Tent/teepee how-to?

Hello All

Anyone have plans/how-to's for making tents or teepees?

I'm new to much of this so I'm looking for something to get me on the right path. I would like to have a project for my guys during the winter months while we are indoors. This way we are ready to go once the weather breaks.

Well to if you are thinking down this line so early, you are going to be a fine Outpost!

Specifically answer you question, a site to start your reading with how to build teepee

But before you start straight out on the teepee let me throw a few bits of advice.
First let me say that teepees are awesome. Fricken awesome. They make Rangers eyes open wide and encourage great dreams. That being said there are 3 things to keep in mind. The first 2 are cost and construction. If you plan to build it yourself, well that is a fair bit of canvas cutting and sewing. But before you can even get that far you have to buy the materials. I've priced several times and the cheapest I can estimate is $1500.00. Not impossible, but as a startup I don't know if I would make that priority 1.
A strong 3rd consideration is the poles. Storing them. and that is the long term question. Minimum 22 - 25 feet long. Something to think about.

Now if you are wanting to think down the line to have your outpost prepped and ready for the summer camping, let me give you a few ideas.
To start, a lot of this can be borrowed. Some of it may be taking up space in church members attic and you may be able to help them out by giving it a new home. And if you need to purchase it, well a lot is garage sale /craigslist stuff, or if it come down to it not too expensive new. Use your judgment.

Tents, large size. labled as 6-8+ and plan on reality of 5-6 Rangers per tent. Gear, breathing room, etc. Plan on 1 for Commanders, and then 1 for every 5-6 boys. The teepee is great for FCF, but it's going to be a year before you have boys eligible for that. In the mean time, take advantage of the modern gear.

Tableware Since you are FCF minded the cook gear is something I would look at multi purpose. I would get the metal plate / bowl / cup sets you can get from Wal-Mart fairly cheap if nothing else. They work for bot FCF and Modern so you don't need 2 sets of those and with just a bit of care last forever. At worst you will have to teach boys how to wash dishes. (Seriously, the dishwashers have been around long enough we have boys who nave never had to.)

Cookware No need to go crazy, but if you can get yourself a good frying pan, a couple of coffee pots, (both for coffee and for hot water) you'll be pretty good. A dutch oven isn't mandatory, but is nice to have as it creates more options and even opens up that merit badge. Heck, even the coffee pots could be replaced with some #10 cans with handles.

Sleeping bags No, not one for everyone, but just 1-3 for spares. For the Ranger that forgets, (yes, it will happen.) Though this is the most common camping item even city boys seem to have, when you have one who doesn't you can still welcome to camp. Just back a bag with a change of clothes and he's good to go. It's very nice to be able to say that to a mom.

Lantern 1 or 2 gas lanterns, is good for night. Give some more light to see what you are cooking and eating.

This is the big stuff to camp on that I can think of for outpost gear. As for project, there are two aspects. Getting it, often a fund raiser involved. and then storing it. Depending on your situation, I recommend trunk size boxes with wheels on one end (old lawnmower is great for those) and a good rope handle. Easy to store boxes and easy for Rangers to move them around at camp. circle them around your fire and they are our camp seats too.

Again, I feel like I'm babbling. Ask question if you like.

I would recommend a Marquee tent. It's easy to setup and store and it configures for FCF and modern day camping. Will sleep about 8 with FCF gear. It has remove able sides so this is a plus for setting up and tearing down and hot and cold camps.

Here is a picture of a Marquee at Rendzvous last year.
http://readyrangers.tzo.com/2014FCFRendezvous/2014FCFRendezvous067.jpg

In this tent you can almost always stay away from the walls staying nice and dry.

I have used Marqee, Bakers and Aframe tent. We also have a ceremony tepee but it doesnt' get used much except for every 8 year occasions.

I and one other person can setup the marquee in about 20 minutes if we are working at it. 20x 20 if I remember right.

A small group can start out with just canvas from Lowes and some 2x2x8 poles and some water proofing. For long term use I would recommend the high end tents for wear and tear.

A canvas tarp 10 x 12 strung in various shapes can make a dandy 1 person shelter. Plenty of designs on youtube for that.

Mark Jones

I agree with Strods on his posting as well. A Tepee is a wow memory for sure.

Mark Jones

Once in my old Eastern Section of Potomac we watched a demonstration of 2-3 guys erecting a teepee.

RRCmdrBennett wrote:Once in my old Eastern Section of Potomac we watched a demonstration of 2-3 guys erecting a teepee.

Dan,.... You can't just make some random statement without finishing out a thought. It drives the OCD leaning among us crazy.  I scrolled down looking for more thought closure....

What happened? How did it make you feel? Did you want to build one for yourself? Etc. Etc.

Howdy!

If you make something out of canvas, use good canvas if you can. If you cant, painters tarps from the hardware store will do ok. Just wash them to pre-shrink, and find a coating to paint them with that will keep them somewhat rain resistant.

I also recommend something smaller than a tee pee at first. They are great, but have several draw backs. One thing you might consider is if you get into FCF, what time period would you be into? Being from Ohio, there is a TON of 18th century frontier history in your state! And none of it contained a tee pee. So, if your looking to do something historical and look like an 18th century person, a tee pee would throw you off. There are several other options that are historical and can help you in both modern and historical camping. The marquee is one of them, and a good choice. You can even get a one pole-marquee. Wedge tents are great too. Smaller, but can sleep three easy depending on the size you get and how much gear you take. Also, there is the simplistic idea of taking a trail tarp, which is also not historical on the frontier (unless you are near a river and could have carried one in a canoe or something), but is a decent enough historical option.

When I go out into the woods, I dont take a tent or tarp. I use my blanket and what is around me to shelter myself. But, camping at a Royal Ranger pow wow is different. So I use my wedge tent for that.


Hope this helps.
Oh, the biggest pain about the tee pee is the poles. Everything about them. Storing them, transporting them, maintaining them, and worst of all, buying them.

Philip,

I was an adult leader at the time the demo occured sometime in 2004-2006. The boys were mesmerized. I had been inside this teepee some 15 years earlier since it belonged to an outpost councilman once attached to my old outpost that spawned another outpost in our section.

I hope that alleviates your OCD lol!

It helped a little Dan.... Thanks.