How to Make a Tent-Ertainment Center for your Tablet

Andrea and I have been heading out pretty regularly here in Washington State, but it’s winter here. The nights are long and cold–when you don’t have a fire, there isn’t a whole lot to do while camping once the sun falls below the horizon. Sometimes you just want to crawl inside your sleeping bag and watch a movie or an episode of your favorite series.

We’ve been alternating between tent camping nights and truck camping nights depending on the location. But when you’re in the tent, it’s pretty awesome to just lay back and have the movie floating above you in the tent.

I noticed that REI has a Big Agnes gear loft entertainment center that strings up to the gear loft points available in most modern tents. Unfortunately the thing retails for $50…

So, I decided to set out to make my own cheapo version of the gear loft entertainment center that we could use for those long nights in the tent.

Check out this short video I put together for Youtube for a demonstration of what it is and how you can make it — or read on for further details and photos.

You’ll need:

• An iPad/Tablet/or a cool 2-1 tablet/laptop like mine.
• Cheap generic tablet case – I got mine at Walmart for $9
• About 6-7′ of cord
• Toggle cord locks (or whatever they are called)
• Sticky velcro tape

Generic $9 tablet case from Walmart.

I used a cheapo folding tablet case from Walmart that I wouldn’t mind modifying. First thing was to stick velcro on the front and back in order to keep the tablet case closed while strung above.

Back of the tablet case with sticky velcro and the cord the lays in the fold.

I ran a 3′ section of cord where the tablet case folds over and put the toggle cord locks on each end. This piece is not attached whatsoever–just held in place by the crease in the tablet while velcro’ed shut.

(Psst... Wanna know the "secret" to traveling forever or being free to do what you love? Here's how I did it, in five simple steps)

Toggle cord locks or whatever they call them…

I ran another section of cord between the open holes at the bottom of the case and (when it proved to be too short) tied it into a closed knot and then tied a simple foot long extension to the loop. On the end of that single strand, I added my third toggle cord lock.

Close up of the attachment I tied on the loop of cord to adjust the bottom.

On my REI Half Dome 2 person tent, this setup works perfectly. I have five loops where I can hang things from the top of my tent, one in the center, and four along each pole.

Tent entertainment center tablet case and three attachment points.

I just slip the top two toggle locks through the loop at the corner, and the back toggle lock through the central loop. The weight of the tablet keeps the gear loops shut and prevents the toggle locks from slipping out.

You can adjust the height and the pitch of the tablet quickly and easily by adjusting the toggle locks.

We love the tent-ertainment center. Download a few movies, give your tablet a good charge, and you’ve easily got a few nights worth of entertainment for those long nights in the tent whether it’s due to cold temps or rainy weather.

What do you think? Give it a try and sound off in the comments below.

Please be sure to LIKE it or SHARE it with your fellow campers.

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Ryan

Author, Writer, and Head Honcho at Desk to Dirtbag

Ryan is an author, adventurer, perpetual wanderer, and self-proclaimed dirtbag (but that might not mean what you think). Originally from Seattle, he headed to Washington D.C. where he spent five years working for Congress before heeding the call of the wild. He set out truck camping to road trip across the American West. Since then he set out traveling to Colombia, drove across all of Central America, and also wrote a best selling book: Big Travel, Small Budget. He just finished driving his old truck across all of South America. Follow the adventures on social media or read more about me.

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