Make an Ultralight Tent Part 3/3 - Flysheet

Part 1, Part 2, Ultralight Tent Pictures, Ultralight Tent Pegs, DIY Short Tarp Pole, DIY Long Tarp Pole, DIY Carbon Fibre Tarp Poles

Background

This piece of the tent is the most difficult part to construct. You are going to need a fair amount of space for laying out and cutting the fabric and a fair amount of space for working with the fabric whilst sewing.

With the dimensions given there is not a lot of space for mistakes with material. If you are not confident in your own abilities you may wish to use 2oz PU-Coated nylon instead of of SilNylon or Spinnacker fabrics.

If you are in any doubt about how to construct the tent you can look at pictures here and you can also look at any existing tent or tarp that you own. I have used standard techniques throughout - although sometimes simplified for home construction.

Materials

• 3.1m (4m reccommended) of SilNylon or 2oz PU-Coated Nylon or similar
• 1.5m of 10-15mm Nylon webbing
• 2m of medium Coil-zip with two zippers or 1m of 15mm Velcro (see later)
• 1m of 2/3/4mm Nylon shock-cord
• 8m of 2/3/4mm nylon cord for guy-ropes
• A collection of plastic-coated paperclips for holding fabric!!

Design Notes - Closures

If you have doors on a tent you add weight - the weight of the extra fabric and the weight of the closure itself - e.g. Zip, Velcro, Toggle.

Zip - A Light zip will weigh in at around 14g / Metre but will add strength and water resistance to the seam.

Velcro - 15mm Velcro weighs in at around 10g / Metre but on a tent will probably not be strong enough under storm conditions or if the fabric is fully tensioned.

Toggles - A Plastic toggle (like you use on coats) plus some 4mm para cord to affix it weighs in at about 2g. 3 or 4 would close a front door and 2 would close a back one. Toggles will add great strength to the seam but may leave a gap which is not waterproof.

Pattern & Cutting

Note 1: 3.1m is the absolute minimum amount of fabric that should be purchased. It leaves absolutely no room for error.

Note 2: If you plan to close the doors with velcro or toggles then you will need to add a 2-4cm strip to the length of one door in order that there is some overlap.

Note 3: It is better to leave cutting the doors until the two main panels have been assembled...

1. Mark out the first side panel with chalk. Use a large Set Square to make sure that you are accurate.

2. Mark out the 2nd side panel (note how it is rotated).

3. Mark out the two door panels and the rear triangle panel. When fully marked out it should look like the above.

4. Cut out the first side panel.

5. Overlay the first side panel onto the second side panel to verify that they are identical!!

6. Cut out 2nd side panel.

7. Cut out first front door and again use overlay trick to check 2nd front door.

8. Cut out rear panel

9. Retain scraps for reinforcement.

Construction 1 - Main Body

1. Place the two side panels wrong-side together. Use paperclips to hold the fabric in place.

2. Create a Flat-felled seam on the ridgeline. See Sewing 101

Construction 2 - Rear Panel

If you are going to allow the rear panel to open for ventillation then it is best to do it before fully assembling.

Construction 2a - Rear Panel - Velcro

1. Cut the panel in half so that you end up with two right angled triangles.

2. Finish the perpendicular edge of each triangle with a rolled-hem. [If you do not have a rolled-hem foor then just fold over about 0.5-1cm and stitch to create a hem.

3. Stitch Velcro to the WRONG side of one panel and the RIGHT side of the other panel. Leave a 3cm gap at top and bottom. I have used a single strip of 15mm velcro, you may use sections of velcro if you wish.

Construction 2b - Rear Panel - Zip

1. Cut the panel in half so that you end up with two right angled triangles.

2. See the construction details for the front door. It is best to apply a zip AFTER the doors have been fitted to the main panels.

Construction 2c - Rear Panel - Toggles

1. Cut the panel in half so that you end up with two right angled triangles.

2. Finish the perpendicular edge of each triangle with a rolled-hem. [If you do not have a rolled-hem foor then just fold over about 0.5-1cm and stitch to create a hem.

3. It is best to apply a zip AFTER the doors have been fitted to the main panels. Toggles are likely to be LIGHTER than zips or velcro.

Construction 3 - Panel Assembly

1. Attach the front doors to the side panels using a flat-felled seam. [See Note 1]

2. Attach the rear panel (or doors) to the side panels using a flat-felled seam. [See Note 1]

3. Check that the base of all the doors are in-line with the side panels. Trim if this is not the case.

4. Apply a rolled-hem to the based of the doors and the side panels.

5. You should now have something that looks like a tent!

Note 1: If you are using PU-Coated Nylon then it is possible to attach the doors to the sides using a single seam and then seam-sealing it using seam-sealing tape. This will be almost as strong as a flat-felled seam and a lot less work.

Construction 4 - Front Door

1. Fit a zip to the front door using a medium-weight coil-zip approx 80cm in length.

2. Note that I have fitted my zip 'backwards' so that it is a little more weather resistant.

Construction 6 - Tent Peg Loops

1. Cut 10 pieces of 3cm x 3cm fabric as reinforcing panels (rp)

2. Stitch one rp on each front and rear door next to closure on the INSIDE of the tent. [ 4 panels]

3. Stitch one rp onto base of each main panel where front / rear doors meet the main panel. Stitch the panel OVER the felled-seam and on the INSIDE of the tent. [4 panels]

4. Find the centre-point of the base-line of the main side panels and stitch one rp onto the inside of each main panel.

5. Cut 10 pieces of nylon webbing at 8-10cm and seal the ends with a lighter. [8cm = skewer pegs, 10cm = plastic pegs)

6. Sew the loops as shown to the inside of the tent. Allow a big enough loop for the largest peg you expect to use and then allow some more. The picture shows an 8cm loop with 2x2cm stitched and 4cm for the loop. Make sure that the loop points away from the tent in the line of greatest tension - typically it mirrors the seam.

7. Cut 6 pieces of shock-cord at 8cm and seal the ends. Form each piece into a loop using a single knot and fit to the guy

Construction 7a Ridge-line guyrope loops

1. Cut and seal two pieces of 8cm nylon webbing.

2. Stitch two loops onto the OUTSIDE of the tent at the apex of the front and rear doors. Stitch through the ridgeline seam. [If you are using extremely fragile fabric then stitch a reinforcing patch under the apex before you start).

Construction 7b (Optional) - Ridge-line guyrope loops

1. Cut 6 reinforcing patches measuring 6cm x 3cm.

2. On the inside of the tent mark on the ridgeline (measuring from the front) at 26cm, 48cm, 72cm, 102cm, 130cm and 192cm. This approximates a Caternary ridge...

3. Stitch each reinforcing patch onto the inside of the tent at the places marked with the patches stitched perpendicular to the ridge-line.

4. Cut and seal six pieces of 10cm nylon webbing.

5. Stitch the nylon webbing to the OUTSIDE of the patches as shown below

Construction 8 - (optional) Door Ties

The door ties consist of a 6cm loop of nylon webbing and a 14cm length of 2/3/4mm cord. [2mm is a too thin to stitch effectively).

The door ties are stitched about 25%-40% of the way up the door/panel seam. A nylon loop is sewn to the outside of the seam and the cord is sewn to the inside of the seam. (see below)

It is best to experiment with both front and rear doors and see how they roll up with the fabric you use. From this you can work out where best to place the loops. Silnylon is very slipppery and does not roll well.

Construction 9 - Guy Ropes

This tent uses 2-3 guy ropes that work 'independently' of each other - front and rear and middle!

Front and rear guy-ropes consist of a single-loop noose and tautline-hitch. See knots. The centre guy-rope (that forms the ridge-line consists of a single-loop and a taut-line hitch.

1. Front Guy: Cut and seal 2.75m of the 2/3/4mm cord. On one end tie a single loop and the other a taut-line hitch. Attach to the front guy loop at the ridge-line.

2. Rear Guy: Cut and seal 1.75m of the 2/3/4mm cord. On one end tie a single loop and the other a taut-line hitch. Attach to the rear guy loop at the ridge-line.

3. Centre ridge-line guy (Optional): Cut and seal 3m of the 2/3/4mm cord. On one end tie a single loop and the other a taut-line hitch. Feed through all but the very first and very last ridge-line loops.

Note 1: You may use lighter 2mm cord if you wish but you it is more difficult to handle and more difficult to tie knots in.

Note 2: The simplest thing to do is to use a cord that you are happy with.

Pitching your Tent

You are now ready to pitch the tent and check that everything is as it should be.

1. Roughly peg out the 4 corners with the doors closed.

2. Assemble your poles to roughly the right height and pitch front and rear poles. Use an Inline Loop to attach the guy-ropes to the poles. The poles are pitched a little away from the tent and a little taller than the tent.

3. Tension up the tent and re-peg as required.

4. Loop both ends of the ridge-line cord around the top of the front and rear poles and tension up.

6. Peg the two centre loops on the side panels.