Untapped wealth of Material

**CrackMunk** · 12-28-2010, 03:01

Not sure if this is the right place, 2 yrs ago Hubby went to a yard sale and pick up a tent with no poles (in the hope of getting replacements) for $10. Well it was so old that no one made parts any more (American Camper), Well to make a long story short I needed a zipper to fix another tent. So I took the door zipper off the old tent and put it on a Jansport. Witch got me thinking of all the left over material. By the end I ended up with:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1114901_n.jpg
6 zippers: 4 3' long, 1 63", 1 lg T zipper
tons of no-see um mesh( it had a sceen porch & 2 large windows)
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3453703_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2135399_n.jpg
tons of WR nylon
2 mesh pockets
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5149082_n.jpg
bunch of toggles
5x7 WP heavy nylon pc (roof of tent)
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7182340_n.jpg
7x9 Polly tarp pc with 8 tie-outs (ground tarp for Jansport)
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5022240_n.jpg

I'm going to make ridge-line pockets out of the mesh pockets. I think I might have enough nylon in one pc for a hammock with a bug net, w/ ridge-line pocket, stuff sack & skins. Still leaving me with tons of material for skins for Hubby's hammock & tarp, skins for my DYI tarp. And more stuff sacks.
so when your out yard saling take a 2nd look at that odd thing that Ground dwellers use.
Here's pic of the zipper fix
inside
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3783775_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._6693755_n.jpg
outside of tent.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3416065_n.jpg

**NCPatrick** · 12-28-2010, 07:04

Great post! I've started looking at all outdoor materials to see if they're project worthy.

**islander** · 12-28-2010, 07:39

That is a really good idea. I'll need to keep an eye open for discarded, unwanted tents and all to scrap for new thread-injector projects. I like it.

**Veto 65** · 12-28-2010, 07:49

Wow you are a real thinker neighbor. Bug nets are a great idea (in my unprofessional opinion). If you use a piece of nylon with a seam for a hammock, the integrity of the material might be weakened by the seam. Try experimenting with it, but I think the material might be used for something less structural.

**Rat** · 12-28-2010, 08:05

My first attempt at sewing was from donor materials from an old tent my wife just HAD to have. I made lots of stuff sacks and stuff from that thing. In fact I still have some of the old Yellow stuff sacks and still use pieces of the poles for toggles.

**rjcress** · 12-28-2010, 09:45

Way to go carolb!

Glad you mentioned this.
After the last Cub Scout "family camping" trip, one of the other parents offered me his massive tent that the kids had ripped while horseplaying.
He said he might keep the rain fly, but the body... with lots of zippers, bug netting, a huge porch, zipper pulls, accessory pockets, etc. was mine if I thought I could make something useful out of it. He just wanted to set it up at home to air out (was put away damp) and assess the damage.
I need to see if he still has it.

I'm guessing that most folks assume there is no value in a torn tent and trash the whole thing.
I wonder if posting a craigslist ad in the spring would be worthwhile. Alternately, I bet that anyone living near a park or campground could put a bug in the attendants ear and get a steady stream of materials as weekenders abandon gear damaged during their stay... but with plenty of usable parts left.

I just hate seeing usable materials being put in the landfill.
(which reminds me, I need to figure out what to do with the old hang glider wing and parachute/parasail that a friend gave me to recycle. I think the wing might become a bow cover for the part of my boat that sticks out from under the roof at the dock)

**Ramblinrev** · 12-28-2010, 09:58

I have foiund the usefulness of the fabric hampered by the shape of the tent. But then I was salvaging small tents. One thing to be extremely careful of when doing this... be very aware of the stress the fabric has been exposed to. Nylon degrades in the sun very quickly but often does not show serious stress until the problem is very advanced. Generally the notions (zippers, toggles and such) have been much more useful to me.

**CrackMunk** · 12-28-2010, 11:58

Ramblinrev: never even thought about the stress damage, but your right. Thanks for bringing it up.

Veto 65: I still have to do some measuring, as there is a seam in there. Hammock might be just a lounger, because of width.