Tent Options

Floors   -   Price Varies, check price list

A canvas floor fitted to the size and shape of your tent. Hidden grommets allow the use of small spikes to hold the floor in place.

I used to prefer rugs to a canvas floor, however, rugs are considerably more bulky to transport. Also, my research indicates that walking on rugs is probably a non-period practice (unless you are fabulously wealthy). Finally, I have found that in dusty, windy conditions a floor combined with sod cloths does help keep the inside of the tent cleaner.

Painted floor cloths (faux rugs) are a period practice, and I have a least a tiny bit of evidence for their use in tents, so, if you want to spice things up a bit, consider a fancy painted canvas floor.

Sod Cloths   -   Price Varies, check price list

Sod cloths/Mud flaps/Rot cloths are flaps of canvas sewn to the bottom edge of your walls to seal the wall to the ground. There are advantages and disadvantages to sod cloths, which is why they are optional.

Advantages

1. When combined with a floor they do a pretty good job of keeping blowing dust out.
2. They may help to keep creepy crawlies out (and small pets in) especially combined with a floor
3. They may help slightly in keeping the tent warm.

Disadvantages

1. They add bulk/weight/and cost.
2. They make the walls somewhat harder to fold.
3. Even in extremely windy conditions, the wind down at ground level is virtually nil. Very little wind penetrates into the tent.
4. Even in very rainy conditions, water does not tend to come more than an inch or two under the walls.
5. If you have situated your tent so poorly as to have a river running through it, sod cloths are probably not going to help.
6. I have found very little (or no) evidence for sod cloths in period.

My suggestion is, if you want a floor, get sod cloths (to help keep the dust out), and if you don't have or want a floor, give the sod cloths a miss too. If you frequently camp in dusty, windy conditions without much grass or other groundcover, the combination is quite nice.

Door Closures

Standard Closure

Door panels overlap one full panel. Five toggles inside and out (ten total per door). With the full panel overlap you can use the roof toggles to hold the door open or closed.

Ties   -   $25/door discount

Same full panel overlap. Replace toggles with ties inside and out. I personally prefer toggle to ties, but they do take longer to make (thus cost more).

Subtract a Door   -   $65/door discount

My tents come standard with the walls in two peices, thus creating two doors. If you want, I can build the wall in one piece, eliminating a door. I don't recomend this as you will no longer be able to catch cross breezes.

Add a Door   -   +$65/door

I can make the walls in three or more sections, thus creating more doors. Probably only usefull for very large tents.

Fancy Arched Door  -  +$50

Replace one of the standard doors with an arched doorway and separate door curtain. Nice effect, but the standard door is perfectly functional. Nice on round pavilions, might be doable on other styles.

Porch Canopy

Porch Canopy   -   +$250

A porch canopy for a round pavilion. As in the picture at the bottom of the round pavilion page. Includes poles, ropes, and stakes.

Ropes

Heavy Set-Up Lines   -   +$30

My standard set-up lines are 6mm (~1/4") hemp. I can make heavy lines from 10mm hemp. This does not seem to be necessary from strength perspective. Some people like the look.

Sunshade/High wind lines  -  +$8 or $12 ea

These are ~12' long hemp ropes with a eyesplice in one end and whipping on the other. Use 4-8 of them to replace a wall when setting up as a sunshade or add a few for extra stability in extreme wind conditions. $9ea (6mm) or $14ea (10mm)

Hempex Ropes  -  No extra cost

Substitute Hempex for hemp rope. Hempex is a three strand rope made from spun polypropylene. In appearance it is nearly indistingishable from natural hemp. In the hand it is somewhat slippery. Is somewhat stronger than hemp, but the hemp is more than strong enough. It is essentially impervious to rot, but hopefully you are not putting your tent away wet anyhow. (Canvas, even Sunforger, WILL mildew if you put it away wet. Anyhow, I like the hemp better because it's the real thing, but I offer Hempex at the same price, because my costs are the same for each.

Decorations

Seam Stripes

I paint canvas with diluted latex exterior house paint and cut it into strips. The strips are appliqued into the seams. This is still somewhat experimental, but the results have been good so far. The paint, being intended for exterior use, is UV resistant and, being appliqued on, there is no concern about effecting the water resistance of the tent.