Are there any Outwell Idaho XL owners out there with any tips for they easist way to put the tent up?
We had 2 great weeks in France last year in one of these but did find it a bit tricky to get the tent up and placed correctly over the footprint ground sheet!
Any tips apprecaited, maybe we just need more practice!
What do you find difficult? I'd ignore the supposed 'instructions' and use the diagram sewn into the tent bag - that gives a much clearer picture of where the poles should be going, for example.
I find it quite easy - getting it back in the bag is the nightmare bit!!
We put the poles in first then peg the guys loosely to hold it up, working one end to the other. We then adjust it over the ground sheet so the footprint is covered and then peg the guys properly. We have only put it up twice and found this works well with two adults. Second time was much easier than the first. Getting it back in the bag though, is not easy! Remember to leave the doors open when rolling it back up, it really helps.
i have a idaho xl and find myself and my friend can put it up easily within 30 mins, we put the curved poles in first making sure they all face the same direction, then the leg poles again making sure they are facing the right way, i leave the porch poles till the end when the tent is upright, i do each pin starting at the end and do each side together, then erect the tent from either end, loosely guy rope the side ropes out, make sure the mud flaps are on the edge of the footprint, then do each section first, its easier to do one ring and pin once the other side is up,then work from side to side, and make sure its fully stretched out, i find it easier to put the porch poles in once all the poles are pegged in.
getting it back in the bag is easy but takes practice, make sure all doors are open, i fold it lenght ways in 1/4, then the other side 1/4 then 1/4 again and then finally half width so its the width of the bag, and start rolling up, start small and end up large, but it does go in, haven't got the poles in the bag, they and the footprint go in a different bag.
hoep this helps,. we get many a look manily from men saying my god 2 women can't put that tent up, but we do and the look on their faces are priceless, and no arguing between us, my friend has a idaho l, so after my tent is up its on to her tent, we do give our kids things to do, and they love it, my 8 yr old is usually the one to peg out and tell us if its not right.
I was going to say that i do not have a problem getting it up but thought it sounded rude so i will agree with Thomsonmum3 on the erection and also getting it put away
Quote: Originally posted by thomsonmum3 on 06/5/2009
i have a idaho xl and find myself and my friend can put it up easily within 30 mins, we put the curved poles in first making sure they all face the same direction, then the leg poles again making sure they are facing the right way, i leave the porch poles till the end when the tent is upright, i do each pin starting at the end and do each side together, then erect the tent from either end, loosely guy rope the side ropes out, make sure the mud flaps are on the edge of the footprint, then do each section first, its easier to do one ring and pin once the other side is up,then work from side to side, and make sure its fully stretched out, i find it easier to put the porch poles in once all the poles are pegged in.
getting it back in the bag is easy but takes practice, make sure all doors are open, i fold it lenght ways in 1/4, then the other side 1/4 then 1/4 again and then finally half width so its the width of the bag, and start rolling up, start small and end up large, but it does go in, haven't got the poles in the bag, they and the footprint go in a different bag.
hoep this helps,. we get many a look manily from men saying my god 2 women can't put that tent up, but we do and the look on their faces are priceless, and no arguing between us, my friend has a idaho l, so after my tent is up its on to her tent, we do give our kids things to do, and they love it, my 8 yr old is usually the one to peg out and tell us if its not right.
We've got a Vermont XL which took us a couple of attempts before we could put it away 1st time every time!
What I found was getting my 2 kids (9 and 6) to roll on the tent after myself and DW had folded it into a narrow strip the width of the bag, meant that most of the excess air was out, meaning rolling it up was _alot_ easier!
Quote: Originally posted by tomsdadalf on 19/8/2009
I was after after instructions for folding the xl awAy small enough to fit in the bag. Any help welcome!
The trick is to aim to do the final roll up towards the rear door, so the air can escape that way.
So, start facing the front of the tent (where the porch is). Make sure you have left the bottom of the rear door open to allow the air to escape.
1. Fold each side into the middle.
2. Repeat step 1 again.
3. ...and again.
4. Fold the 2 halves onto each other - you should now have one 'sausage' which is narrower than the bag (if not, just keep folding until you do).
5. Now roll to the back door.
6. Once rolled up, it's easier to put the bag onto the roll and then roll the whole thing over until the bag is the right way up.
Sorry to labour point about setting up....we have only used ours twice...we fitted all the 4 main poles then lifted two up at one end then loosely fitted guy ropes...this seemed to put a strain on the tent fabric as the remaining two poles were still lay on the ground.....can some one run through how you best erect the tenet again please.....sorry if i`m being a numpty !!!!
When setting up, I don't do any guy ropes until the whole thing is up.
I put the main poles together but don't put the pins in initially.
Then, starting at one side, put the pins into the 2 main poles, lift them both up as high as possible (only about half to 3/4 of the way) and get the wife to hold them there.
Then, scoot round to the other side and lift the 2 poles on that side (this is the physically hardest part of the whole process). With a bit of effort, you should be able to get the whole half of the tent up and then put the 2 pins into the poles on that side (also can be quite tricky).
Then repeat with the other half of the tent. Guy out afterwards...
Sorry, difficult to explain in words - hope this helps.
PS: you can try looking at that Outwell video but I found it almost useless - they seemed to jump from 'flat tent' to 'raised tent' in one step and even worse when showing the 'packing away' process.
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Topic: Idaho XL - any tips for putting it up ?!!
