Current as of April 16th/2008
This article is still under construction. Please check back later.
Tents are an often debated item for many earlier re-enactment periods. Later period military re-enactors often have the advantage of their tents being easily documentable in size, shape, form, as the later period tents often being a well documented standard issue military item. If you go back to the early 18th century, or any earlier time than that, documenting tents and appropriate use of certain designs of tents becomes a big challenge. For many re-enactors portraying earlier time frames, it is often most easy to document the complete lack of the use of tents by the common soldier or common folk. While not using a tent or shelter for an early period re-enactment may add an authentic look and feel to the event, let's face it, most re-enactors are trying to obtain enjoyment out of the hobby. While many re-enactors like "roughing it" (to one degree or another), most will want to compromise to some degree when it comes to sleeping in the outdoors.
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of re-enactors that love to try to take the hobby to any reasonable extreme. But the average re-enactor is going to want some form of protection from the elements, and some degree of privacy while camping out on a re-enactment. This article is for those re-enactors who may be of the mindset to want to use some sort of shelter for privacy and/or protection from the elements, but can not easily document an appropriate tent to their historic portrayal(s).
Tarp tents are essentially any fabric covering supported by any means available, set up for the purpose of shelter. A tarp tent can be used as a sun shade, a wind breaker, or a sleeping tent, or any other purpose one can think of. Size can vary widely as well. A cloak could be used to make a tarp tent, it would be small, and most likely not easily cover it's inhabitant completely, but it could be done and work effectively enough. On the larger end of the spectrum, for those who are doing more nautical influenced historic portrayals, a much larger tarp could be justified in the form of the ship's/boat's, sail. Most earlier period sails would have been square, but as you get into later time periods, triangular and more irregular shaped sails become more and more used. A tarp tent could also be made from a variety of fabrics. Whatever is most appropriate to your chosen time frame and portrayal. In the above example of a cloak, the most likely fabric used would have been wool. In the sail example, a linen or hemp canvas would have been the most likely fabric. Just remember, cotton canvas would not have become commonly available until the 19th century.
Another consideration for simple shelters, are the means with which to set it up. In a wooded setting, finding upright or ridge poles could be easy. Just using rope could work too if there were trees of an appropriate size nearby. An early period soldier or warrior may have a spear or pike that could make an effective structural pole for a makeshift shelter. There may be some cases where coming up with a reasonable explanation for having poles with which to set up ones sheleter just does not make sense. This would fall into the category of a compromise you would need to make on authenticity for the sake of camping in relative comfort.
Before beginning to make your tarp shelter, try to find some reasonable justification for using such a shelter. Go through what primary sources you can, and failing any information being available from primary sources, review what secondary source you can. Carefully analyze your historic portrayal, and try and create a plausible explanation as to why they would have or be using this type of shelter. Is your portrayal a sailor of some variety, or a fisher? In these cases (or similar circumstances) the whole sail explanation works perfectly. If you can, in these cases try to come up with some provenance to the size and shape of the sails used in those circumstances. If your portrayal is not nautical, could you be a part of a trade caravan? In this case consider what types of coverings would be used to cover the trade commodities, would any of the rational coverings used be a good size or made of an appropriate material to use for a temporary shelter? With so many period of time to re-enact, the possibilities are potentially endless. It may take some time to think of just the right historically based justification, but careful thought and research will most likely provide you with something that may be just right for your historic portrayal. There may be some cases where there just isn't any really feasible justification for your portrayal to have any tent or the means of making a temporary shelter, in these cases, you just have to decide to what degree you want to compromise realism for comfort while camping on your re-enactment adventures.
What material should you make your shelter from? Well first you must consider what material(s) best suits the type of historic portrayal that you are trying to recreate. Conducting some textile research on your chosen time frame and culture will go a long way here. Then you need to consider what materials you have available to you. In most cases, canvas will most likely be your primary choice. But not all canvas is the same. In most western oriented historic portrayals, linen or hemp canvas was the only, or most likely type of canvas used. Wool could possibly be justified in some cases. All three of these materials are more expensive and much more difficult to find than the cheapest and easiest to find alternative, cotton canvas. Here again you will need to choose between potentially spending a great deal of money versus using a cheap alternative. Your commitment, personal finances, and possibly the authenticity standards of your re-enactment group may all play into effect here. In my experience, most re-enactment groups will overlook the use of cotton canvas because it is so much more reasonable in price and easier to find.
In my examples, I will be using a fustian canvas. Fustian is a cotton and linen blend, usually fustian contains a fifty/fifty percentage split of cotton to linen fibres, but I have seen other ratios. I had originally considered using a 100% linen or hemp canvas as would have been most likely used in the time frame I was making this shelter for, but these types of canvas ranged from $16 to $19 dollars or even more per yard (at the time of this writing, US dollars), which was more than I was willing to invest at the time. Cotton canvas is (at the time of this writing) easy to find for as little as $4.50 per yard or possibly even less (again US dollars). With a fair amount of searching I was able to find a good solid weight fustian canvas for $5.00 per yard (at the time of this writing) from www.periodfabric.com/. I decided that for nominally more money than cotton canvas, I could get something that is at least blended with a fibre I desired to use. After ordering my canvas and receiving it, I have decided that the fustian canvas looks great. It takes a very careful and close inspection of the canvas to realize that it is not 100% linen canvas.
Another major consideration for the construction of a tarpaulin style shelter, is the quantity of fabric that you will need. Once you have decided on the size, shape, and style you are interested in making, the amount of fabric should be a simple case of some basic math and geometry. For this example, I will be making a tarp approximately 4.5 meters by 4.5 meters (~15 feet by ~15 feet) square in size. I already know that the end product will not turn out quite this big, but should not be more than 30 to 60 cm (a foot or two) short of this measurement on both length and width. The fabric I purchased is ~147 cm (~58 inches or just less than five feet wide) , so I will need three lengths of 147 cm (58 inch) wide fabric to get close to the desired width I am aiming for. If I was trying to create an end product that was truly 4.5 meters by 4.5 meters (15 feet by 15 feet), I would have purchased more canvas. I am willing to go forth knowing that once I pre-shrink my fabric, seam the widths together, and then hem the edges, I will likely loose around 30 to 60 cm (one to two feet) in both length and width resulting in an end product that will be anywhere from 3.65 meters to 4.25 meters (12 to 14 feet) in length and width. You should adjust your measurments accordingly to your own needs, keeping in mind you will loose approximately 6 cm (two inches) for each seam or hem, and then a random amount (probably around 5 to 15 percent) for shrinkage when you pre-shrink your fabric.
Had I wanted to acheive my 4.5 meter by 4.5 meter (15 foot by 15 foot) tarp size for an end product, I would have purchased about 22 meters (24 yards or 72 feet) of canvas, cutting the canvas into four 5.5 meter (6 yard or 18 feet) lengths. The 5.5 meter (18 feet) in length would have given me the neccessary extra space needed to accmodate both possible shrinkage, and the room for hems as well, the fourth length peice would have given me the extra space for pre-shrinking the canvas, as well as plenty of space for hems, and seams. This would have resulted in some wasted fabric, which is one of the main deciding factors I used in deciding the 4.5 meter by 4.5 meter (15 by 15 foot) fabric size with an end size of roughly 3.65 meter to 4.25 meter (12 to 14 feet) by 3.65 meter to 4.25 meter (12 to 14 feet) would be fine.
Another option for canvas, would be pre-treated canvas. The most commonly known is "Sunforger" canvas. This canvas is purchased already treated to be water resistant and/or fire retardent. This canvas while it has it's perks, tends to come either in colours that may or may not be appropriate for your particular historic portrayal, or the "natural" tends to be closer to white than I like for use in historical re-enactment purposes. Ultimately, the choice is yours, and you should choose with some regard to what best suits your purposes. At the time of this writing, "Sunforger" can be found for generally around $6 to $7 dollars per yard. If you do decide to use a pre-treated or "Sunforger" canvas for this project, ytou will want to skip the "shrinking the fabric" step in the "Construction" section of this article.
Your selection of thread can impact your construction as well. For my tarpaulin shelter I have decided a hemp thread from Reconstructing History for the stitching. You could use any heavy weight linen, cotton, or hemp thread you choose for your own project. I have even heard of someone having servicable results using polyester (or perhaps poly-cotton blend) uphostery thread.
You will need one of three tools to sew the canvas together.
Most will choose a sewing machine to sew the canvas. Check your sewing machine's user manual to ensure the unit is going to be strong enough to stitch through up to four layers of canvas. Many older home sewing machines may not be up to the task. There are plenty of sewing machines on the market that are marketed as "Denin Machines" that are perfect for sewing canvas as well. You will also want to use heavy sewing grade needles with your machine. Ensure your machine is loaded with the correct grade of needle for the job. Using a regular machine needle for sewing canvas will result in many broken needles. In fact, even using the correct grade of needle, you should be prepared for the possibility of a broken needle or two, just in case.
Another option is a stitching awl. This is the option I went with. I used the sewing awl from Tandy Leather Factory, but many other leather working tool suppliers carry similar models. In order to fit the heavy hemp thread, I had to use a heavy weight needle with the awl. I first tried the medium weight needle, but the thread was too course to fit threough the eye of the needle. I had no trouble at all once I switched out the needle for the heavy weight needle.
The last option is traditional hand sewing needles. This of course would be the most labour intensive choice. Use the longest and strongest sewing needles you can find for the task. Glovers needles or other strong leather needles (all available from Tandy Leather Factory and other leather working tool suppliers) would be the most ideal for the task. If you choose to hand sew your tarp, you will likely want to use a sewing palm, also available from Tandy Leather Factory other leather working tool suppliers.
The first step is to cut and shrink your fabric. The instruction for shrinking fabric here will be written with the assumption that you will be using canvas (cotton, linen, hemp, or any blend of these three fibres). If you are using another fabric, I would strongly recomend doing some in depth research on your chosen fabric so you will best be able to determine if and how you should shrink it.
You will need to cut your fabric in to managable length in order to complete this process. Since I will be using three lengths of canvas that are ~4.5 meters (15 feet) long, I will cut my canvas to these lengths. If in the hypothetical example where I was aiming for a finished product of 4.5 meters (15 feet), I would cut my canvas into four lengths 5.5 meters long each for this process. I bought my canvas in two lots, one lot of 5 yards (which when received measured 178 inches/452 cm, or two inches short of 5 yards), and a second lot of 10 yards (which when recieved actually measured 372 inches/945 cm, or 10 yards and one foot). I cut the 10 yard long segment into to even length of 186 inches/472 cm (two lengths of 5 yards and 6 inches). This will leave me with one length shorter than the other two. I will obviously have to cut down the other two lengths to match the shorter one. I am going to wait until after shrinking and seaming the lengths of fabric together before trimming the lengths even.
Once cut, each length should be washed in a washing machine on a hot water setting. If your washing machine offers you the option, use a regular cycle (or heavy duty cycle if available), and both a hot water wash, and a hot water rinse cycle. If all of these options are not available on your washer (or whatever washer you have for the purpose of this project), try the best you can to emulate these cycles with the options available to you. Most home washers will only be able to handle one 5 or 6 meter (15 to 18 foot) length of canvas at a time, again use your discretion based on the washer you are using. It may be best if you refer to the manufacturer's instruction manual for your particular washer if you have any questions or doubts. Once washed in hot water, place the wet canvas in your dryer, and dry the canvas on the hottest setting available on your dryer unit. Again use common sense and good judegement, and if neccessary refer to the manufacturer's instruction manual if need be. The washer I used had a hot wash with cool rinse as the best option, so that is what I used. I used the hottest setting on the dryer in order to dry the canvas.
You may be wondering why you want to wash and dry your material on the hottest settings you can reasonably acheive. If you already know the answer, skip to the next paragraph, otherwise read on. The main reason for washing and drying the canvas on these hot setting is to attempt to shrink the fabric as much as possible. You may even want to repeat this process once or twice for each length of canvas. I would recommend completing this process once even if your fabric was advertised as "pre-shrunk" from your retailer (or distributer). And the reason you want to shrink the canvas is, canvas similar to wood, swells when wet. This swelling "inflates" (in a manner of speaking) the fibres making the fibres more water repellant and water resistant. By shrinking the fabric, you are compacting the fibres even closer together, making the fibres more dense and hence more water repellant and water resistent. Trust me, the few inches of fabric you will loose as a result of this shrinking, will be well worth the extra waterproofing you will get out of shrinking your fabric. WARNING: If you are using "Sunforger" or a similarily pre-treated canvas, you will NOT want to try to machine wash, dry, or otherwise shrink your canvas.
After you have shrunk your canvas to whatever limit you are able to (or not at all if using pre-treated or "Sunforger" canvas), you will want to trim the lengths of the various peices. If you are aiming for a particular size end product, measure carefully and factor in an extra few inches for hems. If you are (as suggested) going for a more relaxed view on an finished size, trim your various lengths to match the length of the peice that is shortest. Save the scraps, they may be of use for another part of this project. In fact, if your canvas lengths all came out the same length, and did not require trimming, or if the lengths required an insignificant amount of trimming, you may want to cut 5 to 8 cm (~2 or 3 inches) off of the end of eash peice. These purpose of these narrow strips will become obvious later.
My shortest length of canvas, which started out as being 58 inches (147 cm) wide and 178 inches (452 cm) long, came out after being shrunk to be 54 inches (137 cm) wide and 158 inches (401 cm) long, which equals about 7 percent shrinkage on the width, and about 11 percent shrinkage in legth. The two peices that started out as 58 inches (147 cm) wide and 186 inches (472 cm) long, ended up being 54 inches (137 cm) wide and 164 inches (416 cm) long, which equates to about 7 percent shrinking on the width, and almost 12 percent loss in length.
If your are not used to sewing a great deal, you should draw some guidelines. I almost always skip drawing guidelines as I have done enough sewing to feel confident enough to sew in a straight line, even on a long seam.
How to set up the tarp tent goes here.
The Equipped To Survive web site has a comprehensive article, in my opinion mis-titled as Tarp Shelters - An Introduction. The article is also available as a PDF Format Article.
PeriodFabric.com carries a fustian (cotton/linen blend) canvas that makes a great balance of compromise for cost efficiency and authentic appearance. (at the time of this writing anyway)
Hemp Traders Carries a few different hemp canvases that would be perfect for this project, as well as a hemp/cotton blend that could also be used.
Reconstructing History carries a hemp canvas that would be perfect for this project. They also stock a great heavy hemp thread that is great for heavy sewing projects like this as well.
The SCA House Grey Dragon web site has a very good little pictoral tutorial on Flat Fell Seaming that could be of help to those who have not done that kind of seaming before.
This page from the "Sew Neau" web site has a more detailed look at flat fell seaming.
The Tandy Leather Factory are a great source of some tools or thread that may come in use for this project.