How to Pitch a Tent

Just bought a new tent? Most excellent! Here are some tips so that your tent-pitching goes smoothly and you have a fantastic camping trip.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. 

   Practice at home in your back yard. Or even in your living room. That way you can be sure it won’t be raining, it won’t be blowing 40 m.p.h. winds and it won’t be 21 degrees with frost nipping at your stiff fingers as you practice. Even if you can’t drive the stakes into the shag carpeting, at least you’ll get a feel for how the rods pop together, which eyelets the stakes go into and how the rain-fly fits over the top.

2. Pack the instructions back in the tent bag to bring with you camping—just in case.

3. 

   Try to time your first trip with the tent so that you’re pitching it in daylight. My friend Hali borrowed a tent from a friend and arrived at Joshua Tree in the dark. And it is VERY dark in Joshua Tree (read: middle of nowhere) at night. She’d never erected that tent before which made doing it in the dark even more challenging (see step 1).

4. 

   Select a site that is not in an indentation or valley. If it rains—and it will—you don’t want all of the water collecting under your tent.

5. Sweep or clear the tent site of rocks, branches and general detritus as best you can. Remember, whatever is on the ground is what you’ll be sleeping on.

6. If there is a tilt to the site, consider where you want your head. I like mine higher than my feet.

7. 

   Look overhead: are there pine trees dripping sap or dropping pine cones? Not good for your tent or your sleeping.

8. Have a ground cloth of some sort and place it under the tent. Make sure the ground cloth stays tucked under the tent edges. That way if it rains—and it will—the rain will slide right off the tent and onto the ground--not onto your ground cloth. If it collects on your ground cloth, then it’ll run right under your tent and the bottom of your tent will get soaked.

9. 

   For many tents, driving the stakes in first works well. THEN you put the rods in that make it pop up.

10. 

    Adjust the position of the stakes, making sure they are positioned as far out as you can pull the tent. A taut tent means you have more room inside. Make sure the stakes are in the ground securely—if high winds come up, you don’t want your tent blowing down.

11. Put the rain-fly on, making it as taut as possible.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider bringing a small rake to clear the site of detritus before you pitch your tent.
• A small whisk broom is handy for sweeping debris that collects inside your tent.
• A small mallet makes pounding in stakes easier. Or you can look for a good rock at your site to use.
• Consider replacing the cheap aluminum stakes that come with your tent with lightweight but incredibly sturdy (and unbendable) titanium ones.
• See bear droppings in the area? Reconsider your campsite location.