Thought I'd take advantage of the weather and have a go at pitching my new tent. The big guy is away with work, so I had a go with the assistance of my 6&4 year old's. They actually turned out to be amazing. The wind was a bit wild, so I worked out pegging the Base helps a lot to stop the tent flying off! Lots of adjusting and here we have the final result.. (with poor tension!) Total pitching time, 50 minutes!
It's obviously a very budget tent, however I was impressed at how noticeable the temperature change was inside the tent. The girls kicked their shoes and coats off and played camping for a while. I'm feeling confident about our Easter trip now- So long as it doesn't rain! Will need to get tent up again to get the Fabrosil on it before we put it to real use.
Taking the tent down took no time at all. The girls done a good job at squishing the air out as we folded it away. We even managed to get it all back into the bag!
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One question- the bedroom compartment seemed a bit baggy inside the outer skin, is this because of the poor tension? Admittedly, I only used the guy ropes on the back to hold the poles up.
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Agree with above post.
Baggy bedroom likely down to baggy tent, and no need (fingers crossed) to treat a new tent.
Ideally, you should have got the hose on it, checked for possible leaks, and acted accordingly. Chances are, any leaks, if at all, would be at the seams, so maybe just a little seam sealer required? Any leaks through the actual material should require just one action... Refund!
Easier said than done at this time of year, of course, and presumably not in your garden (After hosing, it would need time to dry before putting away).
Take some seam sealer with you when you go camping proper, but do nothing unless you find it is actually leaking... in fact if it does leak at the seams during the first rain fall, then still leave it. Allow it all to dry and see what happens next time it rains. Sometimes, those seams can heal themselves just by getting wet and dry (The thread swells up, and fills the needle holes, basically!)
... Oh... and a big well done and thanks for the pics. Always good to see tent pics!
Well done on your test drive! If it is new it does not need a Fabsil treatment. It MAY need a touch of silicon seam sealant inside on the taped seams if you find any little leaks when it rains.
When you put it up for real, getting the tension right all around is worth spending some time over. The best way to do this is to zip up the doors, start at one end ( I usually start at the back) and peg the bottom of the back flysheet ( outer skin) out and peg out the guy ropes for the back. The next bit is best done as a pair, so that you each work your way down one long side of the tent at the same time, pulling the bottom of the flysheet taut, shuffling the pole feet to do so if necessary, and pegging out the guy ropes as you go. Doing it this way ensures that it does not get twisted.
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Fibreglass poles tend to sway back and forth in the wind, which is what they are designed to do. Unfortunately the compromise is that the inner tent will sway back and forth with them so you may not get a totally taut inner.
Also, when erecting the outer flysheet, one tends to pull out the feet of the poles sideways hoping this will tension the fly and the inner. If you think about it, pulling the feet of the poles outward lowers the roof making the inner lower and possibly more saggy. Pushing the feet inwards highers the roof and allows the inner to hang more naturally.
Needs a bit of trial and error and luck to get it right.
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Only just found this again after it was moved from the other room. I thought I must have posted outside of the guidelines and the post was banished
Thank you all for your response. I got it super cheap, under the condition that "It is adviseable to waterproof the door area".. so I will do just to be safe!
Unfortunately Jo, it's not my garden.. as such. It's the communal green which my 10X7FT garden opens up onto. I call it the extension
I'm going to do a test run in the next couple of weeks , to practice the tension and also to have a go at insulation. Foil floor and replacing the very thin inner with a polycotton one.
I can't wait to get everything in it and se how it looks. It's like decorating a new bedroom! I've spent hours and hours picking floor mats, sleeping bags, heaters and torches. My PayPal is currently on fire.
It's looking good! You are a pro already! As others have said tension will sort itself out when you use all the clips and guys etc.
The best garden is green space that you get to enjoy but don't have to mow.
I wouldn't rush to waterproof it, however do buy some spray waterproofer and some seam sealer (not cheap unfortunately), and deal with on the spot fixing when you are away on the condition it is a dry weekend.
I would recommend putting together a basic repair kit for taking with you, things like gorilla tape for floor repairs, tenacious tape for the fabric, seam sealer, needle and thread (for fixing inners) and aim to add a pole threading kit and spare pole section, ferrule (the metal bit on the end) and maybe even a spare ring and pin set. You don't need to get all this at once, you can accumulate as you go along.
Just make sure you can fit it all in the car. Once you have it all, you'll start replacing it all with more compact stuff. Then it will be different tents for different situations. They'll need smaller/bigger tarps. You will want sleeping bags for winter and for heatwaves.
It will never end...
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Topic: Tent trial run *photos*
