Simply Sioux

Check out our Lakota Sioux style tipi. It was made of canvas drop cloths and pvc pipes. It stands 20′ tall, has a floor dimension of 16′ from front door to back wall and 15′ and change from side to side. It can easily sleep 6 to 8 adults, is warm and cozy inside, and can be put up or taken down by one person in a casual 40 minutes.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• tipi
• Lakota
• Sioux
• backyard camping
• Howto
• portable
• shelter
• canvas
• PVC
• tent
• handmade
• hand sewn
• natural living
• family fun
• campfire
• cover
• liner
• ozan
• smoke flaps
• smoke flap poles
• cozy
• warm
• fire

[KoaBosk]

Wonderful, I have been looking for someone who had done this. I have looking to make my own tipi, but lets face it, 20' poles won't fit in the car to take camping. I was looking at pvc pipes that would be easy to stick together and take apart. What diameter of piping did you use? I was thinking of using 1". How much did the whole thing cost in matterial (aprox.)?

[HIStoryindeed]

@KoaBosk Hi there! Glad to hear there's another up to the task. The 3 frame poles are 2" Sch80, all others are 2" Sch40. I first tried 2" SCH40 for all, but the weight of the canvas & the other poles bearing down on the the frame resulted in too much curvature in the PVC. Having the 40 leaning on the 80 made the difference; it's far more sturdy & provides for more strength and stability against the wind.

The shopping list @ the end of the video runs about $500 at today's store prices.

[KoaBosk]

@HIStoryindeed thanks for the reply. I'll have to look into the sch80, It might be a bit more expensive but I will see about using all sch80 2" pipes. Would you be able to tell me or show how you made the smoke covers?

[HIStoryindeed]

@KoaBosk They do cost a bit more but they really make a night & day difference. The 80's have a flared end so you'll buy less couplers, which aren't cheap. Going 80 all around ought to make for a stronger 4 season, foul weather without a worry setup, but I'm not sure it's necessary as the core strength comes from the frame itself. If we were using natural trees we'd take the 3 thickest & use them first leaning the lesser poles in on top of them; it would make the most structural sense.

[HIStoryindeed]

@KoaBosk When you say smoke covers do you mean the exterior smoke flaps or is it the inside liner or ozan you were referring to? I can assist, I just need more to go on. In the meantime, check out this link, they posted a really thorough PDF that'll take a lot of the mystery out of the design.

tipi.com/tipipoles/Tipi%20Inst­ructions22.pdf

[KoaBosk]

@HIStoryindeed Yea, i was referring to the smoke flaps at the top of the Tipi, on the outside. Not sure what that is called. Thank you for the link, im sure that will be very helpfull.