OK, as promised, my friend and I pitched our Vermont XL in my garden on Tuesday morning. From starting (i.e. nothing out of the bags), pitching it and also taking it down and getting it back in the bag and all poles back in teh bag we did it in just over an hour!
We got it back in the bag really easily - this is how!
Make sure all bedroom doors, main door and porch door are open.
We let the tent just 'fall down' and then took all the poles out (obviously!)
Folded the porch area on top of the main tent so we just had the main tent shape out on the floor (well the footprint actually)
Standing at the porch end we folded one side, lengthways, in to line up with the middle line of the tent and then the other side to meet the middle line as well (so the 2 outside edges now touching each other in the middle).
Then folded the whole thing in half lengthways - I lay down and rolled from one end to the other!
Folded in half again - I rolled down it again (oh how we laughed!)
I think that makes it the width of the bag (if not, you need to fold again but I can't remember how many folds off the top of my head!).
Put the bag at one end and then start rolling from the other end. Roll from the end that is the back of the tent so that as you roll the air can escape from the porch end.
As I rolled it I sat on the roll - well, bounced on it really, and also pushed air out of the next flat bit I was going to roll it onto (if that makes sense).
By the time we finished rolling it was pretty compact and we just put the bag on top of it and then flipped it over. It fit perfectly!
Who needs the boys?!
------------- I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken
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