We finally had a chance to erect our recently purchased trailer tent, a sunncamp holiday 500 from circa 1999, to our delight, everything was there and we soon worked out all the poles despite different peoples numbering schemes added to them :)
The one query i have is that it has no guy ropes with it, and by the looks of it the guy rope tie points on the canvas have never been used either.
So is it normal for there to be no guy ropes? Does it need them even, or is the canvas tight enough to the frame/ground once pegged out? Coming from a normal tent where the guy ropes were pretty vital, this is new to me :D
I had a Cabannon Galaxy, which has a similar design to the Sunncamp 500 - we only used the guy ropes at the corners. The Guy ropes do not tension the canvas, on the galaxy the canvas tension was achieved by extending the 3 awning poles that attach to the cabing as far forward as possible, then adjusting the legs all round so that the skirt was 2 inches above the ground then pegging the whole thing down - the canvas should be really tight all round
I hope you enjoy your trailer tent. We have now bought a Sunncamp 550SE, with the dome shaped awning - and this really needs the guy ropes to set up properly, it is a bit of a pain with guy ropes all over the place taking up space on the pitch and tripping us up all the time. It looks really good when set up properly - we had some Germans come round yesterday to have a look - they had never seen such a nice trailer tent
We always use out guy ropes as you never know when the weather may turn windy, we do it for peace of mind, not sure if they are actually necessary but maybe someone more knowledgeable will be able to answer your question :)
We have 4 guying points on our Solena cabin and 2 more on the awning. Like ashwellgirl, we always use the guy lines as we tend to be off-site all day and the weather can change quickly. It only takes a couple of minutes to put them on, so not really worth chancing it. We always remove the guy lines completely when we pack up as they tend to hold the damp.
We also have a couple of storm straps just in case! (I used to be a boy scout ).
Our Cabanon Galaxy survived some pretty serious storms with just a guy rope at each corner - In France a few years ago we had a storm with 60mph gusts which destroyed several tents - even though we were pitched on a beach front pitch and completely exposed there was no problem. This June we were camping in the Forest of Dean when the devestating stoms came through - again we had no problem - it would require massive winds to require the use of storm straps
Yes, definitely needs guy ropes. I would get as many as there are guy rope points for, and use them all. As ianclose says, the weather can change very quickly. It won't take very long at all to put them on and can make all the difference to having a safe or a destroyed unit. Hope you have fun with your new toy.
We had a Sunncamp 240 duo and only ever used the guyropes once when it was really windy. If it is errected with the canvas taught there is no need as it is really solid. May be different for the larger 500.
------------- Joanne
May - Peak District
June - MG Live Silverstone
August/Sept - Salou
Quote: Originally posted by mattsurf on 08/8/2012
Our Cabanon Galaxy survived some pretty serious storms with just a guy rope at each corner - In France a few years ago we had a storm with 60mph gusts which destroyed several tents - even though we were pitched on a beach front pitch and completely exposed there was no problem. This June we were camping in the Forest of Dean when the devestating stoms came through - again we had no problem - it would require massive winds to require the use of storm straps
Very pleased to hear that!
Not having experienced storms of that magnitude (yet!), I wouldn't want to discover that I did need some at 3a.m. on a Sunday morning though. I suspect our Solena is a fair bit lighter than a Galaxy (at least, when I'm not in it).
Before we upgraded from a tent to a Pennine Fiesta we had in our emergency kit a set of extra Delta pegs,a set of Cligons and guy strings.We could use them as extra guys where ever we wanted extra anchorage in bad weather.When ever we swapped units for a new tent we never let our emergency kit go
------------- Corpogreen esq
dead horse
and
donkey buyer
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: No Guy Ropes (Sunncamp Holiday 500)
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