Vintage Misc Stuff Wanted

I'm restoring a '70's era Sierra Designs tent and am looking for the '70s style gold braided nylon cord appropriate to the period. This cord was ubiquitous. It was the cord used as stuff sack drawcords, the lash cords on NF Back Magic packs, cords on tents, etc. The tent is missing only one guyline and I want to match the original if possible.

I'm also looking for the old style "wheel" cord locks and finally, I need one or two vintage Sierra Designs labels. I'm going to have a new stuff sack made for the tent as the original is gone and want to label it. If you have an old Sierra Designs item that's thrashed to the point of being thrown out, would you consider removing the tag and sending it to me? It can be the SD Mountain w/trees patch or the long rectangular patch that says "Sierra Designs".

Thanks!

Brent

Dear Brent: Which SD tent are you restoring--Wilderness, Glacier, 3-Man, Mariposa? Let me know, I have poles, flies, parts for tents of that era & may be able to help. Karmantra

Here's my Glacier. It looks like it was only used a couple of times at most. I've removed the old urethane and plan to recoat with McNett Tent Sure and spray everything on the outside with a DWR finish. I've cleaned up the poles and re-shock corded them and plan to replace all of the guylines and stakes. I have the original instruction sheet but the stuff sacks are gone. That's why I'm looking for the original style '70's gold cord, cord locks and vintage SD label.

Brent: Beautiful looking Glacier tent--I always liked the green color in that tent, more so than the orange & blue. The label on the front door of the tent would tend to indicate that it is a little later than the earliest Glaciers, so the tree logo would be 'period' correct. I have a 3-Man tent body that is in very poor condition that I am considering stripping for parts, but the cords on them are pretty grimy--I'll see what I can come up with.

Yes, I liked the green best of all. This is a later Glacier. Probably '77-'80 or thereabouts. This one has the nylon pole fittings. I had a friend in high school that had one with machined metal fittings and I think he got his in '73. I like the metal fittings better. I don't remember what his SD label looked like.

It's too bad your 3-man is in poor shape - those were great tents! I've always wanted one. I also love the SD Terra 4. I had one of those that was one of only 250 made in cream and blue. Most were yellow and blue like the Airflex and Octodomes. I wish SD would make a new version of the Terra 4 with aluminum poles and clip suspension. I think that's the most beautiful tent ever made.

Anyway, if you can help me with any of this stuff, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks

i had two of the ones without the vestibule. i think they were called the wilderness, a green and an orange one. the green was soooo nice. when inside it was like being in a giant leaf, with the ripstop being the cell walls.

brent what did you use to remove the old urethane? i have a tent that needs that done also. i was going to try the ammonia like alan suggested but would be interested to learn what you did.

if you have to get new cord check the boat shops and you might be able to get some dacron instead of nylon. most dacrons won't streach when they get wet like nylon does. thanks much and good luck

lazya4,

Yes, the smaller tent was the Wilderness and they were very nice!

As far as the coating goes, the urethane on this tent had hydrolysis and smelled but was actually in good shape and not peeling at all. At first I tried to save it by using McNett Mirazyme to clean the urethane. The stuff worked and it absolutely stopped the gummyness caused by the hydrolysis and reduced the smell by maybe 80%. So, I did it again with the rest of the bottle and that was a mistake! It made the urethane turn white and stiff - but not peel. So I tried Alan's suggestion with the ammonia.

The coating on the fly immediately came loose and when it was washed in a machine with Tide detergent, the coating came off within 10 minutes. I didn't let it finish the entire cycle but removed it from the washer and rinsed it in my bathtub and let it dry . The coating was 100% removed. Not so with my tent body.

I repeated the Wenker process two more times with 2.5 cups of ammonia to a full bathtub of very warm water, letting soak for 2 hours each time. Finally it began shredding off in strips. When it came loose, I washed the tent in a front load laundromat machine on warm with Tide detergent and about 60% came off in the wash. Then I took it home and filled the tub with just enough water to cover and some detergent and gently scrubbed the remaining coating off with a VERY soft, non-stick safe scrub sponge.

After it came clean, I washed both tent and fly in Sportwash and let everything air dry.

Karmantra,

I have a Sierra Designs Three Man "teepee" or "tripod" tent from the 70s and I am looking for a rainfly for it. Would you know where I could find one of those?

Thanks in advance,

BHL

Dear avgfan & BHL: Haven't had a chance to check on items--should know after the holiday weekend.

I remember those!!!Spent many a storm in one in the high mountains.I too wish i still had a few of the old tents from past adventures.Bottom line though is that the new tents are much nicer,sorry.ymmv

Sierra Designs Airflex 2 man double wall tent - I'm looking for suggestions how to clean mildew odor and repair tent poles on this beautifully designed tent. Or, would anyone be interested in taking (small cost and shipping) the tent for restoration?

I wish I could find a similar design in new tents.

karmantra said:

Dear avgfan & BHL: Haven't had a chance to check on items--should know after the holiday weekend.

I thought I had some of the tent guy lines for avgfan, but apparently not--BHL--I thought that the cannabalized SD 3-Man Tent I stripped for parts had a rainfly, but I remember now that I picked it up at a garage sale a couple of years ago without one.

Thanks for looking! I appreciate it.