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army surplus BII tent


unoleisu

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2010
Messages
318
City
Stillwater, Okla
Vehicle Year
87
Transmission
Manual
Gentlemen; (and the rest of us, also)
Have you ever set in the back of your BII and said to yourself;
"(explicit) I wish I had a tent to attach to the back of my BII, so I could more freely camp out any where I can park!" ?
Well sirs, this thread is for YOU!
I was at the local flee market not long ago and purchased (2)two halfs of a general issue army surplus tent. eh, $5 total. They snap together forming a full tent. I assured myself ( actually my wife) that I would use them as tarps to cover up piles of other stuff I errantly buy at flee markets because they seem to be good deels.
So... one hot afternoon I was sitting in the back of my BII having just sucessfully installing my 8.8, and said the before mentioned verbage to myself, when like a lightning bolt from the sky (as often happens) a novel idea occurred to me. I assured myself that SOMEONE had already thopught of it and went inside and launched an internet search to end them all. but allas, I could not find an example of anyone attempting to attach an army half tent to the back hatch of their BII. Soooooo........
Please refer to the attached pics.
1. I clipped the half tent up to the raised hatch to use it's snaps as guides. using male half snaps (brass) I bought from a leather supply store, I drilled and screwwed them to the hatch, all three sides.
2. snapped on the tent. It fit pretty well. I believe this alone would work well in bad weather, if I tie the bottom stake loops to my bumper.
3. Then I got fancy. I had (3)three sets of modern tent poles (the kind we've all seen that have bungies in them and snap together) 13 ft long. (2)Two I stuck into the hatch hinges, bent around and under and stuck in my trailer hitch square tubbing, forming a curved "V". Then the last one went on the hatch door posts, bending out in a lrge "C"shape. Every where two crossed, I tied them together.
That forms a pretty good rain or sun shelter when the half tent is tied to it. I took the very ends that had loops attached, and looped them onto the hatch door posts. It was all pretty stretched and snug just like that.
4. I just happened to also have a couple of army tent bug screens (flee market also) so I turned one side ways and stretched it around all of this, tying it to my roof rack, and bumper with straps it already had attached. it doesn't quite reach the ground, which i like, but others may not, because critters can get in here.
Anyway, this setup was done during 25-30 mile an hour winds and held up pretty good, but I have not had a chance to camp with it yet. I do however like the fact that if i had to, I could drive away with it intact, since it is all attached to the BII, and not the ground at all.
Asd time goes by, I'm sure I'll tweak it some (I always do) but to start out, it seems pretty good. just thought some of you might like to see it, and maybe try your own twist on it.
 

Attachments

  • BII tent snap detail.JPG
    BII tent snap detail.JPG
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  • BII tent snapped to hatch.JPG
    BII tent snapped to hatch.JPG
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  • BII tent w tent poles.JPG
    BII tent w tent poles.JPG
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  • BII  tent w bug net.JPG
    BII tent w bug net.JPG
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  • BII tent inside veiw.JPG
    BII tent inside veiw.JPG
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thats pretty creative right there!
 
good idear! looks good. the mosquito net is a must
 
Looks good. If you could figure out some kind of platform that plugged into your receiver You could have a longer floor space.
 
Thanks for the good replies! I actually did concider the platform idea (well at least the luggage carriers that fit into the reciever), but that will be something to think more about later. I have alot more I want to do right now. I just thought you guys might want to see this. I'm trying to think of an excuse to go out and try it really soon. It worked well enough in my driveway, anyway.
 
They are very useful. I bought one for the back of the Liberty.
 
Well, I like the fact that there seems to be plenty of surplus army half tents around, since most people don't find them very useful for more than a tarp. That means I can pretty easily replace it if I need to. I have a spare as we speak. The tent poles can be purchased anywhere camping gear is sold, and if you can't find a surplus bug screen like this, you can find similar netting at camping supply stores, or by the yard at alot of fabric stores. Seriously, I may have invested all of $15-$20 total, and have a pretty good portable camping arrangement.
 
If you can find another tent,I'd be interested. PM me if you find another one.
 
It occured to me that some interprising young man with a ranger might be able to do something similar over the bed of his rig. Maybe use both halves of the tent, and a similar tent pole arrangement cross arcing over the top of the rails.
Just another one of my many lightening bolt from the sky ideas. It could work. maybe.
 

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