What we have is big and solid and dry and warm and big. Did I say that already?
Today's adventure was to do a dry run of the setup and tear down of the tent, to find any faults and to really find out how big a pitch we would need when we we looking for campsites.
The tent is an 8 birth with a large living area and a fairly large porch. We were looking for enough space to live in in any weather. We also wanted to have a space that we could be in during the evenings away from the kids so as not to waked them! Oh, and a covered space to cook in, away from the main living space. I think we have exactly the right tent.
Setup time was in line with the suggested 1 hour. This included going back to the car to collect sun hats and extras like toys. I think that without interruptions, the two of us could have had it assembled & pegged in 45 mins.
When you lay it out, it really is long!
So the method is simple, lay out the flysheet (sewn in groundsheet and fitted inner tent), lay out the roof and upright poles. Then, working from the centre section and using the colour code system (there are only two colours) fit the roof poles into the flysheet sleeves. Then lift the centre ones (my job, amazingly) and fit the uprights.
Lastly peg it all, fit the tub groundsheet in the porch, and place the complimentary doormat at the entrance!
Obviously we had help setting up....and Elle soon decided which bedroom was hers!
A note for Martin: It's even bigger than I thought. Not only could we get the Irish Guards in there, but you could stand upright in there too!
It is big and that is good. Now think it is raining and see if you can pitch it faster, in fact real fast. It always rains when you want to put up a tent.
ReplyDeleteHow true is that!
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the reasons we got a flysheet first tent. I expect we could have the fly and poles and basic pegging in 20 minutes if we really had to.