Tent Making

Viking A-Frame June 2004

Ten days before Ealdormere War Practice VI (an event she was autocrating) Thorfinna decided she wanted to build a Viking a-frame.

So she did.

Thorfinna poses outside her (mostly completed) a-frame. The sod flaps on either side were still not waterproofed at this point, and the poles were not water stained. The blue tarp floor will eventually have canvas sewn tot he top side to disguise it. The majority of the canvas had not been water proofed until the day of EWP set up, and it held up well considering the rain that came. It had only a few miniscule leaks, mostly around the seams. It held up fine to the wind, and barely shook at all.

Thorfinna kept her ridge pole long, so it would hang out either end and enable us to hang a lantern or other such decoration of it. However, upon raising the tent, the ridge pole refused to stay centered, and hung out the back much father than the front. This caused a slight lean in the tent, which was mostly compensated by having one guide rope pegged tot he ground.

Thorfinna is working on an article detailing her process, what worked and what didn't, and it will be on the page soon.

Unrolling the canvas for cutting.	Thorfinna surrounded by piles of canvas.	Rolls of canvas ready for sewing.
Fully extended, the canvas covered our backyard.	Originally we tried a dowel peg system to hold the poles together.	In theory this worked, but in reality it made the joints too weak. We used metal plates instead.
A view from the left of the mostly completed a-frame.	From the right.	From straight on. With the doors open we had a nice breeze.