Bedouin Tent v1.0 You have to start somewhere
So for some reason that I am not quite sure of… I have decided I need a Bedouin tent. Well, after countless enjoyable (yet wasted) hours surfing for information on Bedouin tents, I have got this much information on them.
1. They are rectangular
2. They are usually black.
3. They are made of goat hair
Thats about it. There is very little info I could find on how I would go about building my own tent.
PERFECT! I love figuring out stuff on my own. I’ll build a cheap one to figure out what works and what doesn’t for me. Once all the details are ironed out, I’ll make a nice one out of black canvas. Also..No Goat hair for me thank you.
First off I need Canvas. So down to the local Rona to buy some 9×12 painters drop cloths. They were on special for $20cdn, so I bought four of them. I am hoping I have enough canvas left over to build my nephew a viking A frame tent for his b-day. I decided to sew to 9×12 together to make a big 9×24 tarp.
*I am a little short on Canadian Tire money at the moment, otherwise I would have bought tarpage at CT. In theory the whole tent could be made for the cost of a couple of 2×2′s, since the canvas, rope, doweling, tentpegs..etc can all be bought with CT dollars. Just the support poles would have to be purchased elsewhere.*
Four loads of washing & drying. Took for ever to dry the tarps. I think the dryer is on its last legs.
One of the tarp was cut down into strips. The main roof tension strip will be 6″ wide, and all the other strips will be 4″ wide. These are random numbers I just decided to go with. These will also be sewn together into longer strips.
All the strips were then ironed over. Thankfully its not hot today.
Hard to see, but the first tension band is being sewn on. I marked the tarp in pencil three foot from the edge. The banding is then sewn along the pencil line. This leaves a three foot side wall. Just the height for my turned ropebed.
Much more soon. Originally I was going to try have have this done for SYGC this coming weekend, but alas, I think its debut will be at investiture at the end of the month.
Interesting that they’d mostly be black…did you find any info on why? You’d think that living in the desert, black’d be a poor choice!
The black tarps are so they have a deep shade. Regular canvas tent in bright sunlight still transfers a fair amount of light. Plus the color of the goat most likely dictates the coloring of the roof. Probably why alot of the black tents are more browny black.
My theories… take them for what they are worth.
That makes sense!
Also I <3 goats 
Odd…I have had the same urge lately…was searching the net for the same info…had the same results..would like to have one for the back yard…place to “get away” so to speak..
look forward to reading more.
Not sure why the related posts links didn’t show on that page.
This is the page for links to all the different post I made on Bedouin tents.
http://www.maryostler.com/past-works/bedouin-tent/
HI
I have been searching for ever and I am going to attempt to make a tent by following your instructions….
I will let you know How I fair…
Thanks
lei-Lani
Yaaaa, more tent makers. Good luck, and if you have any specific questions, I’ll try my best to give you an answer.
how tall are your side poles?
The side poles are 36″ long. Sorry I didn’t get back to you right away. I was attending the best war in Tir Righ (An Tir). AT War Tir Righ/Avacal make the SCA worth wild….