Hi, I have been taken by this quick erect tent system, so much so that on thursday I went and purchased not 1 but 2 khyam tents following the struggle of putting our arizona up in the winds last season.
Anyway bought the Freelander for my son and I to go weekend camping. Put it up today in the garden, a doddle, took it down and repacked, a doddle. Cant wait now for the weather to get a bit better and then we are OFF!
Also bought a ridgipod classic with three pods at a bargain price. Watched the DVD this morning and read the instructions. Put the freelander away, got out the ridgipod and what a job to fully erect this monster size tent. The guy on the dvd must use tricks of the camera because no way could I get this tent up and sorted in 15mins as advised by the salesman (excluding pegging of course). Maybe after some practice I will get it right. Now I have packed it away and it is twice the size it started out as somehow?
Any way can any more experienced khyampers out there give any hints and tips on how to get this tent sorted in the time suggested on the DVD?
Also I hadn't seen one of these out of its bag, so I was surprised at the size, it is huge, thank goodness I didn't go for the excelsior model. Thanks in advance for any help,
Looked at them including Excel. on display last year, great looking tents, nice size too
Tents NEVER go back in the bag they came out of ! It`s one of the laws of the universe Takes practice to get `em back anything like correctly. Same with erecting the thing for teh first couple of times.
------------- Life is one big holiday, only broken up by as little work as possible
we have just bought the xxl classic, and we pitched it for the first time today. I think there must be a knack to it as we struggled for about 20mins not getting anywhere then all of a sudden hubby was whizzing round and it was up in no time.
I have to admit the instruction weren't great. and we had trouble with the bedroom poles as the just didn't seem to want to fit the way that they say they should. Still we managed in the end and it only took us about 45mins, including inners.(but not fully pegged) Hope to get much quicker with practise.
I'm sure someone will be along with some sound advice for us soon.
we usedto e the xxl se,need to do the first joints all the way round and then lock the elbows and then raise, when we sold got up in 15 min on the drive, be careful not to foce the joints.
I've never quite understood why people make claims of "We can pitch our tent in twenty minutes... Then of course we have to peg it out"... Pitching a tent is from opening the bag to moving your 'stuff' in. Which includes pegging out the guylines (all of them), the base pegging points and your groundsheet...
The 'Khyam' claim, that you can pitch a 'Ridgidome' in fifteen minutes is rubbish, as are the claims made for pitching the 'Outwell Monty' and similar tents in fifteen minutes too. If you can completely pitch the 'Khyam XL/XXL Classic' properly in less than forty minutes you are doing really well. I think anyone (including the manufacturers) who makes daft claims about the time it takes to pitch a tent, are making it difficult for new campers, by setting them unrealistic targets. Pitching your tent isn't a race, just take your time and do a good job...
I have a ridgi-pod classic and it takes about an hour to fully pitch. (I've had it for two-years and use it on occasions when I fancy 'canvas' rather than tin!)
I can have the 'structure' up in less than 15-minutes but as AndyPandy says, pitching a tent is more than that!
So, pegged out, groundsheet, inner, forget 15-minutes ... not possible!
------------- People think I'm gullible, but at least I have this magic fish!
There is definitely a 'knack' to raising that central 'hub' once the arms have been unfolded. We were lucky in that the people at the shop we bought it from took us out to a field opposite the showroom to give us a go at putting it up and taking it down again. So we practiced until we were happy.
We have both the XXL and the Rigipod and I always feel that there is slightly less pegging with the larger Rigipod. And don't feel you have to peg everything. The main pegging points are the ones on the corners of the main arms, but for a short stay with a reasonable forecast I sometimes leave some of the smaller guys.
Regarding putting it back in the bag, there is no neat way to do it - just roll it up the best you can. We tend to pack the poles separately - it gives more room in the bag, makes the bag much lighter to carry, and gives you more flexibility with packing the tent in the car.
Thanks for all the replies. Nice to hear of another new khyamper having a go yesterday. In reallity I would never expect to get the tent pitched in such short period of time and as andy said its no race as I think pitching the tent is also part of the enjoyment of arriving at camp. I am really pleased though that the main poles are already attached to the outer sheet, as that is what stopped my wife going camping last year when we struugled at easter trying to thread the poles through our arizona tent flysheet in the wind. I can see that this will be a great help. Once up I think it looked superb and have just booked a long weekend downsouth for a family trip and can't wait now. I do think that there is deffinately a knack to this Q/E system and it takes a little getting used to, but don't all new tents!
Anyway thanks again and keep those hints and tips coming:)
i think the beauty of the khyam (xl in our case) is that you can get the basic structure up very quickly and then take your time over the guy thingies because it isn't going to fall over.
I acquired a Tourer 200 last year, watched the video a few times I just think it's so funny, the bloke's legs are twinkling away, it's obvious the film is speeded up and the film fades out from time to time.... I've put the 200 up a few times on my own, it's a bit heavy but solid as a rock when it's up. The thing that always catches me out is the last section of legs where you have to push the little button in before the leg will go up, I find that really awkward.
I pushed my little button in too far on the porch on my Tourer 200, with the result that it got lost up the pole!!! Now I use 2 small screws to place in the holes instead. It works a treat. But the other four corner poles are still OK, thank goodness. I use a tent peg judiciously now to push em in, as my fimgers are just too soft.
I prefer my McKinley and might just sell my Tourer on Ebay soon.
those bloomin buttons are the only thing I dislike about the 200, I sometimes lose them as the pole can get slightly twisted. I like the space of the 200 as I feel too old for stooping now!
After you have put it up a couple of times, it gets much easier. I've got the tourer 400 and work my way around the tent (if you know what i mean!). Pretty quick to do and manage easily on my own. I agree with those bleedin' button things though, real nuisance! I may going to the dark side, am considering a lovely Cabanon pyramid but cannot decide which one!
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Topic: I have now become a Khyamper - Help plz!
