Can't Get It Up - the tent that is

[michigander]

After much thought we laid out some dosh and bought ourselves a tent. It's a Vango, Green Wing 300, and it's been sitting in its box for a few weeks now.

Today we finally decided to try to erect it. There's no space in our back garden (it's all flower beds), so we started to set it up in the living room, Which does, just about, have enough floorspace.

We've given up!. We have absolutely no idea what the instructions are talking about. It may be relevant that we cannot 'spike things into the ground' on our wooden floor, but we really are lost.

We have two alternatives. Try again on the front lawn, or beg one of you guys to help us when we go to SSP2011 as planned.

Our neighbours are snooty as can be (insert appropriate insult as you wish) and we think we'd rather be embarrassed by you guys than by the neighbours. At least you don't all sneer at our battered van in front of us.

Any offers?

Marion

PS - Dana's just pointed out that the consequence of our ineptitude is probably less likely to end up on YouTube if we try to get our act sorted in front of the neighbours rather than you guys. I'm cool with that. Just don't publish our names.

[Kai]

When you say spike things , are they the pins that slide into the ends of the Tent poles ?

I cant see too many issues with putting the tent up at SGL6 if your attending as it looks like 3 poles and the groundsheet pegs.

Holler if you need a hand

[michigander]

We got as far as sliding one of the three poles into the 'sleeve' at the front, then realised we didn't know what all the various bits of tape and plastic fasteners and other things were for. Since we couldn't secure the arch that we'd created it wasn't possible to investigate things further as we couldn't pull things taut and work anything out 'in situ'. So we had to give up at that point.

We were only at step 5 of the 13 steps covered in the instructions, so we're pretty much stuck for sorting out the rest.

[MarySkater]

Over on UKCampSite forum, I've seen people with small gardens admit to practising with their tent in the local park...

[stardad]

If your at SGL6 and still struggling on Friday afternoon I'm happy to help.

[Hypernova]

I'd also be happy to help with setting up, I am an amateur camper, done it since I was little and I have kinda got the knack of pitching tents.

With a tunnel design you really have to be outside and have soft ground to put the pegs into, it doesn't stay up by itself like a dome and needs pegging out from the onset.

After inserting all the poles and forming the hoops you can get down to pitching, I assume it is flysheet first so you pitch the outer first and when tat is up and pegged out to attach the inner with little toggles.

You'd start by pulling out the four corners as tight as possible and pegging those out, making sure that the sides are as taught and as even as possible. Next you pull out the guy ropes at either end to raise the two end hoops and peg those out, make sure that the roof is taught. Then peg all of the flysheet out so that all of the pegs hoops are used.

The peg out the rest of the guylines, adjust the tension so that the roof is pulled taught and the tent is stable, they don't need to be massively tight though.

Hopefully you can get some practice in before SGL6, I wouldn't care what the neighbours think, they probably don't care about you pitching a tent anyway. You could take a trip to the local park and pitch there if you really are worried about neighbours snooping on you or whatever.

[malc-c]

OK I have a similar tent of the same make but different model. The little 3" long "pegs" on the outside of the tent near the base fit inside the ends of the poles. As the rods are arched over and naturally want to be straight they thus pull the base of the tent tight as the form the arch, holding the roof of the tent up as it is threaded through the poles.

Hope that helps ?

[MikeP]

Have a look at the videos on the Vango site .... Vango Pitching Videos

I wouldn't make fun of your camper van .... it reminds me of my youth ..... 40 odd years ago :)

Mike

[michigander]

Thanks all for your responses. We're not going to SGL6 this year, but we're sure we'll meet some of you at Salisbury later this year.

Thanks for the link Mike. We found the one for 'our' model - like the Icarus. There seems to be lot of bits and pieces of clips'n'toggles'n'things, But the clip does demystify it all. We feel a bit more confident now of taking it to Salisbury.

Still not prepared to practice in front of our neighbours. The language filter won't let me describe them accurately, but believe me - you wouldn't want to know them. Let's just say, occasionally we leave the van out in the close for a day or so, just to watch them fume. They've tried being aggressive in the past, but now realise that, as far as we are concerned it's public parking, so we park there when necessary.

Marion

[MikeP]

There's talk of the Salisbury SP being in October - wouldn't you be warmer in your van?

Mike

[michigander]

Hi Mike,

We'd still be taking the van. The tent would be for storage and such like. We haven't yet decided on sleeping arrangements.

We've never been under canvas before, so it would be something of an experiment. Our winter weight downie is very, very warm; and there are sleeping pads as part of the van equipment. In fact we could take both summer and winter weight downies.

Anyway, we'll just have to see how it goes. Whatever happens we'd have a little more space and avoid the constant re-arranging of 'stuff' which always needs to be stored away if we want to go sightseeing.

Dana

[MikeP]

Ah, the penny has dropped. Never having had a van, I didn't think about the practicalities.

Salisbury Plain. October. No brainer - sleep in the van under both downies.

Mike

[Beyond_Vision]

Looking at the Vango website the video for the Icarus 600 may be handy as it is a scaled up version of your tent.

Vango Pitching Videos

There will be plenty of people on hand.

If you want the ultimate in easy erecting large tents take a look at vango new Airbeam tents. I a few swift pumps and the job is done. No fiddly poles to thread through

Vango AirBeam Tent

Regards

Kevin

[ollypenrice]

The heat leaves your body from below. Put one of the downies underneath!

All you need is a field - a park or a roundabout or anything at all that is grassy!!!

Olly

[michigander]

Er, thanks for all the suggestions about finding parks and roundabouts, but...

Our comment about neighbours wasn't just about our immediate next door people. The entire area we live in is full of too rich, too selfish people who would be outraged if anyone cast a suggestion of a shadow on their snooty little idyll. They'd report us to the police as gypsies before we had the tent up, let alone before we could learn how to repack it in its neat little bag.

(Actually, we don't live IN Walton-On-Thames. We're close to there, but hate to tell people precisely where we are)

D & M

[SlipperySquid]

Well you could always let me come and stay with you for a few days? I'm sure I could lower the house values by at least 50 grand! I can even borrow a staffordshire bull terrier for the complete look!

Ripped jeans, my tattoo's on show from a particularly tight vest I'd wear, even on the coldest day, a can of stella in my hand and my trusty dog "Ripper" or another name of your choice ...ohhh I'm getting excited already

Anyways...what are you two doing with a tent????? I thought a tee-pee or even a Mongolian Yurt would have been more your style Blummin pretend hippies

I hope that I can get to SSP this year and hope to get to have a couple of glasses of Bourbon with you both and I'd only be to happy to help with tent erection or van pushing etc!

[michigoose]

HEY Matt!

It was YOU who used that epithet, not me. I've spent most of the last year convincing 'Our Man In Kabul' that the hippie trail was a myth. Please don't blow my cover.

And YES, I have slept in a yurt. It was the only time I've seriously pondered on death as an alternative solution to my predicament. 80 miles from the nearest civilisation in the Hindu Kush (Bamiyan Valley), with a 10 hour journey to get back to Kabul. I was so weak and sick with 'the usual' that I even needed two people to help me walk to the loo. The only hotel in the valley was a collection of yurts - and yurts do not have 'facilities'.

[SlipperySquid]

HEY Matt!

It was YOU who used that epithet, not me. I've spent most of the last year convincing 'Our Man In Kabul' that the hippie trail was a myth. Please don't blow my cover.

And YES, I have slept in a yurt. It was the only time I've seriously pondered on death as an alternative solution to my predicament. 80 miles from the nearest civilisation in the Hindu Kush (Bamiyan Valley), with a 10 hour journey to get back to Kabul. I was so weak and sick with 'the usual' that I even needed two people to help me walk to the loo. The only hotel in the valley was a collection of yurts - and yurts do not have 'facilities'.

Ahhhh my faith is now restored

We could have a star party here? Might bring back some memories..though I'm sure yours wasn't as stylish?

Yurt holidays, Yurt camping, Yurt holiday, Yurt hire, Yurts Devon, Yurt Devon, Tipi holidays – Yurt Camp in Devon & Dartmoor

[michigoose]

Nah! Too much like a Holiday Inn circa 1980. Those trellis bits look like plastic. MY yurt had real, knobbly, rough hewn tree branches. I remember them well because I lay in the truckle bed watching a mouse running up and down them.

Marion

[Highflight]

There will be plenty of people on hand.

If you want the ultimate in easy erecting large tents take a look at vango new Airbeam tents. I a few swift pumps and the job is done. No fiddly poles to thread through

Vango AirBeam Tent

Regards

Kevin

Have you seen the price of those things? The poled version is less than half the cost. http://www.vango.co.uk/tents/beta-450.html