Quote: Originally posted by samsoph on 14/8/2006
Thanks Val
for the reply, i only said to hubby last night i didn't realise how important these guy ropes seem to be ( although we aways have pegged them properly) i thought the main body of the tent was the most important thing.
Gill
What the guylines do in a modern synthetic tent is to support the poles and to prevent them flexing excessively. Excessive flexing due to very high winds can break a pole ...it`s the second most common way of breaking a pole, the first one being breaking a pole when you`re putting the tent up.
Your tent won`t reach maximum stability until every last guy and peg is in place, so as I said before...don`t skip anything. Use two pegs on any points you might think need them, and don`t be shy about running a second guyline out from any point on the poles that you think is shifting around too much. Also I see you have an inner-first tent...make sure all the internal ties/clips that attach the fly to the inner are done up as well.That`s how the guylines transmit their support through to the poles.
You may be wondering "Second guylines? Spare pegs?" You should always carry extra pegs, preferably nice big ones to suit different ground conditions, a couple of spare guylines and sliders, a spare pole section or two and a rethreading kit for broken poles. It`s easier to do a small repair on a tent the moment it needs it rather than wait till it escalates into a problem. I carry a full first aid kit for tents, as detailed in this thread...
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=3&TopicID=32423&SearchPagePosition=1&search=ikea+sponge+bag&searchMode=allwords&searchIn=Thread&forum=3&searchSort=dateDESC&ReturnPage=Search
...but to be honest, I`ve only used it on my own tents a handful of times, and then nothing serious. I`m always mending other folks tents though!
Topic: Too much info Vs too little info
from us both!
