Ray0960 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Does anyone know where I can find a vintage Boy Scouts tent, the Explorer style? I have been looking for years with no luck. It was the style we had in my troop in the early70's... They where the best!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 You're probably never get the boys to sleep in a tent without floor and screen door. I really liked those tents. I would think they would be easy enough to be made. There're really not all that much to them. Stosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggss Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Try looking at the appy trails tents, no floor, 10 min one man setup Lightweight, Inexpensive had mine for a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertrat77 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Explorer design was my favorite! Every now and again, you can find old canvas BSA tents on the big auction site. Several years ago, I got a Miner's and a Overnighter. Still use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scouter99 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Boy's Life ran a segment called Litepac in the 50s-70s with do-it-yourself equipment including tents. I'm sure you could find a pattern close to the Explorer in the BL archive at http://boyslife.org/wayback/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scouter99 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Boy's Life ran a segment called Litepac in the 50s-70s with do-it-yourself equipment including tents. I'm sure you could find a pattern close to the Explorer in the BL archive at http://boyslife.org/wayback/ "Cruiser" lightweight plans: http://boyslife.org/wayback/#issue=Q_T9HRnCiXIC&pg=64'>http://boyslife.org/wayback/#issue=Q_T9HRnCiXIC&pg=64 "Hickory" http://boyslife.org/wayback/#issue=Q_T9HRnCiXIC&pg=64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papadaddy Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 http://home.earthlink.net/~boy-scouts/images/BSA_Catalog_Winter1969-70.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scouter99 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 http://home.earthlink.net/~boy-scouts/images/BSA_Catalog_Winter1969-70.pdf If anyone has one of the shirts or hoodies on page 8 of this PDF I'd still love a scan of the logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAHAWK Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Page 11 of this catalog shows that tent. http://home.earthlink.net/~boy-scout...ter1969-70.pdf Pictured in Boys' Life http://books.google.com/books?id=OvQ...e&q=boy%20scou Plans for Explorer Tent http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...h313160/m1/20/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwazse Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Our SM challenged us to set them up blindfolded! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Blindfolded? Heck, try after dark, in the rain. It adds a whole new expediency dynamic to the mix. Stosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 The old pup tents were easy to do blindfolded; domes with sleeves for poles are not. Even seeing the tent I still sometimes struggle to get the right sleeve going across. And of course, newer ones have more poles at times. Guess the basic dome is not too bad, as long as you get the cross in the middle handled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srpetermnn Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 I'm in NJ and have a few vintage official Boy Scout canvas Explorer tents from the 50s/60s, including one that was damaged in a storm that can be used for patches if and when you ever need them. Let me know if you're interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpstodwftexas Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 My Favorite Style of Tent to this Day is a "Baker" Style Canvas Tent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagledad Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 (edited) Ah the warm memories that this thread brings back to me. That was the good old days of scouting. That being said, I don't miss the canvas tents. They were heavy, smelly and dried really slow. They required good staking to remain upright (many rainy nights of restaking the tent) and a person tended to find themselves outside under the stars because they slipped under the tent went set up on slopes. And there was no way of keeping gear dry as the rain flowed through the tent. We trenched around the tent, but what a mess. Yep, not a lot of fond memories of the old tents compared to todays tents. The Explorer style tents don't do as well in Oklahoma as dome style tents because they are like sails in the wind and tear down easily. Most troops while I was a scout used the Overnighter (number 4 on Tawhawk's catalog) scout tent or the Backer tent (Number 5) because they resisted the wind better. I agree with the sleeves of dome tents. We learned over the years to find backpacking tents that only use hooks instead of sleeves so that they can be set up at night in the rain much faster. In fact, setting up a tent blind folded is something the scouts would practice before a trek. Barry Edited October 5, 2015 by Eagledad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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