Camping Skills

Most campers will be familiar with the frustrations of packing your tent back into its carry bag at the end of the holiday.

You collapse the tent and roll it up into the tightest pack possible, but it still won’t go back into the bag from which you unpacked it just a few days ago.

The temptation is to just throw the thing into the car boot and head for home.

But with a little extra care, you should be able to get the tent back in its bag in no time.

Here’s how to get it right every time:

1. Unpeg all the guys and keep the pegs all together in one place. If it’s windy leave a couple of corner pegs in until the last minute.
2. Use other pegs or an extractor tool to lift any pegs that are stuck fast.
3. Roll up the guyropes nice and tight.
4. Partially zip up the door, leaving a gap for air to escape from inside the tent.
5. Collapse the tent with the poles in place or deflate if it’s an inflatable model.
6. Remove the poles: taking out ‘pins’ attaching them to the foot of the tent. Give them a wipe if they are damp or dirty.
7. Straighten out the fabric and fold it into thirds.
8. Get the bag and measure it against the folded tent. Fold again and again if necessary until they match up.
9. ‘Squash’ the air from inside towards the door end.
10. Lay the pole bag across the width of the folded tent and start rolling from the closed end.
11. Keep as much tension as you can on it and if you aren’t happy it’s tight enough, start over again sooner rather than later.
12. Keep rolling, using your knees to expel any air, or use any spare children to push the air out. If you’ve got it tight enough, the pack should fit comfortably into the bag.
13. It can be easier to put bag to tent rather than tent to bag.
14. Zip up the bag, and use your knees to squash the two sides of the zip together. Using your fingers to keep the material away from the zip jaws can help.

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