I rang in New Years 2017 with my last night in the Coleman 4 person tent that had been my home for the last three months that I was living in Columbia.

We managed to finish framing the entire deck around nightfall, only to realize that we didn’t have the right part for the nail gun! And the stores were obviously closed by 6. So, no nice, neat nail gun to install the decking.

Being that New Years Day was supposed to rain, quite a bit, we didn’t want a ton of assembly that day….

So, we improvised! Instead, Enter Mr. Dewalt! My 14v  drill did its job again, and I could screw down the corners of each board. It was a crappy, jenky job, but we managed to get on the entire platform.

Also, the LED Worklight we got from Tractor Supply was a lifesaver! Being off grid, we wanted something rechargeable that could last a long time and cast light without drawing too much energy, and this did VERY well to illuminate the surfaces, though, it does just die when it runs out of power, and not dim at all, which was a shock the first time it happened.

We also spent time that night cutting the 1″ EMC conduit into the proper heights and pieces to assemble the metal tent frame. This was a new thing for me, as most of the tents I have been in are wood. We then assembled the rafters and the tent roof, pulled on the canvas and tent fly, and called it quits for the night (around 11:35 PM).