Hi, wonder if some one could help me. I wanted to create a porch for my canvas bell tent but can't afford a canvas tarp at the moment and wondered what people's views were on a polyester version. How do they hold up in wind etc if the top of the A Frame was used as 'one' of the poles? Reckon with the weather forecast we could do with some cover this weekend to sit under, cook etc..!
Hi, I'm not a bell tent owner (sadly), but I have the decathlon tarp with my Izmir and it works well. I just cannot afford a canvas tarp at the moment.
The decathlon tarp is cheap & versatile. You would need to try it out to get the optimum arrangement, but there are plenty of guying points & 2 poles included. I am hoping to get a set of king poles to add to the tarp for more pitching options
I think the wind issue depends on how well it is pitched and what pegs you use, but probably not much different to pitching a canvas sail i imagine....although I wait to be told otherwise by the gurus on here!
I think it might cause leakage issues in the cotton canvas and you'd have to be very careful to avoid any abrasion. We went through all of this when we used to fix a tarp to the front of our Conway TT as a sun canopy...we had to put spacers between the two to avoid contact. We used sections of that foam tubing that you put round pipes to lag them.
We did eventually bite the bullet and buy a Universal sun canopy but I fancied side panels too. So I bought an old canvas tent from a jumble sale and cut that down to the correct shapes, put in a few eyelets and tie tapes and used that. They don't match that well but they're effective. It might be worth looking out for an old tent to make a front porch? Cotton canvas is easy enough to sew after all.
We use a tarp on the front of our bell tent using the pin on top of the 'A' frame, and although ours is canvas I honestly can't see that there would be "leakage issues" or problems with "abrasion" if you were to use a polyester one if properly set up. We've had ours up in very heavy rain, and the tarp is set up in such a way that the water moves away from the tent and onto the ground. If you look at the picture below (reference belltent.co.uk web site) you'll get an idea of how this doesn't direct water toward the tent. We set up ours slightly differently with a couple of extra poles to get a proper lot of head room, but idea is the same.
Honestly, even in really really heavy rain and wind there has been absolutely no water inside the tent where the edge of the tarp touches the tent. It's quite easy, I think, to make an issue out of a non-issue Just do it.
It's helpful to have extra poles if you want more headroom, but it all you want is some protection outside then all you need is one or two poles.
Quote: Originally posted by achy on 24/8/2011What about the waterproof issue, placing it against canvas? Do you think it could affect the waterproofness of the canvas?????
When using the pin on top of the 'A' frame, there is hardly any contact with the canvas at all - the pin is right at the front of the tent, and the sides of the tarp can be pulled away from the tent with guy lines. Don't worry.
What about the new tent wing from Obelink. It's only £10 more expensive than the Decathlon tarp and is Cotton.
My Bell hasn't got an A Frame at the front but it was high enough just with the one King Pole and the guys. Plus it seemed a lot more stable in the wind than my tarp (also have an adventure Tarp from Decathlon which is good)
Thanks for all your help, everyone. I have got a Decathlon tarp and will see if it works-will post result after the weekend! I will save up over the winter to get a suitable matching canvas tarp. As we only use the bell tent as a weekend tent and the Norfolk Lake if we go away for a week or more, I reckoned the Decathlon Tarp was the best route to go down-perhaps I'll even be able to rig it up on the Norfy to stop the issue of those slopping doors in the rain!
Well we didn't rig the tarp up to the bell tent as it was so windy. And the bell tent leaked like a sieve on every seam! This is not the first time it has got wet-so we know it's a fault & to be fair the company we got it from are giving us a full refund. So its a hunt for a new bell tent and saving up for a canvas tarp! Although I must say the Decathlon tarp stood up to very strong winds whilst being pitched independently.
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Topic: Polyester tarp with canvas tent
Just do it.
