Popular Science has an interesting article in the September issue and the online Popular Science magazine about a new North Face tent, the Spectrum 23. The Spectrum 23 has a wind scoop which faces into the wind and scoops air into the tent. As the wind increases, the volume of air scooped into the tent [...]
Outdoor Gear, Patents, and Outdoor Trips by Bob Shaver, Patent Attorney
Category Archives: Tents
Free Standing Dome Tent, 1948
This may be the mother of all free standing dome tents. It is a free standing tent, which uses arched poles attached to the floor of the tent, with the tent body attached to the poles along the length of the poles. At the top a line attaches the tip of the tent to the [...]
Tent and a View
Here is an interesting tent from 1891. In fair weather the side can be opened up, and when it is raining the side rolls down for full protection. This idea is pretty similar to some modern ultralight tents, like the Tarptent tent shown below which has a side that opens, or that can be closed [...]
Tarp Tent Ultralight Tent
Here is a look at two contrasting tent styles. The 1891 camping tent uses one central pole, four corner stakes, and two guy lines. It has lots of headroom, and would be a comfortable tent, probably for horse packing or car camping. The lower figure shows that this tent is a veritable hotel room, and [...]
The Contrail, Single Wall Tent
The Contrail, Single Wall Tent Henry Shires at Tarptent, makers of innovative ultralight backpacking tents, was inspired by the design of the 1891 canvas tent below to take that design and improve it quite a bit. According to Henry: “The key improvements over the 1891 shelter include the integrated rear carbon fiber struts, catenary ridgelines, [...]