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How long others take to put up their TT's (including leveling, awning, inner tents, unpacking the car etc) from arrival at pitch to finally sitting down. Generally we take around 3-4 hours, is this the norm or are we just really slow?

Also, how long do others take to break down, we usually take around 4 hours or more, but we normally clean the plastic skirts and ground sheets too. I'm intrigued what others do.

We have a Jamet Louisianna BTW.

TIA

Hi jdt,

On our very first outing with the tt it took us 5 hours and lots of arguing. We have now got it down too 2 1/2 hours from arriving at the site to putting everything up and to sitting down and having a cold beer. When we are taking it down it takes us approximately 1 1/2 hours and thats with cleaning everthing aswell.

We have a sunncamp 350se.

Vikki

Hey guys,

We reckon on 2 to 2 1/2 hours fully up for our Raclet and 1/2 hour ish for our Conway Cruiser, although to be fair that's cheating as its an FC.

But if the weather is good, why bother with the hurry? Have a cup of tea (or, as the case may be, a beer), and chill.

Taking down we can do in 1hr if pushed, although that's without the clean and dry, obviously.

We have a Raclet type 603

Charlie

The trailer section of our Raclet is very easy to erect and the main living area does not take that long.   If we are only going for a few days we don't bother with the roof lining.  OK it means the loo is stuck in the corner, but I can cope with that, as it is only for night time use.
What we do, is get the tent itself up, and the bedrooms set up - we then have somewhere to sleep.    Take a break to look around the site, or go to the local shops.   Then I will tackle putting stuff where it is going to live for the holiday etc.

Way I look at it is I'm not in a hurry, and provided that I have somewhere to sleep and my kettle then I can take my time over everything else.

We usually get our Camargue up in two hours...one hour to put up the cabin, awning frame and most of the awning, the other hour for Hubby to finish pegging and me (plus any help I can cajole from the kids) doing the inside. It takes much the same amount of time to pack it, except dealing with the loose stuff takes longer and actually dropping the tent takes about 30 minutes.

Speed tips...

1)We don't unzip the awning at any time, just fold it over onto the roof of the cabin and pack it down that way. Works on most TTs.

2) We leave the bedroom inners in place, except for the roof hooks which you need to take down to fold the cabin.

3) If we're moving between campsites we leave all the less bulky bedding on the beds.

4) We always set up in the same way...same order of poles, side of canvas we pull over first, same place for everything in the tent. We pack the same way. I can't be bothered spending half an hour hunting down pegs or pads or mallets, or Hubby standing there with the fridge asking where to put it, or us walking in opposite directions with the frame...

5)Side boxes are packed with the stuff that we need to be there during our stay, not bits of TT. . Poles go on top of the canvas when packed. Mallets and pegs go in the sink. I want to be able to grab the tools and get on with it.

6)TAKE 2 MALLETS!!!!! Two can peg faster than one.

7) The kids are trained to do their own set-up within their sleeping areas...just sleeping bags and personal possesions for DD in the upper tent, but DS hangs and pegs his own undertent and does his own flooring and self-inflating mat. It all saves time.

8)If I need to clean something, I either take it home and clean it there or clean it the day before.

9) I don't bag things like chairs and folding tables. Saves time and they take up less space in the trailer well anyway.

Two things that we don't do that saves time, but most folk do different..

1)We hardly ever bother with the roof liners, unless it's going to be either very hot or very cold.

2) We hardly ever bother with the groundsheet either,

3)We don't deep-down clean until the end of the season. We can cope with a bit of dried mus on things between times.

Yes, I know that other folk like to take more time but after a possibly six hour drive I just want the thing set up and functioning before nightfall. I'll add the bells and whistles in the morning.. Also on some holidays I can be setting up and striking the TT six or seven times over the course of six weeks and frankly, it gets boring. We can get to sleeping point in a lot less time but it depresses me utterly to get up the next day and find everything in a guddle in the middle of the awning. Maximum efficiency, that's what I want! And it's very good practice for pitching in the rain.

I did however spend 3 1/2 hours on Saturday putting up my friend's new-to-her Camargue...because every last zip, clip and fastener was undone or removed. Gosh, that was boring!

Quote: Originally posted by racletcharlie on 02/6/2008

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Out trailer tent is very old (1970s), but it doesn't need anything doing to the inner tents. They just fold out ready clipped with the canvas. Is this normal?

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Depends entirely on your TT design. Our old Walker folded with the inners left in place too.

One other timesaving tip is just to leave the curtains on and let them fold up with the awning when you fold it on top of the cabin. Yes, they come out a bit creased but the creases soon drop out. I take them off to wash them at the end of the season.

Hubby reminded me about something else. As well as colour coding the poles we keep the two sets of awning poles the Camargue uses in seperate bags...the main awning poles and the second set for the extension insert. Even if we're using both sections the poles are then ready-sorted to hand.

We've got a Jamet Louisianna and other than a couple of slow practices in the garden beforehand it took us about four hours to pitch, peg and set out when we got to the campsite!  Not sure if doing it all one handed slowed things down but until I get a hat with a beer can holder and straws what else can I do???   We probably spent too much time levelling etc but as we get more experience I'm sure we'll shave half an hour off that time!  We love our Louisianna, it's ideal for us (two adults and three children at 6, 4 and 2) and I love having the inners up.  Feels so much more homely!  Shame there isn't a Jamet owners forum though.  Unless I've missed it?!