Modifying Cabela's Big Horn tent

[elkslayer4x5]

 Actually, I am modifying the vestibule, or rather two vestibules into another 9' x 12' room for the Big Horn. Those of you who are familiar with this product will recall how the door is at a steep angle, difficult to open from the inside. My plan is to remove the door ways and sew the two main bodies together, making another room I can attach to my Big Horn. One of the things I need to do is make another end tent pole to fit the new doorway. So, here's my first question ( there will be a lot more questions before I'm finished ), how do I take the shock-corded tent poles apart? Is there a tool for this ? Know where I can get the stuff to make another tent pole? If I can take the supplied tent pole apart, I can make a new set-up from the parts I will have. After I have the new pole set-up, I can build ( sew ) a new doorway, a verticle one. The material that I remove ( A, B, & C ) from D in the photo, will make the door ( A & C ) while parts Ae, Be, & Ce will make the door frame






 This last photo is of the end of the shock cord or the anchor for the shock cord.  That spring slips into the pole tube.  For those of you who are un-familiar with the Big Horn vestibule, yes, it has no floor, I wiil be sewing a new floor when I compleate the rest of the project.
 I would appreciate any tent maker links you'all have, especially supplies for new tent poles, as I would prefer to use a stronger frame than the supplied 3/4 od.  Hit me with your best shots !

[d_hiker]

As I recall, Wal-Mart used to carry a tent pole repair kit, which was 3 or 4 fiberglass tent pole sections along with a piece of elastic cord and a "needle" of sorts to thread the cord through the needed tent pole sections.  They said to cut the poles to the desired length.  One time while I was camping I found a couple of poles at a campground that someone had left in the trash with a torn tent.  If you have a campground near you, it might be worth it to check it out after the 4th of July weekend for parts and material for your project.  I think you could also order tent poles from Campmor, here is a link to their tent section.  http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Category___250__

Good Luck and let us know how the project goes.

[elkslayer4x5]

Well finally 'got er done'! Lost a couple of weeks searching fruitlessly on various camping and DIY forums, looking for an awnser to my question on how to take those poles apart, in the end, I just made a tool to hook onto the anchors, and wiggle em out. I was going to try and make new poles form the old ones, got a guy with a tubing bender to strighten ( sorta ) out the old poles, and then to bend  me a new curve. By the time I got that done and tried it out, it was just to flimsy. So I made new poles using the salvaged shock cords and 3/4 EMT. Thats Eletrical Metal Tubing, availible at most hardware stores. Couldn't make the bend as short as the Cables'a supplied pole, so mine are rounded at the top, also didn't have enough shock cord sets to make the pole sets fold up as small, but I now have the pole sets that I couldn't buy from Cabela's.



As a word of warning, make sure that you've loaded your polesets into the truck before leaving camp. Also, when the buddy is helping, make sure that he doesen't drive over them. Kinda hard to replace, although Cabela's did give me a couple of phone numbers to try, those folks were no help

[elkslayer4x5]

Wow! Now that was a project ! Certainly kept me outta trouble, well, kinda. But I've got it done and now have a 9' x 14' vestibule or is it now an addition to my Big Horn, whatever I call it, I can now store all my gear and still have room for the kitchen. I added the extra length because we are large folks and have the XL cots, and those eat up the room in the Big Horn so needed more storage room. Here's a look from what I call the Big Horn end, minus the end panel in this photo. Thats an Xl cot that my assistant is lounging on.



This photo is of the Big Horn end panel, which I made removeable so that I can also use this as a stand alone tent. It doesn't have to be removed, can just zip it down and tuck it between the vestibule and the Big Horn


Making the new ends was easy, the part that got real difficult was adding the two feet in the center, would have been done weeks ago if I didn't do that. Currently waiting on FedEx to find my address ( simply amazing how they can't follow directions ) to deliver the material for the floor. I am going to sew in velcro along the bottom edge of the Vestiblue and on the floor so that the floor can be removed for cleaning.

[elkslayer4x5]

Well, here it is four years later, and we've had the Grubhorn ( our name for this modified tent project ) everywhere, from Sept heat in eastren Oregon to to a November snowstorm. I did find out that Cabela's does have replacement A frame tent poles, but my poles have held up well, and have'nt needed to replace them. The Grubhorn when attached to the Bighorn makes such a convenient kitchen that my son and I have decided to do a remodel, so that we can use a propane stove in it, current ventation is'nt adequate for that sort of usage right now.  After the snowstorm, we've decided that we need awnings over the windows, just a simple wide V shaped extention over each window held taunt with guy ropes will be more than enough to do the job. Here's a photo of the Horns setup togather, with the modification drawn in  . Last use was at grandsons baseball tourney ( which his team swept ) and every one who walked by all said that the setup reminded them of Elkcamp. Funny, thats what I made it for.
 

 
And an interior view...
 

 
 

[blind ear]

A shotgun house tent. I like that. If it is raining too much to get out and hunt , you have room inside to practice with your bow until the rain lets up. eat