At Celina, the bulk of our commercial frame tents are designed to work with a West Coast Style Frame. We do this so that items we produce can be used interchangeably with like products. But what does it mean to have a “West Coast Style Frame”?
The West Coast Style Frame system was designed to give the tent industry a common denominator and improve tent availability. Tents fittings and tubes were designed to allow the same base set of pieces to be used in a multitude of ways, getting the most use out of the same base pool of components. For example, the angles used when creating a tent corner or side tee fitting are such that each piece can be used for tents with sizes as small as 8’x8’ and as large as 40’x300’. Imagine that you are a tent rental company, working on a limited budget. Having fittings that can be a 20’x40’ tent one week and a 30’x195’ tent the next means that there isn’t need for storage space and advanced organizational methods to keep track of a complete set for each tent. Fittings can be separated by type and used in a myriad of tent sizes without any lack of compatibility.
All of the fittings share a common attachment method, with holes drilled into the frame tubing and fittings at the same length to accommodate R Pins, Pin and Bail, or Bolts depending on the required strength of the fastening or choice by the installer. This again allows for greater practicality and optimization of tent components; variations on each tent installations can therefore be dealt with quickly and easily.
Designing tent tops off of this frame design also allows for more interchangeability. With the common frame being used by most manufacturers, the tops we make and sell can be used on west coast frames that are pre-owned from another source. This saves you money by not requiring the purchase of a completely new frame each time a top is ordered, and again helps by providing a commonality between all available parts.
As with the assembly line and movable type face, the idea of interchangeable parts as applied to manufacturing allows for the cheapest and most reliable and replaceable component system which has been in use in mass production in the US for over 200 years. We’ve applied this system to all of our Classic Series Frame Tents, Master Series Frame Tents, and Gable Series Frame Tents. Celina Tent’s Solid Tent Sidewalls and Cathedral Window Tent Sidewalls are also compatible with any other tent manufacturer that uses a sidewall rope in their tent top.