TEEPEE SPECIFICATIONS:

We provide competitively priced, high quality teepees of superior workmanship using the authentic Plains Indian pattern. Our teepees are made-to-order in sizes ranging from Size 12' increasing in increments of 2' up to Size 24' maximum.

We classify a Size 12' as a display or play Teepee, suitable for sleeping one single adult or two children.

Size 14' Teepee is a small size shelter suitable for setting up in a backyard sleeping two adults with no inside open fire. This size of teepee was about the maximum size traditionally used by nomadic Plains Indians, before light weight canvas and horses became available for helping to move camp.

Size 16' Teepee has ample space for storage of camp gear and to sleep two adults comfortably with a small inside open fire or up to four adults with no center fire.

Size 18' Teepee provides a spacious camp shelter with space to sleep up to five adults without an open inside center fire or three adults with an open inside fire.

Size 20' Teepee is suitable for a large family of six or seven and good for smaller group gatherings.

Size 22' and Size 24' Teepee are suitable for large group gatherings. The larger Teepees are made of heavier 13 oz. Sunforger Canvas.

The Size 12' Teepee makes a great Teepee for display at Trade Shows, Parks and Museums. It can be made using the authentic Plains Indian pattern or with the inline door with a clear bottom opening (Wigwam style) for easy access instead of the cut oval opening. This Teepee can be used as a back yard playhouse or can be set up inside with 12 foot high room ceiling height.

Please e-mail for a firm price quotation for customized order. Each teepee order will be individually quoted, determined by the size of teepee and options specified. Prices are Canadian dollars, plus 5% GST.

Delivery time for custom made teepees is generally three to four weeks from date of order. Shipping costs are extra, we ship collect via Greyhound Courier Express within western Canada or pre-paid via UPS to eastern Canada or to the US. A non-refundable deposit of $100 CAD, payable by either Visa or MasterCard, is required when a teepee order is placed. Product satisfaction guaranteed.

Materials:

Canvas: Our Standard for Teepees from Size 12' to Size 18' is 10.38 oz. Sunforger 100% double-fill cotton FR Army Duck, a light weight, water repellent, mildew resistant and flame-retardant canvas. For larger Teepee covers, Size 20', Size 22' and Size 24' we use heavier weight 13 oz. canvas which has a 30% higher tear strength than 10.38 oz. canvas. We also recommend upgrading to 13 oz. canvas for winter camping and year round use. Other canvas options are available by special order.

Fabric Specifications: Generically referred to as "Marine" treatment, Sunforger canvas is mildew resistant and water repellent. Flame-retardant fabric is not fireproof, the fabric will burn if left in continuous contact with a flame source. Sunforger brand of canvas treatment is a dry treatment applied during the manufacturing process as opposed to a coating applied to the fabric later. The result is a lightweight, invisible treatment that has saturated all of the canvas fibers. Factory treated Sunforger canvas is superior and is essential for teepees used at humid locations. Double-fill canvas has a higher thread count and is superior to single-fill canvas. It is stronger and more naturally water repellent due to tighter weave. Double-fill canvas normally shrinks less than 2% once it gets wet and dries where single-fill may shrink up to 10%. Tip: Prior to purchasing any Teepee request the weave, weight and treatment of the canvas material being supplied.

Door: The oval door opening is cut 50" high for ease of access into the teepee. The 34" wide canvas door cover is designed to attach to a lacing pin INSIDE above the door opening and hang OUTSIDE the Teepee, supported across the width by three slightly wider saplings or wooden dowels. This superior door design is more wind resistant and allows water to shed from above the door opening down the door flap like shingles on a roof.

Seams: The canvas is stitched together using a flat felled seam.

Thread: Canvas teepees are machine sewn with heavy duty #12 poly-core cotton wrapped thread using an industrial walking-foot sewing machine that makes very evenly spaced stitches.

Smoke Flaps: Standard style is Cheyenne style smoke flaps, the most weathertight variation. Sioux, Crow and Blackfoot smoke flaps styles are optional. The smoke flaps are double stitched and reinforced with three-cornered canvas pockets for the smoke flap poles.

Buttonholes: Double rows of hand stitched buttonholes for the lacing pins.

Base Hem and Tie-Down Loops: A heavy webbing band is sewn into the 2" wide base hem to disperse the stress and lessen canvas distortion along the bottom. The tie-down peg loops stitched into the base hem.

Teepee Liner: 5' or 6' high inside liner in 10.38 oz. Sunforger. Webbing loops and lacing ties are rolled and stitched into the bottom hem of the liner and evenly spaced ties are stitched into the top hem for attachment to a light weight cord tied at the right height on inside of Teepee poles. The inside liner cuts down on drafts inside of the Teepee at floor level and is highly recommended for comfort. A natural upward draft is created between the Teepee cover (that does not touch the ground) and this liner (that does touch the ground) to ventilate the Teepee and clear smoke from an open inside fire up through the Teepee top opening. Inside liners for larger sized teepees are fabricated in two sections for ease of installation and joined at the back center.

Optional Lacing pins: Sets of 10 to 14 lacing pins, easily made from willow about size of a pencil, hand whittled and peeled; 3/8" diameter X 10" long.

Optional Pegs: Sets of 20 to 30 J-hook steel tent pegs; 1/4" diameter x 10" long.

Optional stove pipe opening: 6" diameter high-temperature fabric stove pipe roof jack insert can be sewn into teepee cover for using an inside wood stove. Using an inside stove is not traditional but it does contain the fire and reduces smoke, ash and sparks within the teepee.

Photos below illustrate high quality construction details. Product satisfaction guaranteed on delivery or money refunded.

PLAINS INDIAN TEEPEE STYLE:

The spelling of the word Teepee varies throughout North America, you may see Teepee, Tee Pee, Tepee or Tipi. The word is derived from the Lakota Sioux word tipistola. In Canada the anglicized variation Teepee is most commonly used.

The Plains Indian Teepee pattern is cut in the shape of a half circle with two smoke flaps attached near the center. When a Teepee is erected it forms a cone shape with straight overlapping edges held together with lacing pins below the extended smoke flaps at the front of the Teepee. A double row of stitch reinforced buttonholes run up the double canvas overlapped strip for the lacing pins. The row of buttonholes on the inside strip will be slightly closer together than those in the outside strip. The smoke flaps can be styled for the slight variations used by the Cheyenne, Sioux, Crow and Blackfoot. Cheyenne style are standard and are the most weather proof.

The door opening is cut out in an oval shape half out of each edge strip so that when the edges are brought together a complete oval door opening is formed. The door cover provided with the Teepee cover is made of rectangular shaped double layer canvas turned in on edges and hemmed. Three willows or saplings about 3/4" diameter are inserted through three pocket hems to stiffen the door cover and support it across the door opening. Webbing ties for hanging and closing the door cover are double stitched into the top and bottom corners and at center points.

Three cornered canvas pockets are sewn to the tips of the smoke flaps for the smoke flap poles. Reinforcing pieces of canvas are sewn to points where extra strain is expected, on the smoke flaps.

Teepee Sizing Chart

Teepee "SIZE" is average size of the floor diameter. The floor shape in a properly set up Teepee is not round, but oval or egg shaped. The distance measured from the inside of the front door pole to the inside of the back lifting pole will be roughly one foot less than radius of the pattern and the side to side measurement will be slightly less than the front to back. Tip: For accurate size comparison of various teepees check the pattern style, radius dimension of the pattern and compare finished weights of canvas teepee covers of comparable materials.

Erecting the Teepee:

Teepee Poles: 17 poles are required for Size 24', 22' and 20' teepees, Size 18 and 16' teepees require 15 poles, Size 14' Teepee 13 poles, Size 12' Teepee 11 poles and Size 10' Child's Play Teepees 9poles. Each pole 3 to 5 feet longer than the Teepee size except the two smoke flap poles which match the Teepee size. Slender poles make a neater framework. The poles are tied into the Teepee framework with one loose pole used as the lift pole for the Teepee cover. The two shorter poles are inserted into the smoke flap corner pockets outside of the teepee to hold the smoke flaps.

First select three of the sturdiest poles for the tripod. These are tied together at the right height and lifted into position. The remaining poles are then placed against the tripod, to form the cone-shaped frame, that is tilted slightly backwards. All the poles are then lashed together with several wraps of the long tie rope, pulled snug from various points below, then tied off to one of the poles or to a solid ground stake at the base of a pole on the windward side. The last pole to be placed is the Teepee lift pole with the Teepee cover tied to it at the right height with the tie straps attached at the top pole flap. This pole is generally placed on side of the prevailing wind, directly opposite of where the door is to be located.

The Teepee cover is then pulled around the pole framework and fastened together at the overlap with 10" long willow lacing pins tapered at one end. The bottom is pegged down with 10" long tent stakes and the poles inside are spread out slightly oval in shape to stretch the cover evenly. The smoke flap poles can be moved about to change the position of the smoke flaps so the smoke from an inside fire is drawn from inside the tepee. Air comes in at the base of the Teepee behind the teepee liner and is drawn out at the smoke hole. The smoke flaps provide a chimney effect creating an upwards draft.

The tripod is the most important step in setting up the Teepee correctly. With experience it is much easier to judge the close setting of the tripod. Setting the Teepee tripod is largely a matter of trial and error and selecting a level site to set the Teepee will simplify the pole set-up. Detailed set-up instructions are included with the Teepee purchase.

A Teepee is a tilted cone, slightly steeper up the back side than the front.

To determine the height to tie the tripod poles, either lay the poles on the outspread teepee cover or measure the length of the canvas cover from the very top of the V-shaped tie flap straight down the back to the bottom edge and add an additional 12" for the height at which to tie the two back poles of the tripod. When the teepee cover is tied onto the lift pole, the rope tie will be slightly above the top of tie flap and the bottom of the teepee cover will clear ground by about 6". The door tripod pole needs to be slightly longer than the back two tripod poles, about 6", for the teepee to tilt slightly to the back. Note: If the tripod is not tied at a high enough point, there will be to much slack in the canvas near the bottom, resulting in door hole being too wide. When properly set up the door opening will be 16" to 18" wide.

Mark or notch each tripod pole at the correct length. Tie the two back poles with a clove hitch, then make one wrap around all three tripod poles and finish with two half hitches around the three poles. A fencing staple can be used to hold the rope at the correct height on each pole and keep it from slipping on the poles. The rope hitch will tighten when the tripod is lifted so the rope must be free to move through the staples, not nailed tight.

It's better to begin with the tripod poles a bit long than too short as the bottom of the poles can be trimmed off to lower the framework, but there is no way to lengthen the poles except to lay the tripod down and start over.

The first pole after the tripod is set should be placed about 3' to the right of the door pole. The remaining poles are leaned against the tripod evenly spaced around the teepee, leaving one gap opposite the door for the lift pole. Four poles are placed between the door pole and right tripod pole in the same crotch of the tripod, then three poles in one crotch between the left tripod pole and door pole, the last three poles (including the teepee lift pole) are placed between the two back tripod poles. Thirteen poles are required for teepees up to 20' in size, placed generally as shown in the pole placement diagram below, plus the two poles for the smoke flaps. The top tips of the poles should form a neat crown. The closer fitting the poles are together are at the tie point the better, so slender poles are best. Walk around the teepee poles several times with long rope rope end, flipping the rope up to the hitch level and pulling up the slack as you go to bring the poles as tight together as possible at the criss-cross point.

After the teepee cover is in place, the poles (except for the tripod poles) can be moved outwards to tighten the canvas fabric.

With a proper tilted cone the teepee floor will be oval or egg-shaped. The ground measurement from back to front will be about 1' less than the side to side measurement.

Also, after a teepee has been up for a few days especially after a rain the fabric will tighten up and wrinkles will disappear.

Poles: Teepee poles can be provided, please e-mail for price quotation. A total of 9 to 17 teepee poles are required for teepees Size 10' to Size 24', each pole 3 to 5 feet longer than the teepee size. Locally we use Spruce as these poles are strong and rigid. If cut from live trees and peeled, any poles must be dried for several weeks prior to use. The top pole tips are left long for a natural look and not all trimmed to the same length. A set of poles when stored dry or left standing will be good for many years of use. Pine poles are generally straighter and lighter weight than Spruce but may bend and sag over time. If using Pine poles an additional two poles can be added to the number specified above to better support the teepee canvas.

Floor: Tarpaulin or indoor/outdoor turf carpet can be placed as a ground sheet within the teepee. The turn-in or sod cloth along the bottom edge of the inside liner forms an effective barrier to the outside weather and the ground sheet can be placed up to or on top of the sod cloth. If a small open fire is to be burned inside of the teepee the ground sheet must be laid to give adequate clearance of the center fire pit. Rectangular ground sheets of suitable size for each teepee are available with or without a 36" center opening for a fire pit.

Wood Floor: A full or partial wood floor can be installed. Our teepees in use at Old Entrance have one piece wood floor decks constructed of 1" thick planks screwed to heavy poles leveled on the ground. More readily movable wood floors can be built in pallet-sized pie-shaped sections, then placed around the outer perimeter of a teepee with the option in a larger teepee of leaving open ground space at centre for a small, open fire. We do not provide wood floors.

Inside Fire: A small fire pit is dug just front of centre and lined with rocks inside of the teepee, minimum Size 16' Teepee recommended. A 4" air supply pipe or duct can be laid into the ground running from the outside of the teepee to the centre fire pit to provide direct combustion air to the fire to decrease smoke inside the teepee. Using an inside metal camp stove is an option to eliminate the smoke, dust and sparks from an open inside fire.

Storage: When not in use all canvas must be completely dry prior to wrapping up for storage to prevent mildew discoloring and fabric deterioration. Hanging the teepee inside a garage or similar building for a few days will ensure that the canvas is completely dry prior to storage.

The book "The Indian Tipi" by R. & G. Laubin may be found at a library for additional reference.



For nightly teepee accommodations at Old Entrance please check "Accommodations" page.