Newbie to camping and just wondered if you should pitch tent with door zipped up or left open. And do you peg out groundsheet first then do all poles, then lift into position. tent is Coleman Coastline.
Normally I start with a couple of guylines on the windward side of the tent? in case a gust blows the tent away, then all poles put in place, I would always peg a tent out with all the doors and windows firmly closed,don't peg the groundsheet down until you have pegged out the tent, as they do 'travel' whilst pegging, do diagonal corner pegs first pulling the groundsheet taught as you peg, then the doorways, then look at everything to make sure its not twisted, realingn the windward guys then do the opposite guys, get all the guys in then peg down the rest of the tent.
It takes a few pitches before you get the tent perfect, if you are anything like me you will be constantly resetting pegs throughout your stay to get the perfect pitch
always with the doors closed.
if open you may find that you have pulled pegging points etc too far, therefore you will be left unable to close the door.
Start with doors open to let air in ,when you are threading the poles through. this help lift the tent.
if you start with doors closed with a tent with sewn in groundsheet, there will be an air vacuum effect which makes it much harder if not impossible to lift the tent up.
once its up, then you close the zips to make sure that you can close them easily without putting any strain on them .
its easier to put poles in first ,one at a time, with poles lying on the ground , not up in the air and fix pins into the ends of the poles. this forms an arch, ly it down and repeat for the rest of the poles. lie each arch on top of the first one.
then peg out the back corners of the groundsheet ,
lift all the poles up together , and walk the tent forwards into position , and guy out the front to hold it up .
Now close the doors, straighten it all up , and peg out .
Go inside and check that the groundsheet is all nice and flat, that the door zips operate freely and adjust pole positions if needed.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Pitching help
