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Hiya,

we have just invested in the Montana 6. love the tent but just tried to put it up in the garden and it was a disaster!!! Can anyone give me any tips? We got all the poles in correctly but trying to get the thing to stand up with only two people was nearly impossible!

 Do we just stand one end up first, secure it then do the other end then the two middle sections?

Do we put the pins in when its on the ground or when you errect each "leg"?

Do we put the clips on once its all up or as you do each leg or when its on the ground?

Is it a good idea to pin all the four corners of the ground shet down first to stop it moving?

Any more tips will be greatly appreciated.

We eventually got it up but it took hours!! now its a nightmare to get back in the bag and we have now got one pole stuck together as the sections must have got twisted and are now stuck....given up on it and will try to loosen it in the morning....stress!!!

I love this tent but need your help on putting it up! Thanks!!!

We have a montana 12. There may be slight variations on how to put it up, but I have always connected all the poles together and put the pins in while it is lying on the ground. Whatever you do, don't pin the groundsheet corners out first. In order to get the pins into the bottom of the poles you will have to concertina the groundsheet a bit first, and pegging it out stops you from doing this.

Then I would peg out the end of the groundsheet that the poles are leaning away from. Then with the assistance of another person I would start to pull up the pole nearest the pegged out end. It will be a bit difficult initially so do it slowly, and as you raise it "walk" the bottom of the poles away from the pegged out end. Once the first arch is vertical (or nearly vertical) use 2 or 3 guyropes at that end just to keep it up - they don't have to be perfectly placed at this stage.

Raising the first arch is the most difficult as the second arch will be resting on it and there will be alot of pull on the guy ropes. As you raise subsequent arches "walk" the pole bases away from the pegged out end. As you do this you will stretch out the groundsheet. Stretching out the groundsheet will automatically help to raise the poles and the whole tent will "inflate" and suddenly look promisingly stable.

I would also open a door to let air in as the tent "inflates". Before doing the guyropes and the rest of the pegging make sure you close it, or you may have difficulty closing the door at the end.

It's a bit difficult to describe. I hope it makes sense. It is a bit of a battle getting the pins in, so make sure the adjustable straps down the one side are as slack as they can be. 

Andrew thats a real help thank you I will give it a try!

Many thnaks]Claire.

we have got the monty 6

put it up in 40 mins first time, and got it back in same bag

the reason for the above was reading the threads in this site (great help)

we also got one set of poles stuck together and after fighting like you did we noticed that they had twisted if you look at them you will find that they are shaped and when twisted you can not unlock them.

i went to a tent display to look at the monty up, this was after we had brought one wanted to know what hung from the velcro silly question when i knew the answer (cable for light). the sales man put the monty up himself, he said if you peg the corners down, then put either of the the middle poles in it stayes put, have not tried it not going till next week so cannot say if it actually works

we use a fishing net Kids kind with a piece of tape on this is the measure of the tent when it is the correct size for the bag, saves you keep picking the bag up also make sure you get all air out, lie on it like we did or get kids to do it 

hope this helps caroline

We've just bought a Monty 6 and I wasn't worried at all about putting it up till I read this thread.  We've had a Vango Aspen 700 and had no problems whatsoever in errecting that tent and it is a huge tent with many more poles.

I wonder why some are having trouble putting it up.  Is it totally different to erect a tunnel tent as opposed to a dome??  I must say though that our Aspen, although a dome, did not have flexi poles crossing in the middle but heavy steel poles in arches and crossed with 2 steel ones.

Fingers crossed for when we have our first outing with the Monty.

Check out the outwell website and view the "pitching way"http://www.outwell.co.uk/

It's trial and error really, but well worth it. As for the poles getting stuck, it's like matthewsmum says, you have to twist them to release them.

good luck.

Kay

Thanks for your replies.

Regarding the poles getting stuck I could see that they needed twisting to come free but it was stuck fast and no matter how much I twisted I couldnt get it out! I left it for a while tried again and it worked....hopefully this wont happen again!

We have watched the video and have taken on all your comments so im sure next time we will have more success. I can see how easy this tent will be to errect once we have mastered it. Just two more questions though,

 Do you do the pole clips up as you erect each leg or do you do them all at the end? does it matter?

Oh and theres a little clip on the bottom of the  inside of the bedroom connecting door whats it for? Couldnt find the other end to the clip!

Cheers everyone!

hi champagnegirl

dont know what other people do, but we put the clips on after we have her up,when adjusting the tentioners etc

and those clip thingys in one of the pods, they are for if you want to drop a pod,say for storage,untoggle the pod roll it up and you will find the other side of the clips

hope that helps ya

Glad im not the only one experiencing the stuck pole problem then! thanks for the tip about tapping it with a mallet. Will try that if it happens again

cheers!