Paddy Pallin Era tent

[Rokdoctor]

for years I had a 4-person Paddymade Era wall hiking tent. I thought it was great for the Australian climate, with the ability to "abdul" one or both sides. Modern dome tents are very poorly ventilated by comparison.

Paddy Pallin and the other bushwalking shops don't seem to have an equivalent any more. Not one I have found, anyway. Any suggestions as to where I could find something like this style of tent?

Cheers & thanks ...

[Moondog55]

I'm pretty sure you are actually talking about the "Glen" I have an "Era" and it is the model with the sewed in floor
I do agree about the use of them opened up and Abdulled tho
Mine is for sale cheap as it needs some mouse holes repaired although the repair would be an easy one Still it is a 30 YO tent

[Rokdoctor]

Thanks, Moodog55 - I'm specifically after a floorless/removable floor tent, for the abdulling capability.

[Moondog55]

While the japara tents are nice they are heavy; these days I would simply use an extra large tarp and my bivvy sack, the old tents were pretty much useless against biting and sucking flying insects [ which wasn't so much of a problem when we all used wood fires for cooking as the smoke kept the numbers down] If you really do want one I'm sure Evan at TerraRosa would be happy to quote on a custom job but the problem is finding the fabric in the rotproof treatment and my Googling has failed to find a recipe for the Willesden process

[Mark F]

The Glen model was the two person version 4' high,12" walls. The Era was the 3 person version 4'6" high with 18" walls. both 7' long. There were several variant of the Era and three different grades of japara. Both could have a sewn in floor added. There were also 1 and 2 person A tents without the walls.

The best thing to use for reproofing the tents is a liquid canvas proofer (Birkmeyer is a name that springs to mind) - some of which have from memory an anti fungal ingredient in them.

[DaveNoble]

The Glen was a 2 person tent, the Era was for 3 people (but for Tassie we used the n-1 formula - so 2 people in an Era). There was also a Nadgee - same as a the Era but a bit longer, and the Tassie - a 4 person tent. The Sou-Wester was a model with doors at one end only and a bit longer, and with storm guys, and the Bellender - with bell ends with zipper doors. None of these had floors built in as standard. You could get them in one of three types of Japara - Golden tan (not very storm proof, but light weight), dark green (standard) and light green stormtite japara (an excellent material - very stormproof, even if you touched the roof). All these tents had walls, but there was also 2 and 3 person A tents with no walls.

I used a stormtite Era Bellender on many Tassie trips. We would use a large groundsheet (fordicon plastic) - that folded up the sides a fair way to provide a bucket floor). We cooked inside the tents - in the bell ends with choofers and gas stoves. The fabric was very waterproof - and we never got wet inside - not much condensation to worry about. But they were not good in windy places -and they needed a lot of tent pegs (big channel pegs in Tassie) - and then a lot of rocks (we added ties to the bottom of the tent to tie rocks to hold the tent down - in those days you often found piles of rocks at the campsites in popular places like the Arthurs). The one advantage these tents still have is that you can pitch them anywhere - in any sort of scrub - because they had no floor.

Dave

[Franco]

Does anyone have any photos of the Era tent ?

[Moondog55]

Franco I had a thread with pix but I can't find it
I'll have a look though my photos
Funny thing is If I repair the holes nibbled by a hungry mouse I may make the walls taller than 18 inches by sewing an extra bit of water proof fabric to make it more cot friendly

[Moondog55]

Here they are

[stry]

Yours appears to be the "Golden Tan" japara MD. IIRC, this was the super light of the times. Very high tech

Mine is the "Stormtight" pale green japara Era, as opposed to much darker green standard weight japara. As said earlier it was claimed to be a three person tent. I only ever used it for two adults plus occasionally an infant or toddler. As with todays tents, realising the capacity in human terms seems to require a degree of both svelteness and familiarity which may not be common.

Mine has no floor or zips and is as new. It does have a small patch low on one wall which was present when I bought it new, so apparently rectification of weaving flaws, fell within whatever Paddy's QA was at the time.

I also have Bulldog poles.

[Moondog55]

And it always needed a flysheet and it is no longer even a pretense at new given its long use.
It became the car-camping tent when we got the LW Eurka Firelite [ Previous partner not Cecile ] and used it for that up until child #2 came along when it became too small for 2 wriggle bums plus parents
Reproofing with the wax was the worst mistake I have ever made. Cozy with three comfortable with two

[Franco]

The Walrus/MSR Trekker could be open up like those Paddy tents.
Not exactly the same but somewhat like that.
The Whelen/Baker tent is similar too and I think some are still made .
They would be familiar to the bushcraft crowd .

[Moondog55]

Whelen/Baker tents tend to be much bigger. Tall enough to allow standing at the front and very familiar to the Bushcraft crowd who still use wood fires a lot

[kanangra]

I have one in the green japara. It has know floor or zips. I have aluminium bulldog poles but usually use sticks for poles. I think it was advertised as a three person but I've had 4 and even 5 in it at times. Still in good nick. I purchased it new from Eastwood camping store c1977 for my first trip to Tassie, the Western Arthurs.

K.

[tastrax]

Blimey ! My old Paddy tent has ties at both ends rather than fancy zips!

[Moondog55]

Hmm??
Puts on thinking cap
Maybe we should hold an Ancient Paddymade weekend and see how the old gear performs

[stry]

Interesting suggestion MD.

Some of the tents may well have weathered the ravages of time better than their owners

[Moondog55]

I know my tent has
I don't think I'll still be usable for another decade or two

[Moondog55]

I'm going to offer my last half metre of Green Japara tent fabric, I bought a couple of yards at Paddy Pallins in Melbourne back when they still sold DIY stuff and as I no longer have either the windshirt or a tent in this fabric I no longer need it

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=19129

[Franco]

For those that like the idea of opening up the long side of the tent, there is a version of the Trekker available on AliExpress :
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/3F-2-per ... 66186.html

[thejungleisneutral]

Blimey ! My old Paddy tent has ties at both ends rather than fancy zips!

Same.

I use my early 70s vintage Paddymade Glen (Superlight Golden Tan Japara) 2-person tent occasionally, usually abdulled. Still haven't really come to grips with using it in bad weather, but I have heard lots of stories of them taking flight on windswept hillsides in Tassie if A-frame poles aren't used.

As someone who grew up with modern gear, I was very impressed with the weight of the old japara tent - 1.2kg plus pegs. You supply your own poles from deadfall sticks found near the campsite or use your hiking poles.

Here's mine just down from Badgerys on the Shoalhaven back in March last year


Also in the pic are my 1950s-era Paddymade Federation Deluxe A-frame rucksack and the ex-army 3-cell airbed cover I stuffed with sheoak needles to make a very comfy bed for the night.

[Moondog55]

You forgot to mention the slouch hat on top of the rucksack.
Same vintage?

[thejungleisneutral]

You forgot to mention the slouch hat on top of the rucksack.
Same vintage?

Yep, dated 1970s. Was a good hat until it finally shrunk so much I retired it.

[Moondog55]

You can stretch them. Just soak in warm water and pull gently

[Dusty57]

Hello all, I’ve just registered here as I’ve been given a Paddy Pallin hiking tent. Looks to be japara and does not have a floor. It has taped end flaps. It’s in great condition but I would like to re waterproof it as it most likely will need it. Can anyone please advise the best product to use?

Regards...

[Moondog55]

Welcome Dusty
Well they were never really waterproof even when new, at least not by modern standards, if we expected a lot of wet we carried fly sheets. I use Nikwax Solarproof to give a decent DWR to my cotton tents, it does need to be reapplied every year but it seems to work well enough to persevere using it. What every you do, don't wax it I made this mistake and the fabric stops "breathing"

[Dusty57]

Thanks Moondog55. I’d just read on terra rossa’s website about using wax! Bees wax, a paraffin wax and turps mixture was what they recommended. Thanks for your advice, I’ll avoid the wax and go with your idea. I haven’t used one of these tents in decades so am keen to get out in it. I found a Flinders Ranges pack in vgc the other week so together with my old choofa and ex Army sleeping bag I’ll be having a retro hike.

Regards...

[Moondog55]

If you decide to use an old fashioned cotton fly then waxing the fly would work.
Retro style hiking can be real fun in good weather

[Dusty57]

Yes I believe it will be, back to my scouting days

thanks for your advice

[CaptainC]