WanderinWhitlows]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

While I haven't had a tent made custom, I have had a tent rain-fly made custom and I tasked a shop that works with sails and their knowledge of materials and shaping techniques made for a fantastic end product. If you have access to a sail shop I strongly suggest taking time to discuss your plans with them as you may find people there that appreciate the outdoors as much as you do and are not only willing to help but actually able to as well to create something that you will really enjoy.

[PDarrah]

Re: Has anyone ever had a custom tent made?

If you have access to a good sewing machine (and know how to usee it or are willing to learn.) And have a Horbor Freight nearby.
I would suggest buying some cheap tarps and playing with them to get a tent design you like, then you could invest in some nice canvas to make the final tent out of.....

I believe that most of the companies that sell wall tents will make you a custom tent..... or they maybe willing to make some modifications to existing tents.