Setting Up The Tent

2 person REI Half Dome Tent

Setting up your tent can be pretty easy.  I have only one rule.

Rule #1 – Setup the tent in your yard before you go on a trip with it.  

If you have already setup your tent, you will know where the poles and stakes go.  Setting up tents is mostly about how good your memory is, and that will improve the more you do it.  Whether you pitch a solo tent for just yourself, a 2-person tent for you and spouse, or an 8-person tent for the whole family, the poles will go together only a certain way.  Some tents you stake out first, others you stake out last.

This detail is all in the tent’s directions, which you must read before you setup the tent in your yard the first time. Keep the directions with the tent for next year when you go camping again and can’t remember how to set it up.  Also keep everything that goes with the tent in their bags together.  That way you won’t arrive at camp without an important part of the tent poles.

When you return from the trip, hang the tent up in the garage or on the back porch to let it fully dry out. When dry, repack everything together, checking to see you have all the parts.

For CaRV Camping, remember to bring along a stake hammer to pound the stakes into the hard, packed soil of the campsite.  You can also use the hammer to pull the stakes back up when you leave.

Any questions, see Rule #1.