We're camping newbies, and so we're doing a "garden test" of a Eurohike Welland in preparation for a short family trip to the Glen Nevis campsite.
We've got the tent up, but it's notable that the bottom edge of the flysheet only touches the ground where the ends of the poles are. Between the poles, the bottom of the flysheet has a number of these elasticated loops:
Are we supposed to peg those down, to increase the number of points where the flysheet touches the ground? The instructions supplied with the tent don't seem to mention them at all.
And one other question, if I may; once the poles are installed in their eyelets and the flysheet is up, should the poles all be pulled outwards as far as they'll go so that the straps that make up the base of the flysheet are stretched as tight as possible, or should there be a little slack? Not sure if I've explained that very well.
All advice gratefully received!
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They are to hold the wall in place when you open the door zip.
Life is easier when something holds the bottom of the zip when trying to raise/lower it.
Depending upon the door being RH or LH will decide which loop to fix firmly to ground. The door side loop later be affixed to the same peg when fully closed, as security.
Being a bit clumsy, I often find myself tripping over any pegs that I put at the bottom of zips / doorways. I will generally only put them in at night, and then remove during the day, or when I'm going away from the tent for a few hours. You may also want to ensure its in place when it's windy to stop the material flapping - can be very annoying at 4am! I will use one peg for both loops.
Be warned though, if you bang it in too far it can be really hard to get the loop free when a toilet trip is required in the middle of the night - I'm speaking from experience! :)
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I know exactly what they are and yes you do peg them. Advice is, cross them over, as this takes the strain off the zips. Peg the out side loop down, the inner loop will go over a peg but undo it when exiting or entering when unzipping the doorway. These help keep the draft and rain out. Hopefully this will help
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Thanks for the responses so far. I should note that although the photo of those black elasticated loops was taken under the zip, the loops are positioned at intervals all around the bottom edge of the flysheet. So they should all be pegged?
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Yes they should. They help hold the flysheet clear of the inner tent and keep it evenly stretched. I find it helps if you put a twist in them before pegging so that you're putting the peg through the bottom of a figure 8 rather then he bottom of an 0,that may just be my imagination though.
Quote: Originally posted by AVR2 on 10/8/2016
Thanks for the responses so far. I should note that although the photo of those black elasticated loops was taken under the zip, the loops are positioned at intervals all around the bottom edge of the flysheet. So they should all be pegged?
Peg them all. As seanfdh says, they keep the tent taut. Don't pull them out to the limits of elasticity. They need a bit of give.
The one at the door? I only use one peg for that, usually a rock peg with a bright red or yellow top. Don't want to stub a toe. Basically, if a piece of the tent looks like it needs a peg, the there is no harm in pegging it.
------------- Hypercamp Alaska
Vango Force 10 mk3
Vango F10 Helium 1
Coleman Cobra Pro 3
Coleman Cobra 2
Naturehike Star River 2
Eureka! Solitaire
Dutch army goretex bivvy bag