Small rain fly
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- Sergeant Major of the Gee
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Small rain fly
I had my Jeep and pigeon display at an event last weekend. Splendid event, but it was raining lightly most of the weekend - not hard enough to keep people away, just enough to force me to cover the display periodically. I'd like to get a lightweight rain fly that would look in keeping with a WWII event but not break the bank both as a rain fly and sun shield. I don't want to use a modern pop-up. Any suggestions?
Malvern, PA
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car
- Quartermaster
- Sergeant Major of the Gee
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Re: Small rain fly
Depending on your desire for authenticity - obtain military tent poles tall enough to raise you fly to clear your vehicle and display and give you ample headroom - otherwise head down to your local lumber yard and make your own. Consider side poles to raise the sides a bit if you wish. Next are ropes (manila or cotton ropes) and tensioners plus enough pins to hold everything up. Don't eliminate the ridge pole because without one, your fly will have a sway back worse than an old army mule!
Now fashion a "US" stencil large enough and in an appropriate fount and use black spray paint to mark both sides (mask it well to avoid overspray.)
Now coat the tarp with some water repellent product (CanVac is an excellent choice) so you won't be surprised with unwanted leakage during a deluge.
It's not that hard and it won't be exactly cheap but it will look good and provide protection for you and your goodies! Compared to obtaining a complete and authentic WW2 tent fly (if you could find one AND afford one!) - the above method is an valid alternative. Also take into consideration the value of the items you wish to protect.
Good luck!
Dwayne
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
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Re: Small rain fly
Dwayne,
Perfect, and very well described. I really like the tan color as my display is 1942/3. Looks like a nice project for the next couple weeks.
42swing
Perfect, and very well described. I really like the tan color as my display is 1942/3. Looks like a nice project for the next couple weeks.
42swing
Malvern, PA
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car
- Quartermaster
- Sergeant Major of the Gee
- Posts: 436
- Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2003 8:07 pm
- Location: Waynesboro, VA
Re: Small rain fly
I have found tent flies to be very useful. I do displays with a small wall tent - you can see I have a khaki fly over the tent which helps keeps the interior cool on a hot day plus a little more insurance against the wet if it rains hard! Then there's another fly positioned as a "front porch" which allows me to get out of the tent and present an nice display without worrying about the weather -- plus it helps with crowd control - you know kid's with sticky appendages and grownups with "sticky fingers!"
Dwayne
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
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Re: Small rain fly
Make sure your tarp is square, as big length-wise as Width-wise. Like 16 x 16, 20 x 20 ....
David
David
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Re: Small rain fly
Actually the correct size for a fly used on the Small Wall Tent is 15' 6" X 9' 4".
For the Large Wall Tent, it's 21' 6" X 14' 5".
Other flies follow those proportions.
If you use a square size, you lose your coverage as the slant eats up the footprint of your canvas roof.
Even if you do not wish or need to match a US Tent size, the roughly 3 to 2 sizing works well.
For the Large Wall Tent, it's 21' 6" X 14' 5".
Other flies follow those proportions.
If you use a square size, you lose your coverage as the slant eats up the footprint of your canvas roof.
Even if you do not wish or need to match a US Tent size, the roughly 3 to 2 sizing works well.
Dwayne
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
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- Sergeant Major of the Gee
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Re: Small rain fly
Thanks very much for the dimensional information. I've been having an ongoing discussion with she-who-must-be-obeyed on size (no snide remarks please) and I think we've settled on the 21x14. Most of the car maintenance and early summer events are done now, so will be starting this in earnest in July.
Malvern, PA
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car
- retro-roco
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Re: Small rain fly
42swing,
Not sure where you're located, but I had a Fly, Large Wall Tent fabricated by Chicago Canvas chicagocanvas.com. Here is a picture of it at our last event. Missing a couple of the eave ropes.
The fabricated cost was under $200. I fabricated the sectional poles, and the sectional ridge beam.
I can send you a PDF file of the fabrication dimensions if you're interested.
Not sure where you're located, but I had a Fly, Large Wall Tent fabricated by Chicago Canvas chicagocanvas.com. Here is a picture of it at our last event. Missing a couple of the eave ropes.
The fabricated cost was under $200. I fabricated the sectional poles, and the sectional ridge beam.
I can send you a PDF file of the fabrication dimensions if you're interested.
Last edited by retro-roco on Wed Aug 30, 2017 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Kirk Gustafson
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS
1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS
1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer
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Re: Small rain fly
Hello retro-roco,
I interested read your post about the small-wall-fly. Last weekend i bought a original small wall tent from 1951, unfortunately without the tent poles and the ridge beam. Now i want to rebuild the missing parts. May you can send me your pdf-file from the fabrication-dimensions of the fly-poles and ridge-beam?
Do you also have the correct dimensions of the small-wall tent poles and the ridge-beam of itself?
Thanks and regards from Germany
Jürgen
I interested read your post about the small-wall-fly. Last weekend i bought a original small wall tent from 1951, unfortunately without the tent poles and the ridge beam. Now i want to rebuild the missing parts. May you can send me your pdf-file from the fabrication-dimensions of the fly-poles and ridge-beam?
Do you also have the correct dimensions of the small-wall tent poles and the ridge-beam of itself?
Thanks and regards from Germany
Jürgen
GPW 55107, 8/10/42, USA 20140106 (est.)
Bantam T3 15399, 03/25/43
M151A1 2M5949
M416
Bantam T3 15399, 03/25/43
M151A1 2M5949
M416
- Quartermaster
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Re: Small rain fly
Try the manual (starting on PDF page 21 = document page 14)
http://www.easy39th.com/files/FM_20-15_ ... g_1947.pdf
Plus a listing of WW2 US tents
http://users.skynet.be/jeeper/tentage.html
Should give you most of what you are looking for.
Be aware, with an original tent there may be shrinkage over time so the original pole dimensions might need to be tweaked. You'll need to lay out your tent and measure.
http://www.easy39th.com/files/FM_20-15_ ... g_1947.pdf
Plus a listing of WW2 US tents
http://users.skynet.be/jeeper/tentage.html
Should give you most of what you are looking for.
Be aware, with an original tent there may be shrinkage over time so the original pole dimensions might need to be tweaked. You'll need to lay out your tent and measure.
Dwayne
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
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Re: Small rain fly
Hello Dwayne,
thanks for your quick response, the links works and the dimensions are well described. I just have a other question to the ridge-pole:
does it have an rectangular profile or just a round/hexagonal profile like the tent poles?
May you have by chance the diameter of the tent-poles? I searched in the net on the basis of the Stock-#, but there was no satisfactoring results about the diameters.
Jürgen
thanks for your quick response, the links works and the dimensions are well described. I just have a other question to the ridge-pole:
does it have an rectangular profile or just a round/hexagonal profile like the tent poles?
May you have by chance the diameter of the tent-poles? I searched in the net on the basis of the Stock-#, but there was no satisfactoring results about the diameters.
Jürgen
GPW 55107, 8/10/42, USA 20140106 (est.)
Bantam T3 15399, 03/25/43
M151A1 2M5949
M416
Bantam T3 15399, 03/25/43
M151A1 2M5949
M416
- Quartermaster
- Sergeant Major of the Gee
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Re: Small rain fly
For the upright poles - 8 sided (octagonal) wood pole measures 1.75 inches from the center of one flat side to the center of the opposite flat side.
For the ridge pole - This pole is rectangular in shape - taller than wide with dimensions of 2 1/2 inches tall and 1 3/4 inches wide. The top side on the ridge pole is formed slightly rounded like in a hump - the other 3 sides are flat. This is to eliminate any sharp edges where the top meets the canvas ridge and could cause undo wear to the canvas resting on the ridge pole.
Hope this helps!
For the ridge pole - This pole is rectangular in shape - taller than wide with dimensions of 2 1/2 inches tall and 1 3/4 inches wide. The top side on the ridge pole is formed slightly rounded like in a hump - the other 3 sides are flat. This is to eliminate any sharp edges where the top meets the canvas ridge and could cause undo wear to the canvas resting on the ridge pole.
Hope this helps!
Dwayne
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
1943 Willys MB
1945 Bantam T3
- retro-roco
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Re: Small rain fly
My post was about having a Fly, LARGE Wall Tent made to specs. The poles and ridge beam I made are larger than the dimensions provided by Quartermaster. If you are looking for a SMALL wall tent fly, I would use the dimensions he provided. Because of the lengths involved, my poles and beam are made in sections, with sleeves for joining the sections.
Kirk Gustafson
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS
1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS
1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer
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Re: Small rain fly
Hello Dwayne, Hello Kirk,
Thanks a lot for your efforts, these informations are a great simplification for the rebuild of the poles.
Thanks a lot for your efforts, these informations are a great simplification for the rebuild of the poles.
GPW 55107, 8/10/42, USA 20140106 (est.)
Bantam T3 15399, 03/25/43
M151A1 2M5949
M416
Bantam T3 15399, 03/25/43
M151A1 2M5949
M416
- Farrell Fox
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Re: Small rain fly
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Last edited by Farrell Fox on Sat Oct 26, 2019 10:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division
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