How to Build a Miner's Tent

Miner's tents are simple, folded canvas tents suspended by a central point and held down with four tent pegs. Anybody can make one out of a single sheet of rectangular tarp or waterproof camping canvas. The tent can either be supported by a pole or strung by means of a rope over a tree branch. Versatile and simple to construct, they even have a partially covered floor, so they are suitable for situations where the ground may be damp or muddy.

Things You'll Need

  • Rectangular sheet of canvas (with a side ratio of 2-to-1 and a grommet-supported hole at the halfway mark down one long side)
  • Pole or rope
  • 4 Tent pegs
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Suspend your tarp by the grommet-lined hole so that the tarp is as high as the width of the canvas, minus 2 inches. If your canvas is 10 feet by 20 feet, for example, hang the tarp either on a pole or by a rope suspended over a tree branch to a point 9 feet, 10 inches off the ground.

    • 2

      Pull the canvas back slightly to stretch the canvas out and tilt the back wall of the tent a few degrees behind the suspension point.

    • 3

      Secure two points, each one-third the distance from the outer corners, to the ground with tent spikes. On a 20 foot long canvas, the pegs would be set roughly 6.5 feet from the outer corners. The space between these pegs is the back of the tent.

    • 4

      Measure the short side and place the halfway point on that side directly in front of the rear peg, leaving a triangle of canvas (the corners of the long and short sides to the rear) on the ground outside the tent walls. Secure the front point to the ground. Repeat this on the other side. The front of the tent will be formed by the unsecured edges hanging in front of the other three sides.

    • 5

      Fold the triangles at the base of the sides of your tent under to form a partial floor in your tent, or roll it up at the base of the wall for extra wind protection.