A deuce tent

[Valence]

And I don't mean a pooper.

Last fall I had a really great experience sleeping on a cot in the bed of my my M35A2.
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?161052-Utah-offroad-trip-to-5-mile-pass



Of course I want to improve that experience!

What I'm working on is to create a sort of cargo bed end that will act like a tent flap. Currently, the cargo cover just doesn't reach far enough to close the last 10 inches of the bed:



So I have purchased from Oshkosh Equipment, at what I consider nominal costs, two NOS green vinyl end curtains for the 3-piece cargo cover. I will have one of the end curtains cut to extend the length of the other so it'll reach past the bottom of the bed, and maybe a little additional added to the lower sides if necessary. I'm thinking a number of magnets placed on the bottom (and/or bottom sides) of the new end curtain will hold the bottom against the bed - perhaps even have the magnets sewn into place too. I'll have buttons added around the insides of the window so a screen can be easily snapped into place to help keep bugs out if more ventilation is needed. Then a long zipper added to about where the crease is to the left of the window (and maybe a second zipper on an inner screen, just like a tent) - though the zipper may need to form a crescent from top to bottom to provide better access.
http://www.oshkoshequipment.com/products/detail/68/213/Vinyl-Cargo-Cover-End-Curtains



I'll need to think more about the zippered window on the front of the 1-piece cargo cover, as it would be nice to have a bug screen on it too.

To top it all off, the tailgate would be maintained in the horizontal position (like pictured above), and a rectangular tarp attached to the last bow as well, but under the current 1-piece cargo cover. The rectangular tarp would extend out and be held up by telescoping poles (5' or 7' extended) anchored by aluminum stakes and paracord would provide a rear awning. Here's the poles that I'm anxiously awaiting their arrival:

(Note: Just in case someone goes looking, the below pictures were borrowed from an eBay auction with the most expensive listing for these tent poles, I didn't actually buy from that seller.)



Muddy boots could be left on the tailgate outside the "deuce tent", covered from inclement weather and be reasonably safer from critters and creepy crawlies making a home in them overnight. Bonus is that, without having finalized measurements, this tarp awning may just cover my Pioneer Tool Trailer kitchen and sink project:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?150408-Rescued-a-Pioneer-Tool-Trailer-from-the-Scrapper

 

[tommys2patrick]

Sounds pretty homey! Roomy, creature comforts, up off the cold ground, easy set up. Nice

 

[treva2]

I also plan on sleeping in the bed of my deuce when I'm done rebuilding it. I have two NOS vinyl covers. I plan on having an upholstery shop make me a two removable rear curtains. One will be the vinyl camo cover and the other will be a mesh net to keep out the bugs when sleeping. They will be attached with zippers.

 

[WillWagner]

Been there, done that. It is nice to get up off the ground, but the bed can get real cold. Lay down some carpet to help keep your feetsies a bit warmer when you get up and it helps keep the heat in, cold out. My cover was canvas, with the gate up and the rear flap down, it was very easy to sleep way too long.

 

[Valence]

Been there, done that. It is nice to get up off the ground, but the bed can get real cold. Lay down some carpet to help keep your feetsies a bit warmer when you get up and it helps keep the heat in, cold out. My cover was canvas, with the gate up and the rear flap down, it was very easy to sleep way too long.

Agreed! Obviously the simplest option is just as you said, tailgate up, rear flap down. My project is to address the three issues I had with that approach:

1. The difficulty of climbing in/out of the bed with the tailgate up
2. Not really able to secure the rear flap once inside if the wind comes up, and it can be quite windy here (the other option would be to only unsecure one side of the end flap to climb in/out, but see #1
3. No where to leave dirty/muddy gear

While giving me more cover outside the truck and ability to leave dirty gear outside too.

 

[VPed]

I have used cots, an air mattress, and hammock on different occasions to sleep in the deuce, up off the floor. Two of my cousins and I camped out on cots just last weekend. I hang my hammock from the first bow stave on one side to the third bow stave on the other side.

 

[Flyingvan911]

I frequently camp in the back of my deuce. They make for a very sturdy tent. If the weather is too bad to prevent camping in a deuce you've probably got bigger problems.

 

[Recovry4x4]

One thing I've noticed is that depending on the weather, it often rains inside due to condensation. Another thought is either a plywood wall with a door or a plywood step over wall. With either, you can mount a windowshaker A/C and enjoy some relief in warmer weather.

 

[FloridaAKM]

I've used the Deuce to sleep in for the last three MV meets here in Florida with no real problems. The only issue is the 3 new in crates Deuce staves, bows & covers that fill up 2/3's of the room in the back (I thought they might sell). After putting the military cot up, there is no room left to move around. Last February, I awoke to see ice on the picnic tables @ Mt Dora which was a surprise. The mummy sleeping bag kept me really warm with no extra heat needed; unlike the guy next door who ran the generator all night & was freezing cold all night due too big of electric heater & too small a generator. 5kw heat demand & a 1k generator don't work real well.

There is another MV meet in a few weeks & the only changes I have made was to put a 3/4" 4x8 piece of board insulation between the vinyl & the staves to help shed the rain. It also gives you a little more headroom due to the no sagging cover material & it will stop the condensation from dripping off the inside of the cover. Maybe it won't be so cold this time.

 

[Valence]

I received my poles yesterday. They're a bit more "used" than expected and I had to fix a couple pins who would easily self extract, but these are pretty neat poles (also in need of a cleaning, and maybe a painting)!



My military "tarp" I'm using on this project is about 12' x 12', so I'm sure it used to be the floor to some tent (and I need to scrub it with a brush to remove the dirt that wouldn't spray off). It already has ropes on all sides, so it'll attach to the deuce's rear bow quite easily and being 12' wide, will probably wrap down 2' on either side - which may actually help keep water off the tailgate and end curtain or make it harder to put up/get in the back of the truck. I'll give this guy a test run and see if it's long enough or the right shape.



The tarp is very durable, thick and maybe a bit heavy, so I may end up using all 4 of these aluminum poles on one end, especially if it's windy. I'll also have to carefully bend the metal crimp and remove the rope from the holes to be able to fit the pole's tip. Pictured here is the pole in the retracted state just for a test fit and demonstration. I plan to use it extended to 5' or 7'.

 

[MWMULES]

One thing I've noticed is that depending on the weather, it often rains inside due to condensation. Another thought is either a plywood wall with a door or a plywood step over wall. With either, you can mount a windowshaker A/C and enjoy some relief in warmer weather.

To stop the inside rain effect which usually is heaver in colder weather simply hang either a chunk of old school tent liner(made out of cotton) from the under side of the bows so there is a "dead" air space between in and the cargo cover, flannel works really well for this also. Below freezing camping remove it every other day and outside, shake the ice from it. I was thinking about doing the same with some of those cheap O Harbor Freight cammo furniture pads but not sure if it would work, because of what they are made of would hold the moisture or not.

 

[silverstate55]

Or collect the condensation and run it through a charcoal filter; now you've got a built-in water supply!

 

[FloridaAKM]

Here is how I camp on the MV meets, look inside the back of the Deuce to see how much room there is! Oh, there is a camera in there to be able to keep an eye on the stuff if it starts to shift during the trip.


If you can't see any space, its because somebody threw an air conditioner & a 15'x16' tent in there just in case that there was not enough space to sleep in. The a/c was removed & stored elsewhere, but the big tent still lives there since it is too big for one old guy to move. I removed it from the crate with a come along & a tree branch after bringing it home from G/L brand new & unopened. I have found that if I take it out & set it up, everybody loves it. When it is time to take it down & pack it up, there is never anybody around. The last tent I unloaded & setup, I sold since I couldn't find help to reload it back into the truck.

The insulation is not yet installed in this picture, but is in the ceiling for the end of the month Mt Dora meet. It looks like a little cleanup is due for the before trip action & camping can start.

 

[Valence]

To complete the tarp awning, I purchased these 1/2" marine grade, nylon ropes with tensioners and a pre-woven loop. The loop will go over the tip of the telescoping poles and then down to stakes.

http://military-tent.com/magrroli.html


Though, it does look like the end of the pre-woven loop needs to be wrapped with string to keep it in place, but not like they're being used for towing.


I used a rubberized "duffel" bag (that's normally used to hold the poles and spreaders for the Camouflage Screening Support System) to hold the tarp, full set of nine telescoping poles from a small GP tent (that I purchased instead of just the 4 I listed earlier), and 10 of the above rope tie downs. I just need to buy a few dedicated stakes. The bag is pretty dang full.


And then sections of this 5' 8" x 36' screen from an old canvas tent will be used to create an interior screen behind the vinyl end curtains. It's very durable! If needed later, I may see if more of the screen can be used for when/if the sides of the cargo cover are rolled up for more ventilation.
http://military-tent.com/scnehedu.html

 

[Valence]

I decided to take care of the ends of the woven section of the tie-down rope. I thought these rope clamps would be a lot easier than wrapping some string/tape at the end:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JDLTA7A/



When I ordered, I was doing so off of the advertisement for the ropes as 0.5" in diameter. They're actually a little smaller than that (~0.43" in diameter), so these clamps are a little big! But they're still working fine. I start off using the vise to narrow up the clamp some and then fold one set of tabs down, followed by the other with a combination of vise and 2lb sledge. These are really beefy rope clamps!

 

[Valence]

Last Friday I took the ol' deuce to a local custom covers shop, Brian's Canvas, in Clearfield, Utah, for them to take whatever measurements they needed as I explained what I had in mind as for the deuce's rear "tent flap" out of those new 3-piece cargo cover end curtains and tent screen. Since I already provided the material and screen, additional costs sounded like they'd be pretty low: labor (only $45/hour), magnets, and the biggest additional cost of about 20 feet of zippers.




A fellow sitting in his truck across the way hollered at me about my "Cool truck!". He came over, took pictures, and said he posted them on Facebook. Heheh.



Eventually, we talked for some time, and I learned his name was Merab, from the Chicago area but he was originally from the Republic of Georgia. He had a thick, what I would have called "Russian", accent. He served 2 years in their army and told me that while truck driving wasn't always the best job, America had given him work. He makes enough money and many people in America don't know what Socialism really is. It was a great conversation and I wish all the blessings God has in store for him as he drives the country, delivering his freight. The really neat folks you would never have met or talked to otherwise, if it wasn't for this great big, green ice-breaker of a truck.

 

[Barrman]

I have 30 or 40 nights sleeping in M35's as well. The wind will move the truck more than you might think. At an air show a few years ago the truck getting rocked by wind and rain kept waking me up. I was nice and dry inside and would just go back to sleep. The next morning shade canopies left out were all wadded up pretzels. So we're some tents. Very nice to sleep in a MV.

I like your ideas of making it a bit better.

 

[Valence]

Brian's Canvas finished the modifications to my end curtain. Top notch work for me providing only basic "vision" or instructions!!

There are three zippers here. The outermost one is a double grab zipper that provide direct access to the inside with no messing with the screen. The inner zipper will open the outer curtain flap, but leave the inner screen closed. There is another zipper inside for the screen. Something I hadn't considered, but it shows the expertise of the business, they included narrow nylon straps to tie the screen or curtain flap out of the way, either inward or outward. That's pretty neat! The bottom (with the black strip) and small tabs on the sides have sewn in magnets to secure the bottom of the curtain to the truck bed.

That's some impressive modifications in the middle of the curtain to not get the dimensions out of wack. It sure looks sharp!
Price for the zippers, magnets, and labor: $125 + tax. Not bad!



I'll test fit it soon. My only hesitation is that I may have preferred the zipper to go lower, closer to the bed floor, and higher, closer to the bow so that there was more room to enter and less to step over. But maybe their zippers were only so long.


I can see that I'm going to wish I had a screen on my 1-piece cargo cover's front window!

 

[nk14zp]

Not to hijack your thread but what can I use to insulate my cargo cover? I'm wondering if refletex between the cover and bows will work.

 

[rustystud]

Not to hijack your thread but what can I use to insulate my cargo cover? I'm wondering if refletex between the cover and bows will work.

Now that is an interesting question. I've wondered what the material was that the military used on the "Artic" cargo covers. I'm pretty sure it was not canvas.