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A guide to putting up the tent - not definitive, but helpful if you do not quite know how...
- Clear the area of rocks, twigs, sticks etc
- Get 2 tent poles - at least 180cm long and 3cm thick, as well as a ridge pole about 20cm longer then the tent. (Note - some cottage tents have a ridge-rope, instead of using a ridge-pole.
- Unroll the tent using 2 people, and keeping it off the ground
- check that the outside of the tent is up (eg. Ridge rope is on top)
- Door flaps should be un-done.
- measure the vertical length of the door flaps.
- Square-lash the ridge pole to the 2 upright poles - ensuring the TOP of the ridge pole is at that height
- Check your position for the tent is correct.
- Run two guy-ropes at out 45 degrees from each end, so the 3 pole structure stays in place.
- Hang the tent over the frame you have just secured, with the doors at the 2 poles
- Peg the base of the rear door, then the base of the front door
- Peg the rear corners, making sure the door flaps are not loose/flapping, and that all three rear pegs are in a straight line.
- Do the same for the front corners. The rectangle of the tent base is now set.
- Peg the bottom edges of the tent sides - there should be an eyelet at each spot that a peg should be placed.
- Raise the sides (usually about 40cm) and make sure they are vertical and the roof is taut, then Stretch out the corner guy ropes at about 45 degrees to the side (the actual angle should be a continuance of an imaginary line from the tent pole at the OTHER end of the tent to that corner), and peg them in place. Using too short a guy rope will usually cause the sides to sag. Some people place a vertical stick under the rope several centimetres from the tent to assist in keeping the sides taut. If you do so, use a rolling hitch around the stick so the rope stays in place. This method also allows the guy rope to be pegged closer to the tent if space is limited.
- Once all 4 corners are pegged, the sides can also be done.
- The rear door flaps can now be tied securely (use a shoelace knot, so it can be undone later).
- Remove the centre peg at the door, and place it aside for night-time close-up.
- Place all personal gear in the tent(s), and set up bedding etc, then declare tents out of bounds until bedtime.
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