lay tent out,(make a note of how the tent was folded, so you can get it back in the bag later ) open the doors to let air in. important to do this, as it helps to lift the tent.
assemble poles, thread through sleeves, check the colour coding, longer ones go in the middle.
start from one end, put pins into end of first pole,loosen off tension straps to make it easier , do the rest, lying all poles on top of each other . then peg out the two corners of one end of the tent.
Lift all poles up together and walk the tent away from the end you have pegged down,pulling it out taut as you go.
now tent is standing, peg out guylines at this end of the tent, to hold the whole lot up. pull all poles nice and straight and peg down the corners this end. close the doors. check that everything is pulled as staright and taut as you can and then peg through the rings,
then the guylines, and the other pegging points around the bottom. check zip opens and closes freely, if its too tight, adjust position of poles or guylines to ease the tension on the zips.
hang bedrooms up inside last.
When taking tent down , leave doors open so air can escape to fold it back into the bag.
Hiya i'm newish to camping and struggled pitching vango vista got some great advice on here , although i still found the good explanation i got a little daunting so........i went on youtube and wow! and it also meant i reread the info on here i'd been given and was able to understand it so much more that i have written it down to help us along the way. GL on your 1st camping expedition.
This thread about guylines might help too, if you've never put a tent up before guylines
just in case you don't know, there are rings like keyrings attached to the bottom of the tent, these have pins attached, these pins go into the end of the poles, you have to bend the poles to get the pin in the other end. peg through these rings, with peg at a 45% angle, not straight down, or the pegs will pull out in wind.
if you are struggling , ask someone to help, most campers are friendly and will lend a hand, but some are not keen to offer for fear of offending .
------------- Debbie
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I'm so glad I asked now as a couple of things I'd read before (and thought we had to do!)...seem to be things not to do, lol....Like I'd read that the doors should be closed when first putting up or else once up and pegged they could be too tight and rip. The other thing was to put the bedrooms in before pegging down...again due to tension being too much.
Two more posts by the time I'd sent my reply, lol.
I've had a good mooch on youtube but not really found anything suitable. I just seemed to find ones about pop up tents or speeded up vids.....Maybe I should make one on Sat? lolololol
I'll go have a good look at the guyline info also. That's great!
the thing to remember is open doors to let air in , but once tent is up, close doors before pegging and check zips work easily. bedrooms go in last in a sig tent, and as they are suspended by elastic, there should be no problem with them being too tight.
If your tent already has the bedrooms hung inside when you open it, you can safely leave them attached every time you pack it away too, unless the tent is wet, then its easier to remove bedrooms whilst they are dry and just dry the outer tent at home .
Some tents are designed to leave the bedrooms attached , others advise them to be removed .
------------- Debbie
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
Hiya Debbie , I've also enjoyed reading the info you've shared in this thread it all helps to make things easier and i'm hoping in turn makes things more enjoyable.
We have the vango vista800 and hadn't thought about it till you posted that bedrooms attatched on toggles could be left in,can you see any reason why this wouldn't work with the tent iwe have? as i have health problems and really struggle bending up then down and if the bedrooms could stay in this would be GREAT. Were off on 1st trip wednesday all really excited
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Karla-------Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.It's about learning to dance in the rain.
Hi karla ,
On my outwell tents the bedrooms have thin nylon groundsheets , just the same fabric as the inner tent walls. these arrived clipped inside the tent and I always leave them in place .
but on my wynnster tent, although it has a sewn in groundsheet , the inner tents also have normal groundsheets , like tarpaulin. the only difference I can think of would be the extra weight of the groundsheet could put a bit of strain on the poles when erecting the tent.
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Topic: Nervous about first pitch!
, although i still found the good explanation i got a little daunting so........i went on youtube and wow! and it also meant i reread the info on here i'd been given and was able to understand it so much more that i have written it down to help us along the way. GL on your 1st camping expedition.
