Drew-1918 Posted 1 December , 2018 Share Posted 1 December , 2018 Hello, I went 'camping' with some work colleagues yesterday, and amongst the many different types of tent, I noticed a certain conical design that reminded me very much of the bell tents used around the Great War period. I have gone camping a couple of times recently, but these tepees (as my colleagues enviously referred to them), seem like a very recent fashion. We watched in awe as a chap next to us pulled up in his car, unrolled a big canvas from a comparatively small bag, and then hoisted it up in seconds "with only one pole!?" If these are similar to the bell tents that were used, I could well see why the British Army used them; the floor space you could get was amazing. I just thought it was very interesting that they seemed to have only started using this design again recently (at least in these parts), yet they seem such a great design. My friends were already discussing how to convince their wives to trade in their pop-up, arctic bubble-shaped things. Cheers, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew-1918 Posted 1 December , 2018 Author Share Posted 1 December , 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 3 December , 2018 Share Posted 3 December , 2018 We still used original bell tents (possibly army surplus at some point) on Boys' Brigade camps in the 1990s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew-1918 Posted 3 December , 2018 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2018 Wow! That is quite recent. A different example, but I remember using large rectangular ones at Scouts in the early 90s. I always thought those ones were of a WWII type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 4 December , 2018 Share Posted 4 December , 2018 Used my grandmother's (Girl Guide leader) 1940s ridge tent on an archaeological dig in 1984. The only one that didn't take off or fall down in the night of the storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew-1918 Posted 7 December , 2018 Author Share Posted 7 December , 2018 Built to last in those days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 9 December , 2018 Share Posted 9 December , 2018 We used both bell tents and ridge tents at our Boys' Brigade camps until the early 2000s, when we stopped camping. However, many of the sites that we used are still operating, and I'm sure that they still use the same tents - although they may well be newer ones now, of course! A favourite trick of some people I know was to very carefully untie the guy ropes from the pegs on a bell tent, turn it round by a couple of panels and then retie the guy ropes. This meant that the door wasn't where it had been before, and confusion reigned when the people who were inside tried to get out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew-1918 Posted 9 December , 2018 Author Share Posted 9 December , 2018 42 minutes ago, The Scorer said: We used both bell tents and ridge tents at our Boys' Brigade camps until the early 2000s, when we stopped camping. However, many of the sites that we used are still operating, and I'm sure that they still use the same tents - although they may well be newer ones now, of course! A favourite trick of some people I know was to very carefully untie the guy ropes from the pegs on a bell tent, turn it round by a couple of panels and then retie the guy ropes. This meant that the door wasn't where it had been before, and confusion reigned when the people who were inside tried to get out! That's hilarious. I can well imagine Tommies doing that to their chums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 9 December , 2018 Share Posted 9 December , 2018 Apparently it happened to my father many years ago at a BB Camp. He realised what had happened very quickly, but said nothing and just watched whilst two vicars who he was sharing the tent with tried to get out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew-1918 Posted 9 December , 2018 Author Share Posted 9 December , 2018 Pure Dad's Army... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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