Tipis, yurts and other shelter

	Daffy wrote:
	when making a teepee how would you tie the part where the structural poles meet without cordage?

I acctualy naver thought about that, maby get a stick with a "y" in it and sharpen one point, than put the hide throught one of the points?

i was thinking more along the lines of vines or thing flexable trees.

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Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

Yeah, or even just cut some of the tarp/rahyde and use it.

well i mean if you were take'n a tarp i'm sure you'd have rope. i ment more as in a survival situation.

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Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

We had a smoke hole, smoke flaps and changed the direction of the air inlet when the wind changed directions. We had a small tent to sleep in but after a storm moved in we decided to use an extra 16' X 20' tarp and a couple of small tarps to make a tipi to cook in and dry out some of our wet gear. The make shift tipi we made was a small diameter one which makes the smoke level lower than in a large diameter tipi. When everything was adjusted right we could sit on the ground and our heads would be out of the smoke. But the wind kept shifting direction and when it did the tippi would fill with smoke to the point that we had to lay flat on the floor to be out of it . Then you have a choice, go out and change the smoke flaps and change the air inlet if you think the wind is going to continue blowing from the new direction or you can wait for the wind direction to retun back to blowing from the original direction. Either way you have a smoke fillled tippi that takes awhile to clear out once the arrangement is right. Seems we always chose wrong. Murphys Law prevailed and if we changed things by the time we were done and had the smoke cleared out the wind would change again.

If you want to make a tipi there is a good section on making one in the Wilderness Survival Handbook by Alan Fry but in his book he recomends that if you plan to build a more permanent tippi other than just for a survival situation you should obtain a book by Reginald and Gladys Laubin called The Indian Tipi.

Last edited by hawkerhur on Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:30 pm; edited 1 time in total

Indians fastened the front of the tipi together by overlapping the material and then pushed sharpened sticks called (lacing pins) though both pieces to act as stays holding the pieces together.

jeeez why didn't i think of that hawk, good post!

_________________
Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

Paracutes make a fairly nice tipi. We used them when I worked in Alaska to put over a piece of heavy equipment to thaw it out. We did't use poles it was just spread out over the Cat or whatever and the bottom was well anchored all around then warm air was forced in using a diesel fired master heater. More warm air was blown in than escaped from the hole at the top of the canopy which made the parachute fill up like a hot air balloon. Kept it nice and toasty warm inside even when 60 F outside and a wind blowing. While the master heater may not be part of your survival gear a parachute is a ready made tipi cover with a hole in the top. With the addition of poles and some other material for smoke flaps they will make a quick tipi.

Hawk i must say that is the best instuctive post i've read in weeks. Great detail, I like how you described everything, you made me re-think my tipi i'm working on. If anyone happens to find a good tutorial on-line feel free to post it, it would help, as it is actually difficult to build a good tipi.

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

	Daffy wrote:
	well i mean if you were take'n a tarp i'm sure you'd have rope. i ment more as in a survival situation.

thats why i said the thing about the rahyde lol. But yeah the sharpened sticks is a good idea too.

Some where I read about the digging four trenches that came from the outside and into the fire pit edge. These were then covered with flot rock or bark with dirt over that. Then air flow to the fire from the outside was controlled by blocking three of the trenhes with a piece of bark. Then when the wind changed a different air source could be changed from inside the tipi.

Alan Fry's book recommends a 16' diameter tipi with a 16' radius canvas half circle cut from a 16' by 32' rectangular piece of canvas. After the half circle is cut two pieces for smoke flaps are cut and sewn on from the remaining material. This tipi requires 15 frame poles plus 2 smoke flap poles.

If you are going to go to all of the work and expense of making a decent tipi I strongly recomment the you get his book or perhaps better yet the book he reccomends.

Let me know how your tipi works out.

Ive heard about the holes in each side too. I forget where, so i guess they work than.

hawkerhur wrote:

Some where I read about the digging four trenches that came from the outside and into the fire pit edge. These were then covered with flot rock or bark with dirt over that. Then air flow to the fire from the outside was controlled by blocking three of the trenhes with a piece of bark. Then when the wind changed a different air source could be changed from inside the tipi.

Alan Fry's book recommends a 16' diameter tipi with a 16' radius canvas half circle cut from a 16' by 32' rectangular piece of canvas. After the half circle is cut two pieces for smoke flaps are cut and sewn on from the remaining material. This tipi requires 15 frame poles plus 2 smoke flap poles.

If you are going to go to all of the work and expense of making a decent tipi I strongly recomment the you get his book or perhaps better yet the book he reccomends.

Let me know how your tipi works out.

I do understand the concept but could you possibly draw a quick diagram? If you can that would help, just to get it crystal clear.

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

I found detailed instructions at the following web page for tepee construction.

http://www.manataka.org/page186.html

	Daffy wrote:
	when making a teepee how would you tie the part where the structural poles meet without cordage?

Spruce root is excellent for this.

To cover a tipi without tarp or hide, putting cross braces along the frame and covering with moss if it's available works great as waterproofing and effective insulation. Otherwise, If you have the energy, you can go about maiming dozens of spruce and putting a 5 inch layering of boughs. Not easy or permanent, but conceivable.

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