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Camping/tents
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18-02-2018 11:44am#1
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We've got three tents here in addition to the camper (and safari room!
) and use the whole lot when we got to "our" annual music&dance festival. The smallest of them is one of those "pop-up" tents with a bit of an awning, sleeps two comfortably and can be put up single-handed. The biggest is a three-bedroom "pop-up" with central living space and needs two people. Both of those were bought in Decathlon (France, but I think they have a branch in the North somewhere) and would be the most common brand of tent that I see at all the festivals I go to (Quetcha).
Regardless of what the instructions say, it's always easier to have at least one extra person on hand, but more importantly, every tent or marquee that I've ever owned has a particular set of quirks that you need to get used to. Once you've done that (and this might mean not following the instructions to the letter) it's usually really easy to get it pitched and ready for use, especially if you've got a couple of pole-holders and peg-fetchers that you can give instuctions to!
It sounds like you've already got a tent that fits your needs, so I'd take it out of the bag some weekend and see if you can figure out why you haven't been able to get on with it up to now. Then spend another few evenings/weekends working out your own system for getting it up and running, using extra rope/bungie cords/bricks/coloured tape/whatever when necessary. With a bit of work now, you'll have it down to a 30-minute routine, and have saved yourself what you didn't need to spend on a new tent that'll take the same amount of "getting to know you" time.0 -
CelticRambler wrote: »We've got three tents here in addition to the camper (and safari room! ) and use the whole lot when we got to "our" annual music&dance festival. The smallest of them is one of those "pop-up" tents with a bit of an awning, sleeps two comfortably and can be put up single-handed. The biggest is a three-bedroom "pop-up" with central living space and needs two people. Both of those were bought in Decathlon (France, but I think they have a branch in the North somewhere) and would be the most common brand of tent that I see at all the festivals I go to (Quetcha).
Regardless of what the instructions say, it's always easier to have at least one extra person on hand, but more importantly, every tent or marquee that I've ever owned has a particular set of quirks that you need to get used to. Once you've done that (and this might mean not following the instructions to the letter) it's usually really easy to get it pitched and ready for use, especially if you've got a couple of pole-holders and peg-fetchers that you can give instuctions to!
It sounds like you've already got a tent that fits your needs, so I'd take it out of the bag some weekend and see if you can figure out why you haven't been able to get on with it up to now. Then spend another few evenings/weekends working out your own system for getting it up and running, using extra rope/bungie cords/bricks/coloured tape/whatever when necessary. With a bit of work now, you'll have it down to a 30-minute routine, and have saved yourself what you didn't need to spend on a new tent that'll take the same amount of "getting to know you" time.
+1 on this. While most require 2 people to put up the 2nd person usually can just hold a bit while you do the work. 2 children should be able to do the job of a 2nd adult.0 -
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... I just can't get the poles to stretch enough to get the little pins up the bottom of the pole.
Do you mean the pins as shown in step 2 of this set of instructions (different tent, but common system)? If so, your use of the word "stretch" suggests you're doing it the wrong way
.
If this is your tent (link above is a bit flaky) then I really don't think you should buy a new one! It's very similar to the small one I described.
Other than keeping all the zips closed as described by looksee, the most important thing is not to try to be too perfect when you start staking it out.
My routine is:
1. leave the "insides" in the bag
2. assemble all the poles
3. lay out the tent where it's going to go, check clearances for guylines all round, using the porch, etc, then
4. lightly peg the corners into place - just to stop the wind from carrying it off.
5. run each pole through it's channel without fixing it in place (so tent is still a floppy mess at this stage)
6. starting in the middle, pin one end of the pole but don't peg it yet*, then pin the other
7. repeat for the other "middle" pole, then the other two.
8. now start pegging things down, half-way until all pegs are in place; make adjustments if necessary, then all the way down.
9. peg and adjust guylines.
* unless the pin keeps popping out, which it might if you're doing it single handedly, in which case you might need to fix the ring in place so that you can get enough of a bend on the pole to get the pin in the other end.
Having said all that, there have been times where I couldn't be bothered fiddling around with the pin and just pegged everything down with the pole through the ring. :cool:0 -
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Maybe if we ever get a dry day again I'll have one last try following your method above and fingers crossed it works.
If you try with just one pole and no pegs, you should have enough space in the sittingroom or kitchen, or the hallway, to be able to mess around with threading the pole through the canvas and fitting the pins in place.
In fact, try it without threading it through the canvas first, and have a look at the joints in the pole - make sure the segments are pushed in as fas as they can go.
That way, as soon as you get a dry day, you'll be ready to do a full-scale trial with no red mist! And when you succeed, you'll be delighted to have saved yourself some money! :cool: 0 -
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