Been browsing these forums for a while, bought a lot of kit thanks to your discussions, fridge, table, air bed.
I have a problem with my tent, its a gelert corona 6 man tent and the middle section seems to be sagging downwards.
I bought the tent becuase I could stand up in it but no matter how hard I pull the guyline ropes on the side the middle section goes down. There is a internal compartment which clips to the innner side of the middle pole, if I added this i think it would dip even more.
Seen many pictures of the tent but none have or look sagging like mine.
Few things I think could be, middle poles side bits that clip into ground clips could be too far out? Broken pole?
Can any experts help who have been putting up tents for years,
Picture included
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You appear to have the side guylines far too tight, they are pulling the top down. It also looks as though the front guys are not pulling the tent forwards to tension the roof.
The rear vent should have two separate guys to tension it sideways and stop it drooping in the middle.
The front side guys should be pegged further forward and the rear guys further back in order to tension the tent lengthways and stop the roof from sagging.
If you search on Google Images for "Gelert Carona 6" you will probably find a picture of your tent or a similar one guyed correctly.
------------- Bernie
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I'm with Bernie it looks like the front is not pulled forwards enough. Guying the vent like you have shouldn't make a huge difference. We often do that on a one night stop with our Icarus 400 which is a similar shape. If there isn't room to pull the front guys out, try turning the tent around as it looks like there is more room at the back to give it a go.
Also make sure you have the poles in the right sleeves, the rear pole should be shorter than the front two and probably is colour coded as such, so you may have the rear pole threaded through the centre sleeve.
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If that's right about different pole lengths, then obviously, first thing is to make sure the right pole is in the right sleeve.
Once its stood up, adjust the bottom of the poles so the edges are nice and straight, and the SIG (presumed SIG) is nice and flat. That includes the rear corners and the pegging points by the front door.
That puts the bottom of the poles (Ring & Pins) in the right positions. (If need be, stand back and eye through each side of the tent. The ends of the poles, where they meet the ground, should form a nice straight line with each other).
They can now be pegged.
Then...
Hang the bedroom, if applicable, and zip EVERYTHING up, internal and external.
Then, aim the front pole guys towards the front. I'd say at least 45 degrees, but preferably nearer to 60 degrees to the actual pole. This will pull the tent more forward than sideways, and tighten up the roof material, laterally. Just take the slack.... once the tent/pole starts to move, even a fraction of an inch, that's the absolute limit! (I'm a git for over tightening... but I'm getting there!!)
Mirror image for the rear pole guys.
The centre pole guys can go straight out, in line with the pole, same tension as the others.
At this stage, the tent is secure, and all zips should work effortlessly!
Finally, and far less important, two separate guys from the rear vent... a peg for each. Aim them slightly outwards from each other, again, just tighten to take up the slack, just to keep the bottom of the vent flap straight and tidy.
Note the angle/position of the guys (and imagine that nice straight line through the 3 Ring & Pins) on this pic I stole from google images... looks good to me...
Just realised... doing it strictly as I've described will mean that the bloody tent will keep falling over!!
As the tent gets stood up, whichever way you prefer, temporarily peg the front and rear guys loosely, and approx. in position. Once you've straightened the tent base and pegged the ring & pins, (and zipped up) you can then adjust the front and rear guy lines, as described.
Bit hard to tell from your picture, but it does look like the poles are in the wrong sleeves. The tent when looking at it from the side should slope down from front to rear (see Muckers pic) Yours goes down then up again at the rear. The taught guying doesn't help either. This is the trouble with fibreglass poles its so easy to pull the tent out of shape. If you ever change your tent and extra weight is not an issue I suggest you get a metal poled tent next time its so much easier getting the tent pitched right IMO. Geoff
PS If the poles are not colour coded perhaps just lay them on the ground and check the length of each one. longest at front and so on.
Quote: Originally posted by Tynxuk on 15/3/2014
Also make sure you have the poles in the right sleeves, the rear pole should be shorter than the front two and probably is colour coded as such, so you may have the rear pole threaded through the centre sleeve.
thanks for replying, yes its in the rear the smaller grey one.
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After you've checked your poles are in the correct sleeves, have another go with those guys:
Rear guys (i.e. ones which come off rear pole position): line them up with the rear corners on your tent. In other words, look where your corner peg is and then draw an imaginary line outwards centrally from that point (if that makes sense?), and position your peg along that line. (When you look back, from your peg to the tent, it should line up with the corner peg.)
Front guys: Since the tent has a shaped front (i.e. no corner peg to go by), find the central point on the window panel (between the 'r' and the 'o' of the word 'Corona') and then draw your imaginary line outwards centrally from that point, and position our peg along that line. (When you look back, from your peg to the tent, it should line up in the middle of that word!)
Centre guys: Peg these straight out, in line with the centre pole. Just tension so that it's taut, (not tight as a drum!)
The vent guy line is simply that; to keep the vent open, so the other guys should hold your tent properly. If it's a looped/continuous guy, try pegging it in 2 x places, about a foot each side of the vent, so that it holds it open properly.
The front and rear guy lines as the corners of the tent should be at 45 degrees to the tent . The centre middle guy lines where your tent is sagging at 90 degrees to the tent .
I would tension corners first then the middle.
Good luck
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I can't tell properly, in your photo, the front guylines look as if they are going sideways and not forward.
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Topic: sagging tent
