- Gather all your pieces together and assemble the pole segments into full poles. Be sure that the poles properly connect into pole hubs, if your tent uses pole hubs. Put the rain fly and stakes aside for the time being and lay the tent body flat on the ground. Position it so that the door(s) face the direction that you intend them to face. Begin at the front of the tent and lay the tent material in such a way that the front door is lying on top facing you. Pull out each corner so that the tent is as taut as possible. Examine the tent body and determine how the poles attach. There are two common ways that tent poles attach to the body: clips and sleeves. These require a slightly different technique, but are pretty similar. If your tent uses an asymmetrical pole structure, refer to a picture of it in assembled form to determine which end of the poles go in the front and which end goes in back.
- For tents that use clips to attach the poles, begin on the right corner of the tent and insert the end of the appropriate pole into the grommet at the corner. Insert the other end of the pole into the appropriate grommet--often the one that is diagonal to the first. Move over to left front corner and insert that pole into the grommet. Run the pole to the appropriate corner and insert it into that grommet. Repeat for any remaining poles/grommets, if your tent uses more than two. Once all the poles are attached to grommets, they'll be bent into shape. Attach any additional pole supports that comprise your tent frame. Then, slowly attach the tent clips to each pole. Once you've inserted the pole ends into the grommets and attached all the clips, your tent will be freestanding. In the case of tents assembled using pole sleeves, you will have to insert the poles in the sleeves and push the poles from corner to corner prior to placing the pole ends into the grommets. Determine which direction each pole needs to go and be sure to use corresponding sleeves so as not to get crossed up.
- Now that your tent is freestanding, you need to stake it out to give it taut structure. Locate each stake-out loop and gather your stakes. Use a mallet or rock to pound the stakes into the ground. Pull the stake-out loop taut beforehand and then hammer the stake in so that it holds that end of the tent in place. Work around the tent in a clockwise direction until all stakes are installed.
- If you're worried about inclement weather, you'll need to install the rain fly. Be sure that the rain fly is properly lined up so that the door matches the door on the tent. Also be sure that it isn't inside-out; the guylines are located on the outside. Attach the rain fly to the tent using the clips on the fly. This may require you to pull the ends of the poles out of the tent grommets momentarily and run them through the fly, or it may use separate hardware on your tent and fly. Be sure to fully attach the fly to the tent. Stake out the guylines on the fly to provide a taut structure that will properly protect you from precipitation.
