The tipi was finally put to use for the purpose it was bought for, the Boy Scouts. This was a big event for all area scouts. There were over 4,000 boys that signed up for it. There were tents everywhere! It was fun to listen to people speak on cellphones and use the Backcountry Secrets tipi as a landmark for finding each other. Hopefully this is just the first use of many!

It's been about 4 months since I purchased the tipi. After many hours of measuring the canvas, trying to set it up, projecting images on to it and getting sore knees from kneeling on the cement floor the painting of icons and the logo is complete.

I was nervous to paint the canvas because I had never painted on canvas before. It turned out to be a much simpler task than anticipated. If you are ever trying to determine how to paint to a tipi, use acryllic paint. Then mix about 6 plastic spoonfuls of paint(heaping) to 4 plastic spoonfuls of water. Also be sure to wet your brush before you begin painting. It is much easier to paint this way.

We are now preparing the tipi for painting. I am not the best artist, so we are projecting all of the icons of the different sports onto the tipi. This is harder than one might think.

First we had to determine where to draw each icon. So we set the tipi up. Then marked where we would paint them. Next we had to stretch out the canvas in the basement. We then used a string to mark the center top of the tipi. We used the string as a guideline to mark the top and bottom of the icon. Then we used this contraption (ladder, wood, and projector) to project onto the tipi. The whole process of setting up, measuring, stretching out the tip, and stencilling took about 3 weekends and a lot of patience. The good news, it is all done and ready to be painted.

I purchased this tipi, or teepee however you want to spell it, back in December. The idea came from my Dad who is currently the scout master in his area. He was saying he'd like to have a tipi that the scouts could sleep in and he didn't care if it was branded with some company name.

Well I decided that I needed a tax right off and what a better way to do it than with a tipi for Backcountry Secrets. The plan is to paint the Backcountry Secrets logo on the tipi with all of the sport icons around the bottom. Then let the scouts use it when they go on campouts.

My Dad and I built some "portable poles" for it using 2x4's and PVC pipe. This is a picture of the tipi only 2/3 setup in his house. We couldn't set it up the full 24 ft indoors, but the weather isn't cooperating and we wanted to set what it looks like.

Hopefully this "portable billboard" will help more people find the backcountrysecrets.com. Total marketing costs on this one, about $800.