
Originally Posted by
severs
I won't recommend a tent, because all my tents have been bought mainly for lightweight cycle-camping/mountaineering and probably cost too much for a motorcycle-based valley-bottom situation. But here's a tip about pitching your tent:
When you get to the site and it's pi$$ing down, you want a waterproof cover up as fast as possible. So you will be tempted to buy an "outer first" model. You can always shelter under the fly (the "outer") until you can get a grip, no hurry as long as you are dry, etc.
But actually, with many tents, you can rig them to pitch inner & outer simultaneously. You won't see it in the instructions! It works best with geodesic type tents but there's no reason it shouldn't work with a single-hoop (I do it with my macpac tropical) or tunnel models.
First, use the tent for a while to get used to pitching it and taking it down. Maybe practice in the garden or a park? (Cue the funny looks).
Then figure out a way of attaching the outer to the inner. With many tents, the inner or outer or both are retained by putting the ends of the flexi-poles into aluminium "holes" - circular rivets in a piece of nylon tape, hanging off the "hem" of the tent.
Now imagine, if you can, the tent is up. If you could collapse the poles without the pole-ends falling out of the "holes", the tent would be exactly the same as it is when it is up, just a flat rippled mass on the floor.
Now, the next concept. You know how you remove the flexi-poles and then fold them by pulling them apart, lengthways? You can, in many cheaper tents (because the pole fit is not particularly tight), do this with the poles still in the tent. Most tents require you to slide the pole into a narrow nylon guide-way when you erect the tent, or through a series of loops, or something. You can often leave the flexi-poles inside the guides and still collapse them, if you practice. You fold the tent up in an unorthodox way as you go. It takes a bit of practice!
The folded tent will not be as compact as it is when you fold it "properly".
But how to stop the pole ends falling out of the aluminium rivet "holes"? Simply erect the tent and slide a washer onto each of the exposed pole ends, then squeeze on three or four tightly-fitting rubber or silicone rubber o-rings to retain each washer.
Try it! It doesn't cost much.
Now for the best bit: Take the unfolded tent in its "collapsed" state out of its bag and lay in down the correct way up. Grab one end and shake it violenty, like a blanket or a doormat that you are trying to get the fluff and grit off. The poles will slide together on their internal elastics and the tent will erect itself - often with a sudden "woomph" sound which is very pleasing.
Taking the tent down with the poles still in is a bit fiddly, and takes longer than normal. But imagine arriving at the campsite when it's slashing down with rain, grabbing your tent and "woomph!" - it's up! then dive inside.
This works with inner-first or outer-first tents.
It's even better with tents designed to allow you to put up just the inner, just the outer, or both.
And some tents are designed to allow the inner and outer to be velcro'd together and erected as one. They work really well. My macpac is like this and it goes up in about 5 seconds.
When it isn't raining, do it anyway at rallies - it's a fantastic "party piece".
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