Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Power Equipment & RV => Topic started by: ribka on February 17, 2010, 08:43:58 PM

Title: parachute tee pee
Post by: ribka on February 17, 2010, 08:43:58 PM: Was looking thru my latest "Cheaper than Dirt" and saw that they had used parachutes for sale. Have always wanted to buy a Kifaru. Think it's possible to buy 2 parachutes and do a self build type tee pee tent similar to a kifaru or titanium goat tent.

My wife has pretty good sew skills and a good heavy duty sewing machine.
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: gasman on February 17, 2010, 09:08:04 PM: There used to be a camp up around little nachese during rifle season that had a parachute for there camp. The fire was in the middle and it kept the arfea under the chute about 70 degrees with the fire going.

I was going t do the same thing, and bought a chute but it was the wrong kind of chute :bash: soo i found another chute and opened it up, but did nt get a good look at it all the way open and bought it. When i opened it up completely later i found that it was not the full chute i thought it was :bash: Needless to say both chutes ended up in the trash and i was out $80 between the two. :dunno:

Make sure you open the chute you are looking at to be sure it is exactly what you need. Don't ne an idot like me :bash:
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: ribka on February 18, 2010, 07:57:24 PM: thanks.
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: halflife65 on February 18, 2010, 08:12:17 PM: That's cool, ribka. I've been thinking a lot about my camp setup. I'm using an REI Quarter Dome, but it seems that I could get the weight down a bit + greater space. I see that some companies make Tyvek groundsheets that weigh just ounces to put under the bag. Other thoughts were some of the tarptents, etc. If the tee pee thing doesn't work out, you could probably make a nice tarp out of it.

I'd be really interested in hearing if something like that worked out for you. I think that it would be possible - those Kifarus are really expensive.
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: high country on February 18, 2010, 08:14:09 PM: thanks, I have been on the hunt for a chute' for a while now. they are curved wrong for a tipi, but if you put a center pole up you can guy the out and make a great cover around the fire.
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: ribka on February 18, 2010, 08:19:09 PM: I read an article a few years ago in some hunting mag about using parachutes to make a tee pee like shelter similar to the Kifaru and Titanium Goat tents. Just need some basic sewing skills. For the life of me cannot remember where i saw that article.

As you know they( Kifaru and Titanium Goat) are pricey but very nice, lite and portable for back country trips. Going to do some more searching and if I can can come up with something will post. They are around $70 on Cheeper than Dirt.
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: gasman on February 18, 2010, 08:46:07 PM: Some one once told me to look at some of the sky diving schools or a company that takes people sky diving, and ask about old chutes. I never did but i am passing the info to you all.
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: sisu on February 18, 2010, 09:43:35 PM: kifaru or titanium goat tent=The day I pay 2500-2700 bucks for a f-in tent is the day I tell my wife to drive me to the banana farm. :yike:
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: washelkhntr on February 18, 2010, 09:44:26 PM: :yeah:
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: uncoolperson on February 19, 2010, 07:32:36 AM: buy a few yards of ripstop silcon impregnated nylon, hand it to the wife and you're done
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: YellowDog on February 19, 2010, 08:53:53 AM: Quote from: uncoolperson on February 19, 2010, 07:32:36 AM
buy a few yards of ripstop silcon impregnated nylon, hand it to the wife and you're done

Where do you get it and what does it cost? I've been wanting to do it but wasn't sure where to get it.
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: Bob on February 19, 2010, 09:05:38 AM: this is where I got mine I will post pics when Im done. www.rockywoods.com (http://www.rockywoods.com)
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: boneaddict on February 19, 2010, 09:13:52 AM: I've got an old chute one that Idabooner made for his goat hunt some 30 years ago. Nice fly. Would hate to winter any storm that was too nasty, but for early season work, its nice and light.
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: uncoolperson on February 19, 2010, 11:48:23 AM: Quote from: Bob on February 19, 2010, 09:05:38 AM
this is where I got mine I will post pics when Im done. www.rockywoods.com (http://www.rockywoods.com)

That'd be where I get most of my stuff too.

For some decent ideas on what fabrics do best for what, http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/display_forum.html?forum=38 (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/display_forum.html?forum=38)
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: ribka on February 20, 2010, 07:48:50 AM: Thanks for the info. Will post pics when finish the project

The Kifarus and Titanium Goat tents are pricey!!!
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: Wild Bill on March 01, 2010, 04:59:15 PM: I used to be a military survival instructor. We used parachutes to build tee pees. My advice, buy one or forget about the idea. Its a lot of hassle for which a lot can go wrong or be done wrong.

One thing, you need (if i remember right) 24 gores of a round chute, of which I'd venture to say that 99% of rounds are porous. Meaning microscopic holes, requiring the material to be stretched drum tight to have any water resistant characteristics. Approximately one tug away from O $h!t, i ripped it! :bash:

With these rounds, you need to remove all the inner parallel lines from the chute. Not doing so will not allow the material to stretch.

You'll need anywhere from 15-25 pop can sized round poles about 30 feet long. The variance depends on the season (snow= more poles).

You'll need what Native Americans used to call "whale bones". These are used to keep the parachute from slipping, loosing its tightness.

Due to the chute being porous, the structure will need to be erected at approximately 60 degrees to have any ability to shed water.

Some things to be aware of. Square chutes will not work. Although they are non porous (typically) they are square. Tee pee's are round ;)

If your lucky enough to find a round nonporous chute, its likely to cost a bunch as the shelf life on such a creature is rather long.

These shelters are cool, but cramped, hard to maintain (they need tightend up about every three days) and generally a pain. Also, note that heat rises. Tee pees are tall. Good summer shelter. Poor for the winter.

My two cents again. Cool for the kids, rather neat to see, needlessly cramped, a pain to erect/ maintain. Buy a tent, or a good sill tarp.
Bill
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: Sportfury on March 13, 2010, 07:12:40 PM: Thought this post was interesting and did a search on silicone impregnated ripstop nylon. I came up with a company that is local http://www.seattlefabrics.com/nylons.html. (http://www.seattlefabrics.com/nylons.html.) They sell 1.9 oz impregnated ripstop nylon with a 16-18 lb tear strength for $8.50 a yard. The only thing I didn't care for was the colors that this comes in. They also have polyurethane coated ripstop with a lot more color options, but he tear strength is only 8-10 lbs.

I went to the products page and they have a lot of interesting stuff http://www.seattlefabrics.com/products.html (http://www.seattlefabrics.com/products.html)
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on March 13, 2010, 10:16:42 PM: Realize that most Nylon will stretch. That's the problem with ripstop nylon whether impregnated with any sort of water repelency or not. Note that most quality rain flys on hiker tents are made of ripstop polyester. Polyester doesn't stretch near as much.

-Steve
Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: huskyrunnr on June 03, 2010, 08:23:26 AM: A bit late to the thread, I only now stumbled upon this website. I base camp w/ a 'chute tipi I made. I use mine mostly during the time of year when precip. is the frozen kind, but I've had it out in some decent summer T-storms too. I treat the silk w/ camp-kote about once a year. Ti-goat used to make tipis out of DWR treated nylon and I have one of those as well. I haven't had a problem with either tipi getting my gear wet. The last image, I had added guyouts up the wall which allow to really stretch the tipi. I should check if there is a pic limit on this site. Happy trails...

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biglines.com%2Fphotos%2Fblpic40156.jpg&hash=7bfada15b4778b56e6892e2f2a50814b86a3a0c4)

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(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biglines.com%2Fphotos%2Fblpic40158.jpg&hash=3187e3950143aa4677e4dea736bcb6679cd532ad)

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Title: Re: parachute tee pee
Post by: Wild Bill on June 04, 2010, 04:29:01 PM: Thats a pretty slick gig... Whish they would have let us do that :rolleyes: