An abbreviated chronicle on the evolution of tents, tarps, tarp-tents, and the Bilgy SoLo and Bilgy Too
March 1996: Read Ray Jardines PCT Hiker's Handbook. Light weight is important, but what level of comfort and security do I want?
July 1996: Hot evening on PCT in southern Oregon, with mosquitos in open tarp; too hot to be in anything. Sure would be nice to have mosquito shelter.
September 1996: Beautiful evening at Hopkins Lake at north end of PCT in WA state turned into a mid-night storm with wind shifting and blowing rain into both ends of the tarp. Holding umbrellas in place was hard, sleep depriving and somewhat ineffective. Would be nice to have built-in end protection (see September 1998 below).
1997: Bought Stephenson Tent with the innovative, strong, lightweight silnylon fabric. Silnylon is a great material for a light weight tarp.
January 1998: Florida trail with separate mosquito shelter hung under the tarp; tedious to erect and bulky. Sure would be nice to have them integrated into one unit, and without the extra bulk of the no-see-um roof. (Afterwards, I sold my last conventional tent to a Floridian; forevermore dedicated to and enthusiastic about tarp shelter tent.)
September 1998: Threatening gully-washer rain in Evolution Valley on PCT/JMT in CA says “dig moat, with drain ditch, around floor of tarp shelter”; old fashioned approach and not environmentally considerate. Sure would be nice to have a bathtub style floor.
September 1998: At Badger Lakes on the PCT/John Muir trail in CA, another unexpected rainstorm requires dropping both eye-lid ends of the tarp, out in the rain, after being comfortably relaxed in the tarp shelter; they’re not totally protective in blowing rain either! Sure would be nice to attach flaps that completely cover the ends to the floor, and are simple to velcro into place from the inside.
May 1999: High winds in evening on CDT in the Wyoming Great Divide Basin said lower the tarp, and then later there was no wind at all; tight, humid/condensation, hard to get packed up the next morning. Sure would be nice to never have to lower the tarp.
June 2003: Camped on hard soil late at night at Tye riverside on AT in VA. Rained cats and dogs during night causing some splatter into the sides of the shelter; didn’t want to get out into that rain to lower the tarp. Sure would be nice to extend the tarp sides low to the ground therefore, never having to lower the tarp sides in the rain, and also creating “vestibule” area along side the no-see-um shelter.
Early 2005: Friend confirms long-held suspicion that occasionally the foot end of the sleeping bag gets rubbed against condensate on the roof of the shelter. Sure would be nice to raise the foot end of the tarp. Also opened up access to the foot end.
Mid 2005: 1-person tent only ~6 oz. lighter than 2-person; not much incentive. Minimized 1-person tent weight by steepening side slope of tarp; difference is now 11 oz.
Mid 2005: Ultimate, potential roominess and comfort of 2-person tent attained by lessening the side slope of tarp, and using full material width for the floor. Added 2 oz.
Along the Way, in addition to the above:
· Many other design improvements made for both utility and durability.
· Sewing simplified and instructions expanded and clarified.
Why Build the Bilgy Tent?
The Bilgy Tent starts with a tarp. Besides being lightweight, tarps have important foul-weather features that tents don’t have:
1. Tarps are open, spacious, and well ventilated.
2. Tarps have an awning that provides a covered entryway and an area to cook in. The Bilgy has vestibules on each side of the mosquito shelter to store wet shoes and bulky gear.
3. Tarps are easily setup and taken down without getting the interior wet, and can be lowered to shed high winds, or raised in hot weather for outstanding ventilation.
4. Tarps are setup with hiking poles or sticks to further reduce carried weight.
The Bilgy adds features that a plain tarp does not have to gain all the advantages of a tent:
1. The Bilgy has a no-see-um shelter (with zippered door) for complete bug protection, end flaps for complete protection against wind and rain, and a tub floor to repel puddled or flowing rainwater. The no-see-um shelter will be 10 degrees or so warmer on a cold night than a plain tarp.
2. The Bilgy Tent no-see-um shelter has vertical walls for full usage of the floor and ceiling space, unlike many tents with slanted walls.
3. The large Bilgy tarp overhangs the walls and ends of the no-see-um shelter to eliminate all sidewall condensation, a problem in single-wall tents and tents with a skimpy rain fly.
4. Weight and bulk are reduced by integrating the Bilgy tarp and no-see-um shelter into one unit that is easy to carry, setup and takedown.
5. The Bilgy Tent has only 4 reset & adjustable guys lines, which simplifies and speeds usage.
Simply said, there is nothing like a Bilgy Tent.
Construction time is 20 to 50 hours, depending on experience and patience. It is recommended that you have some sewing experience before tackling this project.
Tools needed are hot knife (see page 7, last paragraph) or scissors, pins, size 70 to 90 sewing-machine needles, hemming gauge, duct tape (heavy duty, indoor-outdoor duct tape for best adhesion to the slick silnylon), 12‑foot tape measure, yard stick, carpenter’s chalk line, fabric marker (Note: Chalkboard chalk or silver "metallic Sharpie" permanent markers work well on silnylon; remove Sharpie errors with a rag wetted with paint thinner). A working space of about 11 ft. by 16 ft. is helpful to layout the pattern pieces.
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:
Quest Outfitters gave invaluable contributions to previous versions of the plans.
One of the beauties of making something yourself is to make it the way you want it, and you should feel free to do so, but with careful consideration of design and the following caveat. The Bilgy Tents are the result of 8 years of design and development and over 6000 miles of personal field testing in a wide variety of trail conditions (e.g., the AT, PCT, and CDT). An estimated 100 hikers have either bought or made theirs, some successfully completing thru-hikes. In that time significant modifications and additions have been made to improve protection, comfort and convenience; now, nearly everything has significant purpose. Without getting into a full dissertation of the design, I encourage you to build the Bilgy Tent as designed, and believe you will find it to be to your liking. I sincerely hope that any modifications you make are successful for you, and that you will share them with us so that others will benefit in the future.
See the Bilgy SoLo and Bilgy Too
Bill Gurwell June 2006