Cost of ready made tents today, was wondering if any of you have invested in a used industrial sewing machine, purchased a roll of tent cloth, and made your own tents?

Not exactly a Backpack Hunting question, but seems like it would be a good project and result in about a 50% savings, plus getting exactly what you want in the long run!

Phil

Reminds me of my decision to sheetrock my house many years ago. One was plenty.

When cottage manufacturers like Henry Shires (Tarptent) and Ron Moak (Six Moon Designs) have already done the grunt work of designing and producing excellent shelters, trying to roll you own is really a big waste of time.

The only reason for DIY gear is if you have something planned that NOBODY produces. I plan to make a couple of hooded vests, because no one makes them

Or for satisfaction. YOu'll never save money on something like this though if its the same as something you could buy.

Wouldn't stop me at all though.

I've made a couple backpacks and a Whelen lean-to. A full tent is considerably more complicated but with a good pattern and lots of time, it's a worthy project.
BE SURE TO SEAL THE SEAMS. You wouldn't believe how much water can get through those tiny holes.

Remember that silnylon is difficult to sew. It'd probably be easier to get an old singer up to the task and sew up a backpack or two than it would a full on tent.

Not to discourage you....DIY stuff is fun. If you go into it as a hobby then that's great. If you go into it to save money on one item, it probably won't work out the way you want.

I have made several pyramid an tipi shelters. Since the design is so simple on those, they are not too difficult to make. The cost is about 1/4 of what you can buy them for from a company, by of course they won't look as pretty.

Having done this I can comment on it.

First you don't need an industrial sewing machine unless you plan on doing years of sewing for many hours per year. A $100 - $500 machine will be perfectly serviceable. I have had three machines, spent $100 on the first two and got the third on sale for $250. (ex wives took the first two in divorce)

http://www.amazon.com/Janome-HD1000...=8-3&keywords=sewing+machines+janome

Don't get a fancy electronic machine, just the basic stitches is fine.

Doing it to save money on just one project won't work out because it will take you a few projects to get good at it. If you plan on doing several projects then yes over the long term you will save money, BUT your time will be in trade for those savings. If you are a person that makes decent money working, the don't bother, work some extra OT and pony up the dough and save yourself the headaches.

Unless you take a lot of pride in learning a new skill and enjoy using things you made with your own hands.

One of the benefits of DIY is custom work, you can make the clothing fit YOU and put little extra features in your tent or tarp that the manufacturer wont.

Be willing to take the time to learn and get good at it, this means starting off with easy projects and working your way up. Stuff sacks and meat bags are easy to do and a good way to start, then basic flat tarps. Then clothing, like a vest, then a jacket.

The biggest time saver/sink is having big table space. You need to build or cobble together one big enough to handle bolts of material. At least 6 feet wide and 6 feet long or longer, longer is better. Doing this will save you a lot of time and decreases the odds of making a mistake.

Also have plenty of light for your cutting table.

Have fun.

What is it about it that's difficult? I've never used it.

It is SLICK. A lot of machines have to be adjusted to feed it.

I could easily imagine a machine thats used to fabric, having fits with the slick stuff.

I'd also imagine it can be controlled but might take some google work to figure out how to.

A big pile of straight pins would help a lot. I haven't tried it, but I've heard that gluing the seams together before sewing makes it a lot easier with slick stuff. It doesn't make it feed any better but at least it will keep the fabric where you want it.

Gluing seams just gummed up my needle.
I used a Pfaff with a built in walking foot and a felling foot that I modified to allow it to feed with the walking foot. Once I got a seam started I could run it almost full speed without pins. Bias seams were by far the hardest because of the amount of stretch on a ten foot seam.

I think I saved some money over purchasing manufactured, but for me I was looking for something that isn't being made. And I'll probably make a second one with improvements on the first which would eliminate any savings.

I am completely satisfied with the experience of designing and building my own shelter. The mental exercises of designing, testing, experimenting, redesigning, and then committing were rewarding in their own right as a hobby. Then using my shelter on a successful hunt was icing on the cake.

Some information about my tent is here
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/7045155/1

i us to make boots,and i repaired tents once in a while.if ya want a machine that will sew about anything try a singer post machine,it allows you to turn the product and such.it will also sew through the fingers so be carful.i just gave my old machine to the local cobbler.

Try here hooded vest

Linky no worky.

Maybe this...

http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/product_info.php?cat=111&products_id=351

I would think that there would be some level of personal satisfaction in making your own tent.

I make osage selfbows and taking an animal with a bow and cedar arrows I have made is a very rewarding experience but considering the time involved it's not a way to save money.

Linky now workie

Try this for a down vest with hood http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/bargain_box.php

If your time is worth much of anything, it's a losing proposition, IMO.

Of course, Gayghost being an Obama sycophant, probably lots of "free" time, eh?

If you want something simple and inexpensive, I'd PM Okanagan. He's done a fair amount of that and been happy with the results.
For mine, a lean to shelter/tarp, in a properly selcted site or in conjunction with a bivy sack works quite well. E