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Throw-over tent for custom trike

December 29, 2024 — BarryK

Continuing the custom recumbent trike project, here are recent posts:

Currently planning the details for going touring with the trike.

It is envisaged at a campsite, the trike will be parked in the shade, and I will use a small folding solar panel to keep the battery topped up -- more on that in a future blog post. While at a campsite, or for whenever there is rain, I constructed a throw-over tent. I have left-over 10D ripstop silnylon fabric from the tent-making days in 2021, and one long piece of orange fabric:

img1

This tent is contructed entirely by glueing, no sewing. Sewing 10D silnylon is a nightmare; so incredibly stretchy and slippery.

I described the glueing technique back in 2021, for example here:

"TreeHugger 1P tarp weighs only 178g"
https://bkhome.org/light/treehugger-1p-tarp-weighs-only-178g.html

Proceeded to add sides and tie-outs:

img2

...photo taken in my loungeroom. At a campsite, the area required for pegging is large but that is not usually a problem. Pulling it out with pegs is important for a couple of reasons. One, so that wind will tend to flow over. Two, to give some room inside.

The 10D silnylon is translucent, so put an extra layer on top to cut down light getting through to the solar cells. 10D is very thin, a tent specialist fabric. I bought most of it in 2021 off Aliexpress, but that vendor is no longer in business. Searched Aliexpress, could not find silicone both-sides ripstop nylon fabric -- the closest is silicone one side, PU the other.

Silnylon is very special. It is silicone impregnated, right through, not just a coating on the sides. It bonds extremely well to silicone sealant. PU does not. It looks like tent manufacturers are not using silnylon anymore; the main reason, if I recall rightly, is that is stretches when wet.

Back in 2021, I did buy some pure 10D silnylon from a company in Europe, and I just now checked; yes, they still have it:

https://www.adventurexpert.com/product/10d-silnylon-fabric/

img3

For anyone thinking of building a tent, 10D is a bit fragile; I would recommend go for fabric a bit stronger, say 20D. Unless you need the lightest possible weight and small size.

I manufactured the tie-outs the same way as the mark-3 tent in 2021:

And used 30x5 (30mm OD, 20mm ID) silicone o-rings, from Aliexpress:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001460667252.html

The tent might need some further construction, but for now ok to use on the first tour.    

Tags: light