Has anyone taken there unit to a local marine or camper top fabricator? These guys do a lot of complete replacements and in some cases after guys drop a lot of money on new campers they dont like the crappy OEM product and have them redo the entire fabric section. I recently asked a local guy (Tucson) to quote a price to rebuild the fabric section of my chinook and he said it would be between 300-400 to do it in sunbrella including windows and screens. He has been in the business for a long time and was adamant about having the vehicle to test fit everything. He would not make the top without it. This made me sure he was attentive to detail. Im sure if someone did this locally they could strike a deal if there was a list of guys willing to order. There is incentive for them because they will already have the complete patterns and probably have a range of materials/color options.
better fabric-design for flippac????
- Thread starter aventurero
- Start date
SLO Sail and Canvas is making rain flies for the FlipPac and we are thinking about tent designs, too. We are all over it...
Bill
Tbird
Observer
A/T Flippac tent...Soon?
NEWS From the Overland Expo this weekend at Mormon Lake:
My wife and I talked at great length with Martyn at Adventure Trailers. He said he "...currently has material at a sewer being fabbed into a replacement Flippac tent." He said it would have a skirt like the NEMO tent on the Habitat. Eyebrows over the windows. Use the same poles...and thus have the same shape. Said the screens would likely be square. Fabric would be DARK...like the EZAwn tents to help it stay cooler on the inside. I told him the screens need to be internal to help protect them...when stuffing the tent...he agreed.
He said the design has not been finalized. I asked him if it would be 6-8 months before it was available...he said July. I think that is VERY optimistic...but who knows. He mentioned the price would be dependent on how many tents he orders...so he was going to put out a feeler to see how many of us Flippac owners will commit to replacing their existing tent with his new version.
Given all that...I'm still super interested in what SLO Sail could come up with!!!...so hurry up and get it done please.
On another note:
He also has a pretty cool fabric awning ALREADY available. You attach a small extruded aluminum channel to the Flippac and slide one end of the fabric in it and then stake the other end. I'm certainly going to get one of those. He said it wasn't on their website yet...but quoted me something like $350...and said they are available now.
NEWS From the Overland Expo this weekend at Mormon Lake:
My wife and I talked at great length with Martyn at Adventure Trailers. He said he "...currently has material at a sewer being fabbed into a replacement Flippac tent." He said it would have a skirt like the NEMO tent on the Habitat. Eyebrows over the windows. Use the same poles...and thus have the same shape. Said the screens would likely be square. Fabric would be DARK...like the EZAwn tents to help it stay cooler on the inside. I told him the screens need to be internal to help protect them...when stuffing the tent...he agreed.
He said the design has not been finalized. I asked him if it would be 6-8 months before it was available...he said July. I think that is VERY optimistic...but who knows. He mentioned the price would be dependent on how many tents he orders...so he was going to put out a feeler to see how many of us Flippac owners will commit to replacing their existing tent with his new version.
Given all that...I'm still super interested in what SLO Sail could come up with!!!...so hurry up and get it done please.
On another note:
He also has a pretty cool fabric awning ALREADY available. You attach a small extruded aluminum channel to the Flippac and slide one end of the fabric in it and then stake the other end. I'm certainly going to get one of those. He said it wasn't on their website yet...but quoted me something like $350...and said they are available now.
sixbennetts
Adventurer
Count me in for a better tent for the FlipPac. I'll contact Martyn now.
Martyn
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Well the rumors are correct. AT is currently working on an improved tent design for the FlipPac. We have a Prescott AZ based sewing company working on the project.
Where we are right now is at the prototype phase. The original tent is being laid out with the pole structure on the work table. From that point we will see what changes need to be made to utilize the chosen fabric, and what design changes will be made to make improvements to the the original design.
Improvements will include:
Skirt around the tent to shed water to the outside of the shell
Single layer fabric (no fly sheet), poly-cotton, semi-opaque.
Eyebrows over windows
Bug screen location TBD
At this point we do not have a handle on the cost of the replacement tent. This will be determined by the material used, the complexity of the design, and the quantities ordered. I suggest you all wait on signing up for this tent until pricing becomes clear.
As we are in the R&D phase right now we are open to suggestions on improvements. There are a few design principles that AT follows. We only use the best durable products available. We keep it simple. We have a core design principal, in this case a single layer, durable, water resistant, tent. We think hard about compromising the core design principal when adding features.
When will this product be ready for sale? The project has started, and I'm expecting the first prototype in about six weeks. If we hit gold with the first rendition of the tent then we'll go into production. If not, we'll keep working on it until it's right.
I'll keep you posted as we move forward with the project.
Where we are right now is at the prototype phase. The original tent is being laid out with the pole structure on the work table. From that point we will see what changes need to be made to utilize the chosen fabric, and what design changes will be made to make improvements to the the original design.
Improvements will include:
Skirt around the tent to shed water to the outside of the shell
Single layer fabric (no fly sheet), poly-cotton, semi-opaque.
Eyebrows over windows
Bug screen location TBD
At this point we do not have a handle on the cost of the replacement tent. This will be determined by the material used, the complexity of the design, and the quantities ordered. I suggest you all wait on signing up for this tent until pricing becomes clear.
As we are in the R&D phase right now we are open to suggestions on improvements. There are a few design principles that AT follows. We only use the best durable products available. We keep it simple. We have a core design principal, in this case a single layer, durable, water resistant, tent. We think hard about compromising the core design principal when adding features.
When will this product be ready for sale? The project has started, and I'm expecting the first prototype in about six weeks. If we hit gold with the first rendition of the tent then we'll go into production. If not, we'll keep working on it until it's right.
I'll keep you posted as we move forward with the project.
sixbennetts
Adventurer
Hi Martyn,
Donny here. Sent you a PM about this, did you get it? We haven't installed the FlipPac lid on our Volvo Tgb11 yet. I'd be MORE than happy to send my tent to you to take apart if you need it. Say the word.
Darker colors have been suggested, but wouldn't that make it hotter in the summer? Color choices, maybe?
Thanks for undertaking this. We know you're busy, but it's one of the most needed things in the Expo world right now.
Donny here. Sent you a PM about this, did you get it? We haven't installed the FlipPac lid on our Volvo Tgb11 yet. I'd be MORE than happy to send my tent to you to take apart if you need it. Say the word.
Darker colors have been suggested, but wouldn't that make it hotter in the summer? Color choices, maybe?
Thanks for undertaking this. We know you're busy, but it's one of the most needed things in the Expo world right now.
Martyn
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
No reason the fly wouldn't work with it.
Martyn
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Donny, I did get your PM thank you.
Color choices are possible, but they increase costs, as different fabric bolts have to be bought and inventories have to be increased.
austintaco
Explorer
Great news. Wow. It looks like AT could be setting up to be THE source for Flippac repair parts. Torsion Bars too?????
Martyn
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Torsion bars are an art rather than a science. To reproduce the FlipPac torsion bar would be an expensive project.
Clutch
<---Pass
Does Flip Pac have their own torsion bar manufactured, or is it off the shelf from an existing truck?
lx450landcruiser
Explorer
I looked into having torsion bars manufactured to replace my broken one since I had waited 6 months for one from FRP. I finally was able to get a used on. The torsion bar is specific to the flippac I believe and not an easy thing to find someone to replicate.
Back to the tent discussion: I think the most important design selection will be in the fabric itself. I am not sure what you plan to use, Martyn, but I am sure you've done your homework. The fabric must be light, waterproof, and stable. By stable I mean that the FP tent fabric stretches and orientation of the panels may be important. Not sure most sewing shops would pay close attention to weft, warp, and bias of the cloth. But in this application, it is something to think about. By comparison, sails are built to withstand similar stretching loads and cloth is cut and oriented to both withstand those loads and to allow the sailor to shape the sail. When you pull across the bias of the weave, for example, the pulling force distorts and re-shapes the panel. That's how sailors can change the shape of a sail using downhaul, halyard tension, vang, outhaul, pre-bend, etc...
Excited to see you're working on this, Martyn. Let me know if I can help in any way.
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Excited to see you're working on this, Martyn. Let me know if I can help in any way.
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