Hi,
Yes, I have the same tent and have pitched it twice, once in the garden (by myself)as a practice (which I'd recommend - the practice that is, NOT doing it by yourself !!) and once the weekend before this one just gone, which was also spectacularly wild wet and windy. Fortunately, a helpful chap from the tent next door came and helped, otherwise I'd probably have ripped the tent or broken a pole in the wind.
Let me start by saying that in all but the mildest conditions, it's a two-man job to put it up. The three poles which form the dome (the lowest one is the rightmost as you face the main door) will insert fairly easily, but two people will help to prevent snagging - I did tear one of the sleeves slightly on the windy night.
You can insert the side poles as well if there are two of you - I left these out initially as I was by myself and didn't want the extra weight to contend with, but with two it would be easier to insert them whilst the tent is flat - it can be done once the dome is up, but isn't as easy.
There are 3 tapes crossing the central dome from pole-end to other-pole-end. These tapes have a number of brass pole rings stamped into them at the ends. Ideally you would thread one pole end into just one end of each tape prior to lifting the dome. And peg down at least one tape upwind to stop any nasty accidents. There are also tapes running sideways from pole to pole.
ENSURE that the outermost hole of each tape is left free for a peg in all cases. When bending the poles it's easy to pick the outermost hole as an easy option. Don't do it .... you'll need it for a peg, so bend a little further. If you DO use the inner holes for a peg, you'll find the pole ends are more likely to ping free of the tape. As I was scurrying round my tent wondering what the hell was going on, it finally dawned on me that the pegs were causing the problem.
One of you has to go under the tent, find the middle where the poles cross, and lift. The other person then needs to flex the other pole ends one-by one, and get them into the tapes.
Then spread the poles until the 3 crossing tapes and the 'sideways' tapes are all taut, then peg the outer rings on each tape.
You can then do the other two long bedroom poles. The low bedroom corners each have a short pole which is inserted up into a sleeve - the pointy end should be down. You then thread another tape hole over the pointy end, and adjust a tensioning strap to lock that pole in position. That tensioning strap isn't immediately obvious, as it is kind of tucked under the inside of the tent.
You then have from each corner a strap which should be pegged out at 45 degrees to the corner, and then tension adjusted.
Between the corners there are two short guys which lift a ventilation flap, but they also provide tension to the bedroom top, so don't skip on pegging them (or any others, for that matter).
Around the outside of the tent, the mudflaps should be pegged outwards - they are not supposed to be tucked under the groundsheet or anything. On some of the flaps at the front you can use one peg for two flap ends.
Some of the guys are a little long for pegging at 45 degrees. I also doubled up my guys with a bright-coloured cord - the ones provided are reflective for night-time, but practically invisible during the daytime, so be warned.
Inside the tent there are adjustment straps at some of the dome-pole ends which can tighten the flysheet. The bedrooms are more or less self-explanatory. There is red tag colour coding to tell you which is the middle mounting toggle. At the lower corners of the bedrooms (at the entry side), there are insertion clips which fasten to the main dome frame tapes. These can be tightened to draw things together - you might need to do this if you find there is too much tension on the bedroom mounting toggles.
The groundsheet is a hexagon, and mine seems to be a little larger than strictly required - or so I thought at first - remember to peg those mudflaps outwards.
Enjoy your tent. With two or more of you putting it up should be a doddle. Mine was totally waterproof with the slight exception that strong wind can force some water in at the door zips if you don't orientate the tent back into the wind. I hadn't done that, but it wasn't a big deal, and I simply ensured the door bug screen was zipped closed which guided the very occasional errant drip back towards the outside. It was the force of the wind that caused this - normally it wouldn't be a problem.
It would be worth buying a few extra pegs: in windy conditions I found myself cross-pegging upwind, which left me short for some of the downwind mudflaps.
I had no problems with condensation - the tent is very well ventilated. I guess that can be a blessing or a curse.
Oh, and there's a right way and a wrong way to attach a guy rope to a peg, I discovered, on that very windy night, in the dark !! More scurrying, more scratching the head, then the reason for self-untensioning guy-ropes finally dawned on me. Lesson learned !! Ensure the peg is through the final loop of guy !!
Any questions, please feel free to ask away.
Cheers, Simon
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Topic: Coleman Wyoming 6
- i'll let you know how we get on!!
