We are still making the sunshades and, in spite of rising fuel costs and improvements to the design itself, we're going to be holding the line on prices at least through the summer.
The big news is that we're now selling the The Pavilion Book online through Amazon.com. So if you're shopping for other books and want to add a copy to your order, it's easy. And if you own the book and would like to write a review of it for Amazon.com, I'd be obliged if you would share your thoughts on it with the rest of the Amazon.com community.
We're also making arrangements to sell it through eBay. We're also selling off some shop equipment and we haven't used in years and are, frankly, tired of staring at all the time. Our user name on eBay is, not surprisingly, dragonwingstuff. In the days to come, we'll also be selling some tent material bought for the tents we no longer make. It's all first-quality stuff, available at what will probably be a bargain price.
The result is that about ten percent of the tentmaking-related content of the web site has been removed. To be honest with you, I had qualms about removing even that much material. But I really want people to buy and read the book instead, because this is what supports the web site and keeps it going. I think you'll find that most of what people need to know right away (advice on tent buying, washing, repairs, and such) is still there, in one form or another.
Some of the things that we've kept are the column names, so the people who have links to them from their own sites won't be disappointed. And if you're directed from another site to an article that has been removed, you'll get a notice that the information hasn't gone away, but is available in book form. If I've done it right, there will be none of those dreaded "404 -- File Not Found" errors.
Lastly, I've put nearly every owner's manual we've ever issued on the web site to make it easier for people who have one of our tents to find information about them. The manuals are in either HTML format or PDF format. For more information on this, go to the new Owner's Manual Index Page.
In other news, I'll be making my very first trip to the SCA's Pennsic Wars this year, and will be teaching two classes. The first is a tentmaking seminar similar to the well-received seminars I've taught at the Estrella War and elsewhere, and the second is a slide-show showing some period depictions of tents as well as tents seen in the SCA, with commentary. I hope that if you attend the War, you'll also drop in at the classes so I can meet you. And, no, the book is NOT required reading, nor will I be selling it as a handout (I was sorely tempted, though!). But it will be available through at least four merchants, and I'll be putting an ad into the Merchant's Guide telling you which which ones.
Sunara's Clothing and Accessories will be hosting a book-signing party at Estrella, where yours truly will be happy to inscribe the books in person. The times will be posted at her pavilion on Merchant's Row.
As a service to our former customers, we're offering a free copy to anybody who owns a Dragonwing round or oval tent. It's our way of saying "Thank you" to the people who've given us their business over the years. All you have to do is find the serial number on your tent (it's on a label sewn on the inside of one of the sidewalls, and is often referred to as a "control number"). Then send us the serial number along with a description of how the tent's doing. When we receive your information and your address, we'll ship out a copy of the book. As another service, we'll be putting the owner's manuals for the tents on-line, because owner's manuals have a way of getting lost over the years, and we expect that even some of our twenty-year old tents are still in service. They'll be in a PDF format, which you'll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. This process may take a while, but when it happens, there'll be a link off the catalog page to get to them.
In other news, we are now selling the Pyrotone only by the roll, which is usually 30 yards. Our supplier sometimes has shorter rolls available, and we're happy to investigate whether there are any short roles in your desired colors. We're also discontinuing the twill, since our sunshade production is no longer in Sacramento.
This S-hook is the same one we've used on our tents for the past fifteen years. Now we're making it available to those who want to use them for their own home-built pavilions. It's 2-1/2" long from bearing surface to bearing surface, and made of six-gauge plated steel. These hooks are probably not available at your local hardware store, at least at the prices we offer. $.20 per S-hook, or $2.00 per dozen.
One of the stumbling blocks to making your own spoke-and-hub pavilion is making the hubs. Now we're making these accurately machined hubs available to you for much less than the tooling and materials you'd need to buy to make a comparable unit yourself. These hubs are made from marine-grade plywood, with no voids. They are 11" in diameter and 2-1/4" thick, and normally come with a 2-1/2" hole for the center pole and 1-3/16" perimeter holes to accommodate 1-1/4" closet round stock which is readily available. Other hole dimensions are available at special request. The top and bottom perimeter and the edges of the center pole hole are rounded off to reduce the chance of splinters. When ordering, please specify the number of spoke holes desired, and the depth (up to 3") you wish them drilled to. $65.00
Another big change: I'm discontinuing our line of round tents, due to difficulties in obtaining some of the raw materials, and in sewing them at a price competitive with the rest of the industry. I can't sew them myself anymore due to some old shoulder injuries that continue to haunt me (see the note below for November 7, 2001), and the demand hasn't been consistent enough to warrant hiring another sewperson. I've always felt we had the best tents around, but never found a way to keep the quality of these tents up while holding the line on prices. Also, I lost my supplier of center pole material last year, and haven't been able to find a replacement. Now that our existing stock is depleted, I have no choice but to pull the plug.
I've also discontinued the 10' x 25' sunshade. The reason: in the past ten years, we've had exactly two orders for them. We kept it in the line-up for those who had the 15' x 25' sunshade, and wanted to extend it out another ten feet. But as it turned out, these people evidently decided to buy another 15' x 25' sunshade instead.
I will continue to offer all of the other sizes of the sunshade. although I'm not sewing them in-house. Instead, they're being made in Salinas, California, by a company that specializes in aviation sales. I trained these people as sailmakers many years ago, and they're the best in the business. But they charge more for their labor than I used to, so we will be raising the prices, effective immediately.
We'll also be continuing to provide all the accessories in our catalog.
In other news, we're now offering our two round tents in a spoke-frame configuration. The 11' round has eight spokes, and the 12' round has twelve spokes. This option is $200.00. We personally don't find much difference in performance between the two styles, but some people like hanging opportunities and the "upstairs storage" that the spokes provide.
Finally, we've added a note for those people who are are using the Building a "BC" type sunshade, part 2 column when building frames for our sunshades. The main differences are in the number of stakes we use, and the length of the center poles, which vary from the dimensions I'd given for those sewing their own sunshades.
We've made a significant revision of our round pavilion design. After some testing, we've found a way to remove the "wind prop" used on all our rounds in the past. This system had one drawback, in that it was quite sensitive to wind direction; when the wind shifted, the pole was no longer in the right place to do its job, and had to be repositioned. Our new system incorporates a number of ropes which act as "spokes" (but without the weight of a spoke system), providing a positive connection from the center pole to the ring, eliminating the propensity of the hoop to drop in winds. Now you can leave your tent with the confidence that even if the wind shifts completely while you're gone, the system will still stabilize the tent. This system can also be retro-fitted to existing tents. For the 10, 12, and 14 foot rounds, it involves replacing the little studs on the outside of the ring with eye-bolts that go entirely through the ring, and installing three eyescrews on the centerpole. Those with 11' octagonal tents will need to install eight eye-bolts near the existing rope pin holes on the ring, and install four eye screws on the center pole. Plans on doing this are available from us on request. If you're close to our shop or don't mind sending the ring back to us, we can do the retro-fit for you for $40.00 (10, 12, and 14' rounds) or $50.00 (11' octagons).
As I saw it, I had two choices:
1. I could close the business again and wait a couple of years for everything to heal.
2. I could keep the business open but make it easier on myself by discontinuing all the larger, heavier tents I used to make.
I chose option #2. So I am currently making only the smaller rounds and the sunshades. I'm also going to be offering a special line of round tents, identical in construction to the production ones, but each one a distinct, one-of-a-kind creation, with custom painting, decorated valances, and so on. I'm not going to knock myself out trying to get these tents out the door, but will work on them as I feel capable. These will be put up on the Tents in Stock page on the web site as I finish them, and will cost a bit more than the production ones, but they'll be worth it ... you're buying not just a tent, but a unique artwork. I'm at the stage of my career where I'd like to indulge my vision of tents as they should be made, without having to compromise for the sake of expense or a deadline.
I'm also expanding the Accessories page to include tentmaking materials such as canvas, ropes, and pole stock. I think you'll find that the stuff there is all high quality, yet at affordable prices. As a tentmaker, I know how hard it is to find the right stuff at the right price, and want to make that step a little more painless for others who are interested in making their own tents or re-furbishing their present ones.
One last thing. The West Kingdom of the SCA admitted me to the Order of the Laurel last September, an honor which rendered even me speechless. My thanks to Dame Mira Silverlock for making the journey from Portland to Sacramento (and ultimately Oakland) to participate in the ceremony and generally help keep me sane. My sister-in-law was even able to have a scroll ready to present to me, the creation of which is a story in itself (which can be found on the West Kingdom's History Web site). It's a fascinating tale, particularly for those who gravitate toward the arts of calligraphy and illumination.
You may be wondering if the preceding event had anything to do with my deciding to limit production mainly to the smaller, more ornamented "limited edition" tents. (Or, as been expressed to me in cruder terms: "Hey, Master Johann, are you going all artsy-fartsy on us now? Not gonna make tents for us peons any more?") The answer is: the decision to curtail the big tents and such was made before the West Kingdom even asked me to consider the Laurel. But making more distinctive tents is something I've wanted to do, anyway; I think that the Laurel is the effect, not the cause, of the new direction Dragonwing is taking.
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