Tents, Tent Poles and Pins
(Page 7 of 13)

Facings should be put in where the ends of the poles bear, as before explained; and also in the four upper corners of the wall, to prevent the strain of the corner guy-lines from ripping apart the eaves and wall.

Beckets must be put in the bottom of each seam and the door, the same as in the A-tent, and strong tapes sewed to the door.

Guy-lines made of six-thread manilla rope are put in at the four corners of the eaves, and at every seam along that tabling, making five upon each side. Work an eyelet, or put a grommet, in the doubled cloth of the seam; knot the end of the guy-line to prevent its pulling through: tying the rope makes too bungling a job, and splicing it is too much work. The six guy-lines in the body of the tent should be about nine feet long, the four corner ones about a foot longer. The fiddles[19] should be made of some firm wood: pine and spruce will not last long enough to pay for the trouble of making them.

The poles should be nine feet and four or five inches long. If they are too long at first, sink the ends in the ground, and do not cut them off until the tent has stretched all that it will.

In permanent camp a "fly" over the tent is almost indispensable for protection from the heat and pelting rains. It should be as long as the roof of the tent, and project at least a foot beyond the eaves. The guy-lines should be a foot or more longer than those of the tent, so that the pins for the fly may be driven some distance outside those of the tent, and thus lift the fly well off the roof.

 

[19] This name is given to the piece of wood that tightens the guy-line. The United States army tent has a fiddle 5-1/4 inches long, 1-3/4 wide, and 1 inch thick; the holes are 3-1/2 inches apart from centre to centre. If you make a fiddle shorter, or of thinner stock, it does not hold its grip so well. One hole should be just large enough to admit the rope, and the other a size larger so that the rope may slide through easily.