Tent Fly

[Peachfuz]

Friends,
I can't seem to find the war time US Quartermasters Manual either on-line or at the local library. I'm trying to get the specs. for a tent fly. Any help would be appreciated.

Rich Taddeo

[Rhinevalleylad]

G´day Rick,

well as a member of the SWB, you are probably interested in some infomation
about CCC "confederate-campaign-camping".

Look into: http://www.lazyjacks.org.uk/tenting2.htm

Just a short info, not about US-Tent flies but about flies used by confederates during the WBTS.

Ingo Rolletter
5th Va
Germany

[Dignann]

Rich,

I can't help you with the specs per the US QM manual, but this info might be of interest.

In the Compiled Service Record (CSR) of Major Wiliam Bentley, QM in Richmond, is a small slip of paper listing the amount of material, and cost, for making tents. The entry for a fly tent is:


Required 41 yds. 9 in. of 27 in. duck at a cost $3/yd. for a total of $17 per tent.


Interestingly, some dimensions for a shelter tent are given:


Required 8 yds. 4 in. of 27 in. duck at a cost of $3/yd. Tent composed of two squares, each square 5 ft. 3 in. for a toal cost of $7.50 per tent.


Unfortunately, no details on construction. Bentley's CSR is found on mircrofilm (M331, Roll 22) at the National Archives in Washington, DC.

Eric

[KathyBradford]

Eric,

Thank you for very interesting information. The yardage is a great help. Could the totals of $17 and $7.50 be for the labor? $17 divided by 41.25 yards of duck for the fly works out to .41/yd. $7.50 divided by 8.1 yards for the shelter tent works out to be .93/yd. Were they different weights of duck?

41.25 yds. x $3 + $17 would be $140.75 (fly) and 8.1 yds. x $3 + $7.50 would be $31.80 (shelter tent.) $3/yard is similar to the retail price of duck today.

Extrapolating the yardage, not deducting fabric for reinforcement, hems, or overlapping of selvage edges, 7 panels would make a fly 15.75 ft. x 17.68 ft. 6 panels would make a fly 13.5 ft. x 20.63 ft. Do these dimensions come close to anything on record?

Very interested,

[Dignann]

Kathy,

Yes, that would be my interpretation, that the cost is for labor. Below is a transcript of the information provided on the document:


Report of cost of tents, quantity of cloth used to make them + cost of poles +c.

Hospital Tent + Fly - Reqd. 126 Yds 4 In, 27 In duck, cost Pr Yd $3
cost of making $62, Poles + Pins $12 -- $74

Wall Tent + Fly - Reqd. 71 Yds 9 In, 27 In duck, cost per Yd $3
cost of making $35, Poles + Pins $10 -- $45

Fly Tent - Reqd. 41 Yds 9 In, 27 In duck, cost per Yd $3
cost of making $17

Shelter Tent - Reqd. 8 Yds 4 In, 27 In duck, cost per Yd $3
composed of two squares
each square 5 Ft 3 In
cost of making $7.50


Unfortunately, I have no info on dimensions and construction. Without that info, an accurate reproduction would be nearly impossible. I'm curious if anyone knows of any surviving documented CS tents?

Eric