The comforts of home in the field. The lives of today's nomads enhanced through products that replicate ancient forms in modern structures. Tents that make you feel good and wake up grinning.
Ring Pole™ tents represent an evolutionary advance in tent technology; in fact they are a new tent type. These airy
tensegrity
structures replicate the form, feel and function of traditional yurts and tipis at a fraction of their cost, weight, and folded size. This new tent type is defined by its use of our patented Nesting Ring™ support system which consists of a canopy, a center pole, and a collapsible floating ring which nests between a narrow fabric tension shelf and the outer wall.
Ring Pole™ tents use fabric structurally; they are tensioned-fabric structures. Fabric is stretched drum-tight over nested rings that float in the fabric. The rings add girth at head level to a tipi-shaped tent. Because the fabric is structural, the tents require no bulky frames and are very compact when packed for travel, yet they have an unusually large amount of interior volume for their weight.
One key to the design is the way in which the floating rings are suspended in place. There are no fasteners of any kind holding them in. They slip over narrow fabric shelves when the tent is slack, pop into place, and nest in cavities formed where the shelves join the canopy walls. Once in place they stretch the shelves. The nested ring and tensioned shelf acting together form a synergistic lightweight structural element of unexpected, almost magical, rigidity. This Trussring™ derives its strength from the fabric that surrounds it and visa versa.
Another key to the design is the cut and orientation of the fabric. Horizontally the fabric of the outer canopy bows outward, vertically it bows inward. When a center pole is inserted and a tent is tensioned, these opposing curve forces come together and lock every point on the surface of the tent in a tight embrace. This double curvature is the secret to the tents' taut surfaces.
Pitching a Ring Pole™ tent is easy: pop the ring in place, stake the perimeter and insert a center pole. The amount of tension in the fabric is striking — the top cone is drum-taut. The round taut outer surface deflects the wind naturally- there are no flat surfaces for the wind to "get a grip". These tents easily shrug off sleet, snow, torrential rains and gale force winds.
Ring Pole™ tents set up quickly, weigh very little, and are extremely versatile. They can be tensioned with a center pole or hung from an overhead support. They can be set up tall for expansive headroom and increased ventilation or low in "hunkered down" mode in extreme storms or for use as a portable sweat lodge. Putting a wood-burning stove inside make them cozy in the winter. Smaller models can use trekking staffs or ski poles as center poles. They can be floored or floorless. Their main advantage over other tent types such as dome, tunnel, pyramid, A-frame and wall tents is their headroom-footprint-weight ratio, their versatility and the unprecedented tautness of their skin.
Ring Pole™ tents replicate the form, feel and function of tipis and yurts at a fraction of their weight, folded size and cost. Their advantage over other tent types is most apparent with large tents of 12 feet or more in diameter because their framing is so minimal. The eight main advantages of Ring Pole™ tents over dome, tunnel, pyramid and geodesic tent types are:
- They weigh less because they use fabric structurally and have fewer rigid components.
- They are inherently more stable because they rely on the tautness of their canopy rather than an underlying network of poles for their stability.
- They can be pitched more quickly because they have fewer poles, and the poles require no fasteners, clips or sleeves.
- They are more bombproof because their floating rings have no contact with the ground, each other, or any fastener and because of the overall simplicity of their design.
- They are more compact when folded because they have fewer poles.
- They are more versatile because they can be set at different heights.
- They have more interior volume and headroom for a given weight because floating rings give tents girth at head level and there is less framing.
- Beyond the measurable, their round spacious interiors just feel good, soothing, homey, ancestral. You wake up happy.
Ease of set-up, minimal weight, compact-size when folded, taut surface tension, versatility, and headroom over the entire footprint are hallmarks of Ring Pole™ tents.
Dome tents use two or more poles that insert into grommets at the corners and cross at the peak and are held in place by sleeves or hooks. They have a fabric canopy that either hangs from this complex framework or is draped over it, as in a rainfly, or both. Technically they are freestanding though in practice they are staked down. They generally use guy lines for stability in winds, especially on their rainflies.
In comparison Ring Pole™ tents have a simpler design, provide significantly more interior volume and headroom for a given footprint, are more compact when folded, are lighter and use less framing. Ring Pole™ tents use tensioned fabric rather than a complex web of poles to achieve structural integrity. Ring Pole™ tents are more versatile than Dome tents — set them up high for greater ventilation, low for better heat retention. A typical "base camp" geodesic tent, 17 feet in diameter, weighs 60 lbs, whereas a 17 foot diameter Ring Pole™ tent weighs either 12 lbs or 24 lbs, depending on whether it's a one-hoop model with a tipi-like interior or a two-hoop model with a yurt-like interior.
Tunnel tents stretch fabric over a series of parallel vertical half-hoops. Tunnel tents, like Ring Pole™ tents, use fabric structurally and must be staked. They almost always need guy lines for stability and their rectangular tunnel shape limits visibility to the outside and makes movement within awkward.
Ring Pole™ tents use a center pole and one horizontal round hoop (or two for larger models) to shape their canopies. They only benefit from guy lines in extreme storm conditions. Their round living space is much more conducive to social living and outside visibility; 360 degree views are readily achieved. Furthermore Ring Pole™ tents have more headroom and are inherently more stable than tunnel tents. Which would you prefer, living in a tunnel or in a round airy Tipi-like space?
Pyramid, tipi-shaped or other conical-shaped tents consist of an outer canopy staked to the ground and a center pole. In order to achieve useable headroom over the entire footprint they must be quite tall. Most do not have very taut surfaces, and can flap in the wind.
Ring Pole™ tents provide significantly more headroom for a given footprint and height than pyramid tents. Their upper surfaces are drum-taut and their center poles are much shorter; a hiking staff can serve as a center pole on backpacking models.
Yurts or Gers are traditional round dwellings from central Asia that have an elaborate portable framework made up of lattice-work walls, a cable or rope that rests on top of the lattice work walls, and rafters that slot onto that wall-top cable at the bottom of the roof and into a round compression ring at the top of the roof. They are traditionally covered by felt though modern yurts are often covered in canvas, the covering drapes over the frame. They take half a day or more to set up and generally have a wood burning stove inside. They require several beasts of burden or a truck to transport and can weigh hundreds of pounds.
Two-hoop Ring Pole™ tents are the same general round shape as Yurts but rather than having fabric that drapes over a frame, the fabric is the frame. They take about 15 minutes to set up, can also accommodate a wood-burning stove, weigh 24 lbs and fit into a suitcase.
Tipis are traditional round dwellings that use numerous tall poles lashed together at the top to form a rigid conical framework over which animal hides or canvas are draped. They are typically very tall and are heated with an open fire in their center. They require several horses or a truck to transport and take half a day or more to set up. Single-hoop Ring Pole™ tents are the same general round conical shape as tipis but rather than having fabric that drapes over a frame, the fabric is the frame. They take about 10 minutes to set up, can accommodate a wood-burning stove, weigh 12 lbs and fold to the size of a sleeping bag.
- Backpacking
- Base Camp, Group Shelter
- Winter Camping
- Car Camping, Family camping
- Emergency Shelter
- Nomadic Living — use as a semi-permanent dwelling
- Kitchen tent in bear country
- Party tent or Event tent — use at rally's, fairs, any outdoor event on lawns
- Tent-in-a-tent use your backpacking tent as a sleeping room inside. With the wood-burning stove fired up, you have a heated bug-proof bedroom. Use at trailheads to keep your backpacking tent clean and dry
- Temporary Housing/ Refugee tent — at 6 people per tent, emergency housing for 500 could fit in the back of a pickup and be pitched by a crew of 12 in half a day
- Greenhouse — can be made with greenhouse fabric
- Trailhead tent — at the trailhead use as a group shelter or put your backpacking tent inside to keep it dry the night before you hit the trail
- Worksite shelter — keep your tools and yourself out of the weather
- Sun Shade — set up in raised mode for maximum ventilation
- Shower tent — shower or take sponge baths in private even while in a crowded campground
- Dual-Sport Motorcycle shelter — get your people or your bike out of the rain
- Portable sauna — set up in "hunkered down" mode, dig shallow pit, add hot rocks
- Bicycling tent — tinker on your bike out of the rain
- Refugee tent, wall tent alternative for hunting, fishing, ice-fishing, gold-panning etc
- Guided pack animal trip tent — strap one to your llama, horse, mule or yak
- Expedition tent, great for canoeing, sea-kayaking, bicycling, rafting, paragliding
We generally prefer to go floorless because having no floor saves weight and because with no floor you can:
- Put a wood-burning stove inside
- Leave your shoes on
- Spill liquids and crumbs with no worries
- Just move the tent for major clean up
- Pitch your tent more quickly
- Hang your dripping wet clothes inside
- Put a small backpacking tent inside to create a screened sleeping chamber
- Let your pets in
- Set up the tent over obstacles or uneven terrain
- Shower inside
- Put your bicycle, motorcycle, surfboard etc. inside
- Set up cots or other furniture w/o concerns about ripping the floor
- Cook inside
- Turn your tent into a sweat lodge by heating rocks outside and putting them inside in a shallow pit
All floorless models have an optional, easy-to-clean, clip-in removable floor. A removable floor is nice when you aren't using furniture and the ground is dusty or muddy. Some Nomadic Comfort tents come with built-in floors but most are floorless.