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Mines a lot more secure since i changed the guy ropes to rope and wood sliders, and also I doubled up the guys - I used the loops under the apron round the sides to double the guys, but think the loops are for tying up the side walls rather than for guy ropes - it works well anyway!

It was very windy for us in Newquay last summer and our 4m bell tent did very well considering some modern tents had snapped poles.

The fact that it is a circle and guy ropes extend in all directions make it very stable.

We still have the original nylon ropes/plastic sliders BUT (and by was I gald we did..) we invested on some heavy duty pegs (£13 for 20 IIRC).

The tent handled the wind very easily. To set it up, I set the guy ropes up first, roughly and loosely, then put the center pole in and then went round the outside tightening the ropes. Thwen finally I realigned each rope one by one correctly..

Quote: Originally posted by Littleskink on 06/7/2010

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val - I love the look you have with the wooden sliders and hemp line

Would they be out of place on a retro Blue and Grey coloured Dutch pyramid do you think ?

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Sure they would look fine on the eldorado as it's a canvas tent ( hated the white polyester and black plastic guys, looked nasty and cheap and ruined the whole look)

You need to measure up how much rope you need (add an extra bit for safety!) and how many sliders - worth getting spare of both as both items pretty cheap, but obviously postage knocks the price up

The rope is actually synthetic poly hemp (6mm) , so all the advantages of being weather proof, doesn't stretch etc but looks like the standard hemp

Link for the rope here (29p a metre):-

http://www.ropesandtwines.com/proddetail.asp?prod=6mm%5Fhempex%5Fpolyhemp%5Frope%5Fper%5Fmetre

And the sliders here (pic looks a bit different but they are the same ones) 36p each

http://www.camping-and-outdoor.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=2366

I just burnt the ends to seal the rope

Quote: Originally posted by michalla on 07/7/2010

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hi valbarley. i had my bell tent replaced as it was faulty, but like the idea of putting rope guys and wooden sliders on it instead. i have the 5m ultimate like you, how many metres of rope would i need and how many sliders?
my other question is, do you think that the wooden sliders could stain the tent when packing away if its wet, in the same way that wooden clothes pegs stain when it rains?
also how does having rope guys make the tent more stable?

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I'm not sure they do make it more stable but it feels a lot stronger than the horrid white thin poly stuff and you can give the guys a good 'wrench' to make it solid

I 'think' there are 14 guy ropes..

I used a 1.5m length of rope per guy rope

If you order 16 sliders and 30m of rope you will have plenty

The front guy needs to be longer than the rest, and if you want to make a spare front guy (as RAF suggested, to make the ropes either side of the entrance rather than down the front) order another 2m and an extra slider (is only about £1 difference and is a pain if you are short and have to order more)

The rain has soaked it a couple of times and the sliders haven't stained it - haven't packed it away soaking, but would have to open it up and dry it at home anyway - the sliders aren't as dark as the image on the web page shows, the wood doesn't appear to be stained with anything either

Quote: Originally posted by murdo on 10/7/2010

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Valbarley, with your guyropes doubles what footprint size do you think your 5m tent ends up with...wondering if I have sufficient pitching space in garden.
Thanks

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It's no larger in length with the double guy ropes than it was with the original ones  - the length is the same, the double guy is in the thickness, as it doubles back on itself

I would look for about a 7m circle size - Gives a 1m space for the guy on each side

You can see on this pic roughly how room much the guys use

Used my bell tent for the first time last weekend. There had been warnings of 65mph winds and it did get quite blowy and torrential rain.

A large branch was ripped off a nearby tree and my daughter thought the tent was bound to blow down next. However it didn't so no problems at all.

I was really pleased with it especially as everyone else on the field packed up and went home because of the weather!