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I was thinking about replacing my old wedge tent. After checking various tent suppliers, there must be a large demand or they are all taking their sweet time in the off-season. Lead times for canvas was 2 to 6 months. Then I heard that the canvas in these tents is much heavier, so I pulled out the old tents I've used extensively over the years. Both were made from Home Depot canvas. The wedge tent was made in 2005-06. The Oar tent maybe 2012. I think 6-8 ounce canvas versus 10-12 ounce heavily coated commercial tents. After inspection, they are still in good shape. I'm glad, cause I spent a lot of time making reinforced handsewn grommets on both for stake tiedowns. They've been recently used (Sept 2022) but were pretty drippy with some rain. So... resprayed both with Scotchgard water repellent (It took 3 cans for both and only got halfway down on the wedge doors). Did I mention that I take the wedge tent when I fly to events? Its much lighter than the commerical canvas tents, and along with a folding cot, wool blanket, collapsible uprights, and stakes, the duffle comes in under 50 pounds for flying. To date, no ripped canvas or major issues either. Contained in a heavy canvas duffle. If you make your own, be sure to wash and dry the canvas before building it. It shrinks the fabric so the space between threads is smaller and tighter. Reinforce your stake grommets with layers of fabric. I made handsewn grommet holes and run rope thru the grommets to the stakes. Then waterproof with something... I wrap the ridgepole with twine where the uprights connect, see pics. Never split any poles this way. Poles are cut small enough to fit in the duffle (37 inches max) and connect with commercial canopy connectors that I wrapped with twine or leather. Also made a new lighter ridge pole. Previously I supported the uprights with rope and stakes only, if I flew in. If I drove to an event, I brought a heavier ridgepole. The uprights fit into the ridgepole with a large lag screw with the head ground of. It stands on its own with stakes on the corners only. 1-3/8 closet poles and 1-3/8 connectors work pretty well! Anyway, now ready for this Pyrate season!

I'm looking for a period correct tent that will accomodate at least two people and gear comfortably. Hoping to find one before Fort Taylor Pirate Invasion in late November. Nita

This is for sale by one of my Missouri acquaintences getting out of the sutlery buisness. The information I have is that this is a 20 X 20 one-pole (center) marquis with all the sides, poles, ropes, and stakes included. No rips/tears or major staining/mildew present, overall in very good condition. Asking price was $1200 but i was told an even $1000 would get it. PM me for a contact number if interested. Then you can deal with the owners directly. Thanks.. Bo

I'm setting up some tarp poles 8' and 6.5' in length. What would be the length of associated the guy ropes? Thanks Jas. Hook

I have all the canvas I need to make a period style vendor booth but I am unsure about construction. I want something that will work for areas where I can use ropes and stakes but also be able to set it up at events where I'm on concrete. I also still need to finish making a tent for myself and my son (that's right, our own little autistic powder monkey is finally going to make an appearance or two) so was toying with the idea of making something multipurpose. Does anyone have any plans or patterns for a project like this (budget is small to almost non existent at tbe moment) or have a link they can share with the info? Hoping to have it done before my show the second week in April. Thanks in advance for tbe help

found a source for 18 oz. canvas, 60" wide for $9.00/ yard... seems like a pretty good deal to me.... what i was thinking of making with it is a new and larger dining fly...since most of them are usually using 10 0r 12 oz. canvas, i am thinking that a fly with this weight material would be heavy and troublesome.... any one with some experience chime in here ??

until recently, i have been using plastic tarps from the hardware store ,and covering it with canvas drop cloths as a ground cloth... recent rains have shown that water still bleeds through the woven plastic tarps... i think it was patrick hand that mentioned cnavas treated for an effective ground cloth is heavier than you would believe, which makes it close to impractical ( for him on an airplane ) short of using plastic sheeting, what else is available as an effective h2o barrier ??

My cousin has quit the painting business and brought me a ton of painters canvas in varying sizes. Most of it is in good shape with no paint spills and I plan on working on a new tent set up since I can't think of anything else to do with all of it. Going to treat it this weekend to "hopefully" waterproof it. Anyone have more luck with one product over another when it comes to treating canvas?

currently looking at a bigger wall tent for us, and have come across a range of prices ( and i am assuming quality )... the big killer for me is the price of fire retardant material... our tent will be fire retardant, weather we use a spray or factory material... the issue for me is the fire retardant tag... none of the events so far have had the manufacturer tag as a requirement... i am kinduv thinking that the way insurance is going for some events, a fire retardant tag requirement will become the norm... any thoughts on this to help me with our decision ?? if this is the wrong forum, please feel free to move :)

As I am going to Lockhouse in July and am rapidly putting my kit together, I realize I need a tent to sleep in. I have LOTS of wools to use as blankets and any crap covers inside the tent, so that isn't an issue. My problem: not much budget right now. SO, whereas, in theory, pirates would not have "general issue" camping gear, wouldn't have the means or necessity to have complex camping gear, that should not be overcome-able. So, what should I buy? How much of it? How would I put it together? What do I need to do with it before the event (prepping it)? Oh, and this just for me to sleep in.

Well after a couple of events I've decided to revisit my tent rig. Here is a pic of the old rig. Now the NEW one. I'm using a peg design that I've seen in many commercially made tents. Inside view. This had enabled me to shorten the length of all the poles. Which is great! Now I can fit things into a smaller vehicle.

Hello All, I'm trying to gather enough information to build a tent out of a piece of sail. Now my nautical knowledge is limited, so I don't know where to begin. I don't need anything fancy and using a couple poles and some rope, I would like to build a little shelter. I don't want to buy a civil war tent because too many are in use and it just does not seem very piraty to me. What I'm asking for is what type of sail material should be used. I'm thinking about the size of a standard wall tent but the shape is going to be whatever works. I like the idea of a tent made out of some pieces scavenged from some shipwreck. Any advice? All is appreciated. I did a search on the forums but only came up with sutler tents (I retired from Civil War and apparently people still don't like Confederates.) The Quartermaster

the previous owners of my wall tent used 5/8 or3/4 inch rope for securing the tent to the stakes... methinks this is overkill and i also need some more rope for the fly... hemptraders.com has some 5mm rope fairly cheap and is rated for 280#... thinking of getting some to replace the ropes for the tent and use it for the fly also... anyone see any problems using the 5mm rope ?? ALSO... the toggles used for the tent ( i have none for the fly ) are drilled out to accept the larger rope... do i need toggles with smaller holes for smaller rope or will the larger holed toggles work as well ?? tia

Ok while not really pirate related, I mean what would a pirate need a tent for? Either he sleeps with a woman, in a ditch, or on a deck. But we are reenactors and since work quite a bit on land. So I am in the market for a nice tent. But on priceing them out I figure that I could make one for cheaper. I would like to know the difference between sail canvass and tent canvass. A few pictures of GAoP tents would be great too. I am guessing that what ever the armies used.

In another thread, I think it was established that wedge tents were period for GAoP, but suspect for use by pirates ashore. Be that as it may, what would the wedge tents of the day have been made of? TIA.