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As excited as a tom cat that can’t get off a hot tin roof....

It will Dodat

Very Talkative
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81
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300
Age
66
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Well, that’s about the best way to describe where I’m at right now.

Back in the day (late 70’s early 80’s) when I was young, ripped, good looking and poor...........Now I’m just poor.......

I went out and bought into the Backpacker integrated hiking gear system. Back then, (and still today) Backpacker was just about the very best money could buy.

So I got the backpacker 75L Boulder back-pack, Their sleeping bag, and more to the point, a Backpacker Kestrel tent.

Now the Kestrel is classified as a 4 seasons, and from the picture you will know that’s it’s a ridge tent, which, for some strange reason I have a very strong affinity for.

Today, Backpacker no longer make tents, but, they are still highly prized by hikers and are practically unobtainable.

So about 3 weeks ago I passed by a stall at an open air flea-market, and knowing a thing or three about tents & tent bags and stuff, I catch sight of a bag....

“What’s in the bag” Asks I

“Don’t know, but you can have it for 70 bucks” <ZAR> Comes back the reply........

So there’s me... Caught between a rock and a hard place... Not wanting to totally waste my hard earned scheckels, but not wanting to open up a bag of pure gold, in case the price charges up the ladder......

Eventually the “Not wanting to totally waste my hard earned scheckels” argument get’s the upper hand, and I surreptitiously open the bag...

As soon as the pole ends peeked out the bag I knew I had a bag of gold... So I quickly look at the fly...seemed OK..... Quick open up of the inner <don’t even bother to check zips> .seemed OK squish it all back in the bag... and after much muttering about should have charged me more from the stall holder, give him his 70 bucks, and off I go...

Pumped full of adrenalin, I was prepping for 4 days at a game farm with our local caravan forum fellas, so I decided to wait until I got to the campsite before pitching and micro-examining it....

And this IT!

A Backpacker Kestrel III in almost mint condition! No tears / rips / holes, Groundsheet in 100 % condition full set of poles and all the zips and so on, all 100 %

Now I have two kestrel tents... A beige one <The one I’ve always had> and now this brown one....

But the tale............. She don’t stop there.....

I post about this on a local forum and someone answers and subtly drops the info that he had the Y adaptor for the entry side so that it’s easier to get in and out of without the pole down the middle!

Now me, I never knew about that particular accessory, and even though Backpacker no longer make tents, I still shot a mail off to them, and, at the same time asked the fella to send me a sketch of the Y adaptor, which he did, and BINGO! It’s easy-peasy to make...

So If Backpacker can’t help me I can easily make one myself, and temporarily scavenge a pole from the second tent until I can sort out a pole from my hoard of poles / pegs / bits & bobs...

How’s that for a find? Not only do I get a second bomb-proof tent, I get to upgrade the one I have!
 

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Hi Dodat.

I get from your post that you are one happy chappy :) ................pleased for you mate....nice find.:thumbsup:
The tent looks like new in the picture.
The mod (A frame) you are going to do will make it that much better again:thumbsup:
Does it need proofing....or are you happy as it is?

Look forward to seeing the mod when you get around to it :thumbsup:
 
View attachment 12803View attachment 12804View attachment 12805View attachment 12806View attachment 12803View attachment 12804View attachment 12805View attachment 12806Well, that’s about the best way to describe where I’m at right now.

Back in the day (late 70’s early 80’s) when I was young, ripped, good looking and poor...........Now I’m just poor.......

I went out and bought into the Backpacker integrated hiking gear system. Back then, (and still today) Backpacker was just about the very best money could buy.

So I got the backpacker 75L Boulder back-pack, Their sleeping bag, and more to the point, a Backpacker Kestrel tent.

Now the Kestrel is classified as a 4 seasons, and from the picture you will know that’s it’s a ridge tent, which, for some strange reason I have a very strong affinity for.

Today, Backpacker no longer make tents, but, they are still highly prized by hikers and are practically unobtainable.

So about 3 weeks ago I passed by a stall at an open air flea-market, and knowing a thing or three about tents & tent bags and stuff, I catch sight of a bag....

“What’s in the bag” Asks I

“Don’t know, but you can have it for 70 bucks” <ZAR> Comes back the reply........

So there’s me... Caught between a rock and a hard place... Not wanting to totally waste my hard earned scheckels, but not wanting to open up a bag of pure gold, in case the price charges up the ladder......

Eventually the “Not wanting to totally waste my hard earned scheckels” argument get’s the upper hand, and I surreptitiously open the bag...

As soon as the pole ends peeked out the bag I knew I had a bag of gold... So I quickly look at the fly...seemed OK..... Quick open up of the inner <don’t even bother to check zips> .seemed OK squish it all back in the bag... and after much muttering about should have charged me more from the stall holder, give him his 70 bucks, and off I go...

Pumped full of adrenalin, I was prepping for 4 days at a game farm with our local caravan forum fellas, so I decided to wait until I got to the campsite before pitching and micro-examining it....

And this IT!

A Backpacker Kestrel III in almost mint condition! No tears / rips / holes, Groundsheet in 100 % condition full set of poles and all the zips and so on, all 100 %

Now I have two kestrel tents... A beige one <The one I’ve always had> and now this brown one....

But the tale............. She don’t stop there.....

I post about this on a local forum and someone answers and subtly drops the info that he had the Y adaptor for the entry side so that it’s easier to get in and out of without the pole down the middle!

Now me, I never knew about that particular accessory, and even though Backpacker no longer make tents, I still shot a mail off to them, and, at the same time asked the fella to send me a sketch of the Y adaptor, which he did, and BINGO! It’s easy-peasy to make...

So If Backpacker can’t help me I can easily make one myself, and temporarily scavenge a pole from the second tent until I can sort out a pole from my hoard of poles / pegs / bits & bobs...

How’s that for a find? Not only do I get a second bomb-proof tent, I get to upgrade the one I have!
I can't tell what the angle are at the opening but if its about 45 degrees you can adapt one of the angled brackets from a gazebo to make your Y adaptor
 
No, but the F10 was marketed also through a group, "MUTA" I believe, and some were labelled as such.
I can't tell what the angle are at the opening but if its about 45 degrees you can adapt one of the angled brackets from a gazebo to make your Y adaptor
Re quote: Also consider the F10 apex pieces, available through Blacks of Greenock/Vango website............
 
Morning all... (it's around 05:45 here)

Lol, for me it's tents, but specifically hiking ridge tents.

Well, here are 2 marechal tents I picked up, anyone put a date on when thye where manufactured?
 

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mORNING ALL..
Oh heck let's start that again...

Morning all....

Sorry I've taken a wee bit 'o time to get back here.... Anyhow update on this

You'll recall that I'm looking to make an upside down V front for the entrance side of the tent, so as to eliminate the verticle pole in the middle, which make it a bit of a fiddle to get out of the tent...

Well, I mailed the manufacturer Backpacker, and they are not able to help me....:crying::crying:......... So here where my choices.....

In the interests of originality, canabilise poles from the second tent (which is a perfectly good tent) to just get the adaptor and additional poles.................

Or keep the second tent as a complete tent and make my own adaptor....

I've gone the second route.... Since I can't get the original poles and adaptor, I've lost the originality factor right there anyway, so I might as well live with it and go my own route... But am making adaptors for BOTH tents...

The apex angle is more like 30deg, and all the spigots are 6mm. So what I've done is bent a V from 6mm mild steel to 30 Deg, cut and filed a small piece to make a brace across the inside of the V near the top and cut a piece for the top spigot..... all goes in for welding today...

Then I have 4 thin steel pole sets from a junked canopy or tent, each 3 sections that fit into each other (ends reduced) that are the same diameter as the otiginal verticle poles that I'm going to use to create the sides of the upsidown V.....

All things being equal, I think I should be able to post pics come Thursday or so....

Anyhow, I spent Sunday afternoon gently handwashing the tent, and which brought to mind another characteristic of this tent.....

From a completely soaked tent to dry-to-pack takes only about an hour..... Weight wise imagine trying to hike with a wet tent. Especially if it's a cotton / lightweight canvass one!:eek:

Hi Lee
The design of the tents in your pic are different to the desogn of the Kestrel, in that with yours, the fly is supported from the ridge pole whilst the inner "hangs" from the ends below the ridge pole..

They are very similar to Sea-King design (see pictures) Which are more like yours..

With the Kestrel, the inner is supported bu the ridge pole and there are 2 +- 200mm vertical pole extensions at each end that fit over the spigots at the top of the uprights, and the fly is not supported from front to back by the ridge pole....

This is the same concept as the Marechal's design.... And I would not be surprised if the design of the Kestrel was adapted from the Marechal... (hope to get an answer from Backpacker on this)..

Well THEY say 3 man... I recon one would have to be very...Very friendly indeed to sleep 3 in a 3 man tent.... Hehehe

I've got 3 sea Kings... 2 Nkwazie's and one Tornado, all three man tents.... The Tornado is missing the fly.... But who knows.... That's why I treasure hunt all the secondhand shops / flea-markets / rubbish auctions.....
 

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mORNING ALL..
Oh heck let's start that again...

Morning all....

Sorry I've taken a wee bit 'o time to get back here.... Anyhow update on this

You'll recall that I'm looking to make an upside down V front for the entrance side of the tent, so as to eliminate the verticle pole in the middle, which make it a bit of a fiddle to get out of the tent...

Well, I mailed the manufacturer Backpacker, and they are not able to help me....:crying::crying:......... So here where my choices.....

In the interests of originality, canabilise poles from the second tent (which is a perfectly good tent) to just get the adaptor and additional poles.................

Or keep the second tent as a complete tent and make my own adaptor....

I've gone the second route.... Since I can't get the original poles and adaptor, I've lost the originality factor right there anyway, so I might as well live with it and go my own route... But am making adaptors for BOTH tents...

The apex angle is more like 30deg, and all the spigots are 6mm. So what I've done is bent a V from 6mm mild steel to 30 Deg, cut and filed a small piece to make a brace across the inside of the V near the top and cut a piece for the top spigot..... all goes in for welding today...

Then I have 4 thin steel pole sets from a junked canopy or tent, each 3 sections that fit into each other (ends reduced) that are the same diameter as the otiginal verticle poles that I'm going to use to create the sides of the upsidown V.....

All things being equal, I think I should be able to post pics come Thursday or so....

Anyhow, I spent Sunday afternoon gently handwashing the tent, and which brought to mind another characteristic of this tent.....

From a completely soaked tent to dry-to-pack takes only about an hour..... Weight wise imagine trying to hike with a wet tent. Especially if it's a cotton / lightweight canvass one!:eek:

Hi Lee
The design of the tents in your pic are different to the desogn of the Kestrel, in that with yours, the fly is supported from the ridge pole whilst the inner "hangs" from the ends below the ridge pole..

They are very similar to Sea-King design (see pictures) Which are more like yours..

With the Kestrel, the inner is supported bu the ridge pole and there are 2 +- 200mm vertical pole extensions at each end that fit over the spigots at the top of the uprights, and the fly is not supported from front to back by the ridge pole....

This is the same concept as the Marechal's design.... And I would not be surprised if the design of the Kestrel was adapted from the Marechal... (hope to get an answer from Backpacker on this)..

Well THEY say 3 man... I recon one would have to be very...Very friendly indeed to sleep 3 in a 3 man tent.... Hehehe

I've got 3 sea Kings... 2 Nkwazie's and one Tornado, all three man tents.... The Tornado is missing the fly.... But who knows.... That's why I treasure hunt all the secondhand shops / flea-markets / rubbish auctions.....
Keep the photos coming mate
 
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay just this minute got my adaptors form the welding dude.... BRILLIANT JOB! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Young fella, maby 22 - 23, fell on hard times, landed up in a shelter that we use for short term contract hire, but this fella's a keeper... <we have just appointed 4 of them to perminent positions> and I've got my rheumy right eye on another one thats a new recruit.....

Now for the touch up - rounding off and cold - galv paint....

Pictures soon!
 
Morning...
It's Moaning-day (Monday) so I'm full of grizzle...

Still waiting for 4 bushes to go into the ends of the poles to come out of our toolroom, once I get's that I can do all them photo's of the modification to the Kestrel tents...

But....

I got this on Fry-ing day (see first pic)

Now for them what's don't know, thats a "Beanstalk" kitchen shelving and 2 plate stove set up from the mid 70's

Comes from England......

So I've got 2 options on a 70's retro theme camp... Either go for a small pitch and use the Marachel III or use this tent of mine and go for a pre 70's vintage family pitch.

The tent in the pic (Sunseeker Chalet), a South African product, is an exo-skeletal construction (the inner tent "hangs" from the pole structure with an awning over the top, with 150mm air gap between the 2. This makes for a cool tent.

Both the inner and the outer are waterproof cotton canvas so it effectively has 2 layers of protection, and it has another door at the back.

The pic, is not my tent but mine is exactly the same and also in 100 % condition....

So now.... Decisions, decisions, decisions.... It's nice that the shelving is blue and matches both tents....

I once kinda did a mock up of a retro pitch using the Marachal III to get an idea... But too keen to put the kitchen in the tent, so I'd need to first find a gazeebo or something as a shelter for the kitchen.

After digging round in my store-room I also re-found a very old Karrymore back-pack..... So now with my Sea-king Nkwazie I could also be on the way to put togethere a pre 70's retro hiking pitch....

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Whatshallido?.....Whatshallido.....Whatshallido.....
 

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Ok so I'm still waiting....

Toolroom's busy with a robot to manually insert a plastic wrap into a flower pot mould, so that when the mould closes the plastic will mould the wrap into the wall thickness of the finished product, Screen printing the wrap onto the outside is way more expensive.... Bit of a pioneering development, so my tiddly bushes arn't going anywhere...

Did some more begging & tomorrow's a holy-day so I can play....

But anyhow I'm in trouble..... (AGAIN)

I'm off to go and look at another 1970's vintage 1 man hiking tent.....

Now this one, as I understand it, the ridge slopes from front to back, the front upright pole is a 2 pole section and the rear pole is only one section.

Can't work out if it has a ridge pole, but it has a seperate fly over a breathable inner....

I do know the manufacturer is Sea-king....

So, If this is what I think it is, I've got a nice pre- 1970 lightweight hiking tent to put with my retro hiking pitch....
 

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Ok so I'm still waiting....

Toolroom's busy with a robot to manually insert a plastic wrap into a flower pot mould, so that when the mould closes the plastic will mould the wrap into the wall thickness of the finished product, Screen printing the wrap onto the outside is way more expensive.... Bit of a pioneering development, so my tiddly bushes arn't going anywhere...

Did some more begging & tomorrow's a holy-day so I can play....

But anyhow I'm in trouble..... (AGAIN)

I'm off to go and look at another 1970's vintage 1 man hiking tent.....

Now this one, as I understand it, the ridge slopes from front to back, the front upright pole is a 2 pole section and the rear pole is only one section.

Can't work out if it has a ridge pole, but it has a seperate fly over a breathable inner....

I do know the manufacturer is Sea-king....

So, If this is what I think it is, I've got a nice pre- 1970 lightweight hiking tent to put with my retro hiking pitch....
I would imagine it has ridge pole mate if its double skinned
 
GOTTEM!:cool::cool:

Bushes for the top end of the poles that is.... Yesterday......... Fitted-2-of-em into two of the four poles 5min ago....

Looking OK, We make ferruls <for the ground-side of the poles> so I'll scrounge around in my samples collection....:whistle:

Poles already cut to the correct length, so hopefully this weekend I'll have both tents modded.... AND FOR ONE SHOT.... PHOTO'S:thumbsup::thumbsup:

As I can't get additional poles no more, :crying: obviously the mod is not original, but the tent with the verticle poles is still original.... Perhaps I'll get lucky on a flea-market treasure-hunt one day....
 
Well F-I-N-A-L-L-Y!!!!!!

The modification to both my Backpacker Kestrel III tents is complete....

So I present for your critisism.....

Just be kind and remember...... I cannot get the originals anymore.... This is my design....
 

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Well....that makes my "repairs" to the A frames for my Good Companions look highly suspect:mad:

And I had thought I'd been quite inventive!:eek:

Clever stuff, IWD .........
 
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