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5 basic tips for pitching your tent
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If you've never gone camping before, your you've never set up a tent before, some of the tips that are obvious to "seasoned" campers may be not so obvious to you. Here are 5 basic tips for pitching your tent once you reach the campground, woods, or field where you will be camping:
1. Lay out and inventory your tent and tent gear to make sure you have all the pieces. You will need your tent, whatever tent pegs and guyropes you have to secure it, your ground cloth or tent footprint if your tent doesn't have some sort of built-in floor, and you should have a hammer or mallet to drive the pegs into the ground. This is sort of a "pre-pitching" step, but it will make the job go much more smoothly if you find out about missing tent pegs now, rather than half way into the process.
2. Find a good location. If you are staying at a campground, you may be given a designated tent pad upon which to pitch your tent. Or, you may simply need to find a good location, while observing any "No tents" signs. If you are in an open wooded area or field, be sure to look for a spot that is a) level, and, b) higher than the ground immediately around it. This will help prevent flooding if it storms. Also, stay away from trees as much as possible. Stormy weather can make trees a lightning risk.
3. Prepare the ground at your tent location. Take time to remove obvious sticks, rocks, etc. Not only will that make tenting more comfortable, it's important to avoid damaging your tent footprint/ground cloth/tent floor. And if you are forced to pitch your tent on a sloping site, be sure to put the tent entrance facing downhill to minimize water getting into the tent if it storms.
4. Try to pace off several meters of space between your tent and neighboring tents. Sound travels surprisingly well in campgrounds or camping areas, so as much space as you can make between yourself and others will help ensure privacy for you and for them. Of course, if you are restricted as to space, you'll just have to make do as best you can!
5. When you start securing the tent, drive or push the pegs into the ground at a 45 degree angle towards the tent. This will help prevent wind from pulling out the pegs. Be sure you use the guyropes (built into most tents) to help secure the tent, adjusting them so they are as taunt as possible.
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