Home >> Hobbies >> Other Hobbies

How to Make Conical Tents

Before the days of carbon fiber poles, flysheets, breathable membranes and other such sophisticated technologies, a tent was just a stretch of fabric wrapped around some sticks. That being said there were certainly good and bad ways of going about making them, and the conical tent is one of the best. It is straightforward to assemble, sturdy and offers good protection from the elements. The only hindrance of this basic design is that the long poles it requires can be quite a hindrance when transporting it from place to place.

Things You'll Need

10-by-20 foot tarpaulin
Marker pen
Peg
Fabric scissors
10-by-11 foot poles
String
Wooden toggles

Instructions

- 1
  Measure 10 feet of string. Find the middle of one of the long tarpaulin sides. Peg one end of the string there. Mark the position where the peg is. Tie the pen to the other end of the string and use the string to draw an arc across the rectangle to form a semi-circle with a 10 foot radius.
- 2
  Cut this shape out or leave as is, and tuck the excess canvass outside the semi-circle under the tent at the end of the construction. Make a tripod of the three poles with a foot of pole sticking out beyond the point where the poles cross. There should be about 3 feet between the base of the poles and the central point of the triangle they form.
- 3
  Bind these three poles at the point where they cross over. Form a cone by laying the remaining poles equidistant between these three. Tie these in place also.
- 4
  Punch a hole through a marked point on the fabric where the peg was. Put a few loops of string through it. Bring the marked point up to where the poles cross over. Tie the loop onto one of the poles.
- 5
  Wrap the fabric around the poles. Punch more holes around the top and join with more loops of string, if you are having trouble keeping it secure. Where the vertical edges meet you will have your door. Punch holes along each side, and loop string through it to secure the door. Adding wooden toggles inside and out will add to the convenience.

Other Hobbies