admin May 28th, 2008
I just added some more pictures of tipi poles and a few more comments of my experiences transporting and dealing with tipi poles to www.tipi-poles.com
I pealed my first tipi pole in 1973 and have made my own tipi poles in both the US and Europe. The picture above is of a good friend setting up his tipi in Bergamo Italy in 1989. My mother made his tipi and I made the poles in Germany and took them down to him. Pepe and I camped in our tipis in Italy, Germany and in what is the former Yugoslavia (now Croatia). Pepe enjoyed his tipi till his unexpected death in 1996.
Read more about tipi poles at www.tipi-poles.com
Tags: Tipi Poles, tipis
admin May 20th, 2008
I was going through a few old tipi pictures and I thought you might all want to see how I tie the tipi tripod together.
Using one end of a good manila anchor rope, tie an overhand knot at the loose end of the anchor rope to keep it from slipping out. If you have an anchor rope larger than 3/8 inch, you will find it easier to lash the tripod poles with a smaller rope to which you can attach your heavy rope for wrapping around the pole structure and for anchoring the structure.
Start by tieing a clove hitch where the tipi poles cross (tie-point). Pull the clove hitch tight - then add two to four turns around the tipi poles at the tie-point, slipping the end of the rope under itself to create a half hitch with each turn. The Indians usually made four turns around the tipi pole tripod.
Make sure this knot is very tight - one way to cheat a little is to to not spread the tipi poles as much as they will need to be spread once the tipi is up - then by spreading the tipi poles, you will tighten the knot. Lift the tripod being sure that the base of the tipi poles do not slip away. When you swing the north tipi pole into position to form the tipis tripod, the lashing is stretched and becomes very tight. The lashing should be snug, use caution that you do not break a tipi pole as you spread the tipis tripod.
For more on tipi setup, pleas visit Reese Tipis -Tipi Setup page.
Tags: tipi, Tipi Pictures, tipis
admin January 23rd, 2008
I was talking with a friend today on the best way to haul tipi poles - it used to be a lot simpler when cars were larger and more rigid. I’m spoiled, I have a couple of trucks with racks but with rising gas prices I’m leaning more towards a smaller car and a small trailer to transport my tipi poles. I’ll attach a few pictures of some of the rigs I’ve used over the years.
The first two pictures are of a customer’s tipi pole trailer - I really like the idea and this is what I think I’ll be building - now to find a small boat trailer to start with. The third picture is of me and old blue hauling poles in Wyoming - wish I still had that one-ton Chevy! Picture 4 is of old blue near Pikes Peak, Colorado with a load for a photo shoot (you can see many of the pics we took on my screen-saver). Pic 5 is of my Duramax near Cora Wyoming, Pic 6 was taken in Missouri. I think we had 6 tipis and 3 tipi decks on that load - started in Colorado and ended up in New York. Pictures 7 and 8 were taken near Walsenberg, Colorado on a tipi setup in December.
If I get time in the next few weeks (or months) I’ll post more tipi transport pictures. If you have pictures that you would like to post, register here and let me know and I’ll add you to the authors list.
Tags: teepee poles, tepee poles, tipi pole transport, Tipi Poles
