Can you give me the dimensions? how many does it sleep? And, what does it weigh?
I used a 35' British mil-surplus chute and cut 9 panels out of it to get the cone shape. My centerpole is 11'-12' high (adjustable). This gives a diameter of about 21' and makes it a 14-man tipi by kifaru dimensions and nomenclature. Now, divide that number in half- 7 men is the nominal number it holds. The 'chute has a skeleton of flat nylon webbing that runs inside sleeves or channels that form the panel seams. This webbing skeleton is only attached to the 'chute silk at the top and bottom hems. For sewing on the peg loops, I figured out where the 'chute curves back on itself. First, I tried to make a wall of that lower part but it curves in too much. So, I sewed peg loops vertically onto each panel seam, through the webbing, about a foot or so of stitching. Now, I have all this leftover lower part of the 'chute, about 2 ft and all the way around, that I just left as a snow flap or sod cloth. Probably adds a few pounds to the tipi but it seemed not worth the trouble to cut or hem all that cloth. And I'm sorta partial to snow flaps. The tipi is 12 lbs. I suspect if one were to hot-cut off that big snow flap, it would weigh about 8 lbs. Thats without pole and stakes. I use a kifaru pole with an extra section at the top that I cut from a Radio Shack antenna pole.
The top has a hole which is kind of nice- like a smokehole on real tipis. I took some left over fabric and made a hat that clips onto the top of the pole and covers the hole if the weather really turns. This is similar to a design that Pam Flowers used on her Scott tent on her trek across the arctic. Allowed her to cook inside the tent.
I bought the zipper already made from Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics, the 'chute from Major Surplus & Supply, but I could not find the 'chute on their website. Here's another company that sells them:
http://www.imsplus.com/ims54.htmlHappy Trails