The tipi design we use is the basic Sioux design explained in the Laubin's book, The Indian Tipi. Drawn from our tipi living experiences in snow and below zero temperatures, coastal rain forests and hurricane force wind storms, we have added (1) greater reinforcing, (2) more durable and weather resistant fabrics, and (3) design variations such as the Blackfoot lift pole flap and the Cheyenne extensions on the smoke flaps.

The center point for the pattern is located at the very top middle of the smoke flaps. The dotted lines represent 36" wide strips of canvas. Notice that the bottom of the lift pole flap is 36" below the center point of the tipi when measuring along the radius down the middle, or backbone, of the outspread tipi cover. When set-up, the back of the tipi will be 3' shorter than the front side where the door hole is. This difference causes the tipi to tilt to the rear rather than being a perfectly symmetrical cone. As a result of this tilt, the floor of the tipi is egg shaped. The tipi will therefore be longer from the front door to the middle of the backside than it will be from side to side. Tipi floor spaces are shown in the graph below.