Just love this thread. We're back from a week in our Monty 6 - didn't have any pin/pole pitching problems this time (we loosened the straps) and the porch went up okay, but there's still the issue of the cups rubbing on the tent fabric. To be honest, though, I think the porch is a mistake by Outwell. It's neither one thing nor the other (not sure what) but it's not big enough - I think the ensuite loo is probably the best use for it, though we hung our dripping wet weather gear in there so it wasn't totally useless. Gave up on getting the groundsheet sorted though. My OH needs to study all the posts here. Our straps weren't attached to the pins so at least we didn't have that problem.
Totally agree with Digilution that zips on all the windows would have been far, far better than the bits of velcro. For a tent of that calibre (and price) I would have thought they'd put zips in. Our Peakland Chatsworth has zips and a much better method of shielding the windows with mesh and blinds - Outwell please note.
Once again took the inner tent down when we were packing up as it was wet but we managed to get the Monty into the case this time (after two or three attempts, I confess).
All in all though, we do think the Monty is FAB. Can't wait to go away again in May.
It's interesting to see that I'm not the only one that has noticed the design issues with the 2006 Montana. We've got the Montana 4 (which originally had the missing porch pole, but the whole set was replaced by the retailer) and had our first, and only, pitching of the tent at Easter.
We managed to put it up fairly quickly given that our previous experience is with a much smaller tent (Vango Spirit 200).
We're both happy with almost all of the tent design. We got the tent because of the rain porch area, which is enough space for a wet entry when there are just the 2 of you.
We used the porch ground sheet with the zipped part to the outside (both zipped up and not), using the toggles to attach the sides, but could not work out what to do with the hooks that are on the inside.
The area that worries me is the length of the pole for the porch, which always presses against the tent fabric. The fist thing I noticed because of this is that we found it hard to close the door between the main tent and the porch area. I was worried that I was going to rip the zip off trying to close the door. Has anyone else had this problem with the door?
I tried moving the pole holder to the inside of the upright poles, which removed some tension, but not enough. If I knew what length was safe to make the porch pole I would be happy to cut it down myself, before we use it on our 2 week summer holidays.
We also found that door to the bedroom was very tight (the zip came apart during the night), although we suspect this was more to do with the way we set the tent up.
I'm considering sending Mark an email to see if we'll be covered by the warrantee if the zips do break due to having too much tension.
Overall, it's a great tent and suits us. If we can get this issue sorted then it will be perfect.
This has been a really interesting and useful thread. I am new to these forums and came accross them when doing a google search on the tent I have just purchased.
At the weekend, We bought a brand new Montana 6 from a Millets tent exhibition. Having previously only had smaller tents, and in fact having left the last one on the camp site because it leaked so much, we were really impressed with what we saw of the fully erected Monty 6. I haven't yet put ours up, as I am not sure if my garden is big enough, but we will be using it at Santa Pod at the end of May. I will write to the forum and tell you of my experience as I have never erected such a large tent. The tent I bought was apparently only delivered in from Denmark a few days ago, so I am pretty sure it is bang up to date. I have also purchased the additional canopy because it looks so good. Just as a matter of interest, The guys at Millets were really very very helpful, and explained to us that the smaller side porch area, which is only a small door, was apparently designed to allow the use of such as a generator or as a small area to stand wet things etc, rather than as a door or porch. The tent looks very impressive from what I have seen and I hope to be able to put it up for a test run sometime next weekend (May day weekend), so I'll report back.
It's interesting to see that I'm not the only one that has noticed the design issues with the 2006 Montana. We've got the Montana 4 (which originally had the missing porch pole, but the whole set was replaced by the retailer) and had our first, and only, pitching of the tent at Easter.
We managed to put it up fairly quickly given that our previous experience is with a much smaller tent (Vango Spirit 200).
We're both happy with almost all of the tent design. We got the tent because of the rain porch area, which is enough space for a wet entry when there are just the 2 of you.
We used the porch ground sheet with the zipped part to the outside (both zipped up and not), using the toggles to attach the sides, but could not work out what to do with the hooks that are on the inside.
The area that worries me is the length of the pole for the porch, which always presses against the tent fabric. The fist thing I noticed because of this is that we found it hard to close the door between the main tent and the porch area. I was worried that I was going to rip the zip off trying to close the door. Has anyone else had this problem with the door?
I tried moving the pole holder to the inside of the upright poles, which removed some tension, but not enough. If I knew what length was safe to make the porch pole I would be happy to cut it down myself, before we use it on our 2 week summer holidays.
We also found that door to the bedroom was very tight (the zip came apart during the night), although we suspect this was more to do with the way we set the tent up.
I'm considering sending Mark an email to see if we'll be covered by the warrantee if the zips do break due to having too much tension.
Overall, it's a great tent and suits us. If we can get this issue sorted then it will be perfect.
Zadjil
I agree with all this. Never had the problem with the tight zip though. I normaly only get this with my Monty 12 if I have really stretched it out and then pulled all the adjusters full down. In-fact, I used to get that with a lot of past tents if I stretched.
I always wanted to get the groundsheet nice and flat so at the start used to really pull it outwards. Now I just make it taught rather than almost at breaking point and the bedrooms sit just nicely.
Having bought my lovely Montana 12, I was just wanting to see how everyone is getting on. Those who have used theirs a bit - what about the issue of the porch pole rubbing on the outer?
My porch has webbing straps attached to the ring and pin webbing and not to the rinf itself. Do I take it that that means it should be ok?
We seem to have a very lifted groundsheet at the side where the porch is as well, regardless of whether we have put the porch pole in.
The groundsheet for the porch remains a mystery to me!
The high groundsheet near the porch is sort of normal, but I'm not sure if your connection to the straps from the porch is correct or not. Ours was an early incorrect model and the pulling up is much better having cut our straps.
The porch groundsheet is easy - the zips are towards the outside of the tent and when zipped up you get a bathtub effect so as not to let water in. The ground sheet fits with the toggles into the loops on the tent from memory these are roughly at the corners.
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Topic: 2006 Montana Pitching Questions again
