Got told my tent setup was wasting time, so I changed my method completely

Last year on a trip to Shenandoah, a guy walked past my campsite while I was staking down my 6-person tent and said I was doing it backwards. He pointed out that I was anchoring the corners first instead of getting the poles fully seated and the rainfly clipped on before staking. I was skeptical at first, but he explained it cuts down on flapping and keeps the inner tent off the ground better in wet weather. I tried it his way on my next trip to a rainy spot in Ohio, and it saved me about 15 minutes of fiddling with loose fabric. Now I always do poles and fly first, then stakes last. Has anyone else had a stranger's advice completely change their routine like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_johnson2215d agoMost Upvoted

That guy at Hocking Hills sounds just like the guy I ran into at Shenandoah. Three years ago I was camped at Big Meadows in Virginia, wrestling with a 4-person Coleman dome, and this older fella just walked over and said I was doing it all wrong. He showed me the same method - poles and rainfly first, then stakes after. I thought it was crazy at first because I always did corners first for years. But honestly, it cut my setup time from like 20 minutes down to under 8, even in the wind. I've never gone back to the old way since. That one piece of advice saved me so much frustration on rainy trips.

sandra71516d ago

Right? That poles first method is a game changer. I used to fight with tent fabric for like 20 minutes every trip until some dude at Hocking Hills told me the same thing, now I'm done in 5.