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Tipi Diary

written by Rene K. Mueller, Copyright (c) 2005, last updated Fri, January 2, 2015

9. 9. 2005: Before & After


Before the upgrade: 3.6m (12') Tipi, was truncated apprx. 10-15cm before I've got it

After the upgrade: 5.0m (16.6') Tipi, extended with PE blanket

Yesterday I prepared the tipi, folded the bottom of the cover nicely, not yet fixated with cords, but sufficient to see if it's working. Had some rain around 1:40am in the night, got up and closed the tipi, worked well. The smoke poles are a little to small, I really stretched out the length of all poles for this upgrade, I won't able to extend it further without getting new longer poles - that's it now.

The "upgraded" tipi
2005/09/09 12:04
2005/09/09 12:05
2005/09/09 12:05
2005/09/09 12:05
2005/09/09 12:06

8. 9. 2005: The Upgrade and Update

I added more than 1.20m to the total length, and I saw the poles are too short as thought, so I had to put it up once again a bit smaller. Since the tipi is now larger, and I have the tipi on a little land slope, I will adjust the east pole (door pole) so the tipi stands without tilt.

Putting up the tipi once again, considering the land slope as well. The green PE extension a bit too long.
2005/09/08 07:23
2005/09/08 07:24
2005/09/08 07:24
2005/09/08 07:24
2005/09/08 07:51
Folding the PE extension inside
2005/09/08 07:51
The interior as before, but more space!
2005/09/08 07:51

7. 9. 2005: Upgrading the Tipi

As I planned before I extended the cover of the tipi, to increase the diameter from 3.58m (to be precise) to well over 5m. Since my poles are just meant for a apprx. 4m (12') tipi, I have to make it a bit smaller than 5m as I planned, and do 4.8 or so.

The PE blanket, aprx. 6m x 6.5m, used and quite old, with a small tear in the center
2005/09/06 09:52
Taking down the tipi (in regular size)
2005/09/06 13:16
2005/09/06 13:25
2005/09/06 13:27
2005/09/06 13:27
2005/09/06 13:28
Cutting the lanes to add at the bottom of the cover
2005/09/06 13:46
Sewing it together
2005/09/06 14:03
2005/09/06 14:04
2005/09/06 14:04
And so on ...
2005/09/06 14:29
2005/09/06 15:14
After 5-6 hours, it's done. Most of the time I struggled with the sewing machine than with the sewing procedure as such
2005/09/06 18:49
2005/09/06 18:50
2005/09/06 18:57
2005/09/06 18:58
2005/09/06 18:58
2005/09/06 19:22
First impression of the upgrade . . . the poles are too thin on the top, need to bring the cover down a bit
2005/09/06 19:59

7. 7. 2005: Another rainy day

Tipi closed entirely due rainy weather
2005/07/07 08:52
2005/07/07 08:53

Here another variant to close the tipi during rain, it's very crucial to find a good way to close it during rain, as a tipi in its original form is not 100% waterproof, and the little but steady flow of rain along the poles inside the tipi should be minimized as much as possible.

29. 6. 2005: Closing the cover

2005/06/29 16:06
2005/06/29 16:07
Cloths I hang up during the day to protect from ground insects and snails)
2005/06/29 18:08
2005/06/29 18:08
2005/06/29 18:33
2005/06/29 18:34
2005/06/29 18:34

20. 6. 2005: The environment

View to the mountain range from Oberduernten/ZH (Switzerland)
2005/06/20 16:14
2005/06/20 16:15
2005/06/20 16:15
2005/06/20 16:18
2005/06/20 16:21
2005/06/20 16:54
2005/06/20 16:54

I made some photographs of the environment of the place I put up the tipi, it's in Oberduernten/Hadlikon, in front of the Bachtel mountain (apprx. 1000 meter high), very nice sight to the south as you can see.

I closed the tipi entirely with the smoke flaps to see how little or large the remaining hole would be, depends very how well you made the tripod (there isn't much to do wrong) and the other poles (here it really matters) were lied on. I also saw it would be better not to use the length of the main cover for the length of the node for the tripod, but make the node apprx. 5 cm lower than the actual length of the main cover, this way the remaining hole would be significant smaller. Now it really depends if those 5 cm are negletable so the tipi still fit? Let's see the next time, since the tipi, or better said it's cover have been truncated I have to try anyway.

18. 6. 2005: Putting up the tipi

Putting up the tipi (without inlining yet)
2005/06/18 11:26
2005/06/18 11:26
Inside of the tipi
2005/06/18 15:49
Outer tent should not reach the ground
2005/06/18 15:49
String to hang inlining
2005/06/18 15:49
Tent fixation to the ground (using stones)
2005/06/18 15:50

After investigating a good spot for the tipi, I finally put up the tipi by myself. Since it's just 12 feet in diameter (apprx. 4 meter) the required poles with 5-6.5 meter were not that heavy, and the tripod was easy to pull up and put the single poles on the tripod then; the main cover of the tipi with the main pole was manageable. Largers tipi more people are required, especially for the last pole with the main cover can be very heavy then.

2005/06/18 15:50
Sleeping bag on a rudimentary bed
2005/06/18 22:46
Fire wood
2005/06/18 22:47
Fire place, almost in the center of the tipi
2005/06/18 22:47
2005/06/18 22:47
2005/06/18 22:47
2005/06/18 22:48
2005/06/18 22:48

The tipi was given to me for free and I saw the previous owners must have had it for at least a summer long, and they cut off part of the main cover and the inner lining, so it is a bit smaller than it was before (e.g. 14 feet before) and now a 12 feet tipi, and the entrance (as you see on the photos) is missing the closing part on the ground, but remains open (it should be a hole). Also, the cover isn't as strong anymore as it should be, while pulling it down to undo some wrinkels I teared a small part of the cover. So, it won't last much longer, one summer and fall, not more I guess, even when I take really care of it.

2005/06/18 22:48
First fire in the tipi, first night I slept in it
2005/06/18 23:23
2005/06/18 23:27

At night, after sunset, apprx. 21:15 local time, I put up a fire, the first one for this place. Needless to say that this moment, the fire burning, and the little smoke rising in the tipi is special, as if you give the tipi real life.

12. 6. 2005: The tipi

Before started for my bicycle trip through France and Italy I desired to spend the summer of 2005 in a tipi, when I returned my mother informed me that a nice woman offered a tipi to her, after two phones calls I picked up the tipi, apprx.12 feet size, the 6-7 meter long poles in particular were not easy to transport.


(End of Article)

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