Pitching Your Tent Like a Pro

A well-pitched tent is quieter, drier and survives storms that flatten badly pitched ones.

Choose the site

• Flat, slightly raised ground: never in a dip where cold air and rainwater collect
• Clear stones and cones, check above for dead branches
• In wind, use natural shelter (bushes, a wall) and point the narrow end or the back of the tent into the wind

Pitch in order

• Lay out the footprint, then the tent, door facing away from the wind
• Peg the windward corners first, at 45° leaning away from the tent
• Insert the poles, raise the tent, then peg the remaining corners
• Tension the fly evenly: no wrinkles, and it should not touch the inner tent anywhere

Guylines are not optional

• Use every guyline in wind or rain. Run them in line with the pole seams, and re-tension in the evening — nylon stretches as it cools and gets wet.

Rain and condensation

• Open the vents even when it rains: condensation comes from your breath, not leaks
• Keep wet gear in the vestibule, not the inner tent

Pitching a family tent alone

• Peg the back corners first, then thread and raise one pole at a time from the back, pegging each pole's guylines before moving to the next.