Message Forums

Hi - bought a 2nd hand (never opened) bell tent this weekend - so far I love it.

A few questions though:

It comes with 2 types of peg - the thin round ones and the flatter 'v' cross section ones. I currently have the 'v' cross section pegs holding down the canvas through the rubber eyelets and the standard round pegs holding down the guy ropes - is this correct? Does it matter?

Also - I dont understand how I can tuck the mud flap under the groundsheet and then peg the groundsheet down as the pegs would just make holes in the mudflap? In the instructions it seems like they are suggesting you peg the groundsheet down and then stuff the mud flap under the graoundsheet but around the pegs so the mudflap will crumple up around where the pegs get in the way. Is it ok to just not bother pegging down the groundsheet at all?

And - I think we have the 2008 model from bell tents (not sure where the original owner bought it from). If we wanted to buy one of those inner compartments, how do they attach? I can't see anywhere at the top of the tent that we would attach the inner compartment to?

And - my wife's only complaint is that it doesn't have those little pockets you get in 'modern' tents for keeping stuff in (personally I think they are annoying) is there any sort of solution you can get that attatches (somewhere) to the tent that we can keep little bits and bobs in. It's not that important but just would be nice to have.

Overall though - belltents are great - so much nicer inside than other tents and I love how high they are.

Any help with these questions would be great.

Cheers!

Pegs: we use the V shaped ones for the guy ropes. My view is that the guy ropes/centre pole is what is keeping the tent up so that is where the strong pegs need to be, especially in windy conditions. Little extra note: at the WE, the ground where we picthed was really hard and we bent quite a few of even the V shaped pegs. So now we'll buy some proper heavy duty ones.

Mudflaps: we had the same issue/confusing time when we first use the tent. The mudflaps simply can't be tucked under the groundsheet if the latter's pegged IMV. So now we peg the groundsheet down, pitch the tent up, put all our stuff in (mattresses, bags etc..) and set it all up as we want. Then with the ground sheet all weighed down, we unpeg it and tuck the mudflaps under. Works a treat even when it's windy, and a lot less bugs get in as well. 

Inner Tent: if your tent can have an inner, it will have a metal loop welded close to the top of the center pole, and little plastic loops tied up on every wall panel/roof junction (where the ties to lift the walls up are) on the back half of the tent.

Pockets: Unless you're handy with a sowing machine/needle and string and know how to saw into canvas so that it does leak afterwards, you're only option would be to hang stuff from the pole and/or a little stand alone unit/cupboard.

Hope this helps...

hi there

I have a soulpad bell tent and can tell you what I do - hope it helps

1. pegs, i use the normal round pegs to hold the tent and groundsheet down, and the blade like pegs are for the guy ropes (I dont actually use these as i replaced them with delta pegs which are better for windy conditions)

2. The mud flap and the groundsheet should have matching holes in them, and all you do is line up the holes and put a peg through them......

3. no idea re inner compartments as I didnt want one - but mine can have one and I also cannot see where it would attach, best ring the supplier

4. Its a canvas tent so you dont really want things hanging at the side as it may  help water come through - we have a 4m diameter bell tent and have plenty of space for 4 of us and floorspace for our gear

Hope that helps

Thanks for all your help (I love how busy this forum is and get quick answers!) bedgar - our tent must be an older model as the mudflaps dont have holes in them.

kruisler - thanks, yes, this is what we will do then (remove the pegs after we have our stuff in)

I dont think we have the option of the inner tent then as we dont have any sort of attachment inside - again, I'm not too bothered as I prefer it all in one big open space.

Heavy duty pegs - good idea, will invest in some before we go.

Thanks

It's the tents sold by Soulpad that have eyelets in the mudflaps so that they can be tucked under the groundsheet then pegged together.

I liked the idea but comments about the mudflaps occasionally getting ripped made me question whether this was an important/good feature... Price took me away from Soulpads in the end anyway..

I think I should be ok with the groundsheet just places over the mudflap - as mentioned above, if it's weighted down. it's not going anywhere.

I'm also looking for a solution to hang stuff from the centre pole - has anyone tried this? I am thinking of either putting a rubber washer around the pole which will allow me to attach stuff to (e.g. a hanging light) or, just before erecting the pole, place some string/wire over the end of the pole and it should be held in place by the weight of the canvas? Then I csan attach whatever I want onto the cable?

Sorry can't do links, but search Albion canvas,  then  small pole hangers.

This is not the one I meant, but it's the only one I can find now. Also this is on a wooden pole, so some sort of grip may be required for a metal tent pole.

Quote: Originally posted by monkeyboy32 on 28/7/2009

---

I think I should be ok with the groundsheet just places over the mudflap - as mentioned above, if it's weighted down. it's not going anywhere.

Yes, having looked at a SoulPad bell tent with the supposedly 'matching' eyelets in groundsheet and mudflaps, I can't see the point really - it just looks like another way to place the fabric under strain and risk ripping it.  Most of the tents have a good depth of mudflaps/brailing cloth to tuck under the groundsheet, and once you have a bit of kit in the tent it's all held down.

I'm also looking for a solution to hang stuff from the centre pole - has anyone tried this?

---

I just use a woodworking clamp, although I wouldn't hang anything too heavy from it for the reasons the wise Raf48 states.  By 'woodworking clamp' I mean something like a giant clothes peg which you can buy from any pound shop.  If you have a metal centre pole you may need to put some sort of cloth underneath to give it a grip - eg maybe one of those rubberised 'dashboard cloths' that you get (also in pound shops) to stop stuff sliding around on your dashboard.

You can get some useful gadgets which are intended for garden parasols and which will fit centre poles.  I got a nice bright ring of battery-operated LED lights from PoundLand , and a gorgeous battery-operated colour-changing mobile dangly light thingy from the late and much-missed Woolworths, which I love watching late at night.  There are a few ideas here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parasol-Light-wires-Battery-operated/sim/B000NOQ62Y/2?tag=ukcampsite00

In terms of your query about attaching a bedroom inner, I reckon a split ring on a jubilee clip attached round the centre pole would probably do it - all the belltent.co.uk fixing is, is something like a keyring attached high up on the centre pole.

Cheers,

Angela