Building a Military Tent

Every person who wants to be equipped for any situation needs a rudimentary shelter that can be easily transported and set up with minimal equipment. A tent has all these characteristics and is the perfect candidate. I was strolling around in my favourite and biggest military surplus warehouse in my area and I was deceived to see that I couldn't find any tent that was small and light enough yet very durable that met my needs. I was passing in front of some rolls of fabric and I though, what if I made my own tent. I went to see the warehouse's military tailor, and she told me that it was a lot of work but it was possible.

I wanted to build a house shaped 5 feet wide, 8 feet deep and 7 feet tall tent with very very tough material and that could be mounted without the use of any poles whatsoever. For this I needed:

• Around 26 feet of digital camouflage fabric (5 feet wide) for 51.28$CAN
• Around 15 feet of digital camouflage heavy-duty fabric (5 feet wide)  for 56.98$CAN
• A piece of screening material for 22.79$CAN
• Around 42 feet of 2 inch velcro for 55.88$CAN
• Around 45 feet of 2 inch strap for 38.11$CAN
• Around 99 feet of rope for 9.31$CAN
• 3 cans of waterproofing coating for 37.23$CAN
• Miscellaneous pegs, sewing supplies and others for about 40.00$CAN
• A military transport box for 85.46$CAN

The parts add up to a total cost of 397.04$CAN. However with labor costs running at approximately 20$CAN an hour, there is around 1600.00$CAN in labour. So the tent's final value run's in the 2000$CAN range. Believe me, it is really worth it, there is nothing on the market that is even close to that quality and durability.

There is no real how-to for this build as building this goes with basic logic and acquired skills. You should not start a big project like this if you cannot keep focused for tens of hours on a project which is very demanding mentally and physically. It took me about 80 hours to fabricate the tent and all I can say is that it really hard but once you finish it is very very rewarding. I have included numerous pictures of me putting the tent up using only 2 pieces of rope around 100 feet long each. If you have any questions on this build feel free to write them down in the comments and I will answer shortly. I can also take special orders if any one wants me to build them a tent, I sell this model for 1500$CAN. I can send samples of the fabrics used and alternatively use any other fabric or camouflage pattern. Just ask and I'm sure we can figure something out.