Tent-pitching procedures
Pitching procedure - Canvas Tent:
1. Count number of pegs in peg bag and note down the number. Arrange the pegs in a cob house formation.
2. Check that other equipment (dollies, spacers, flysheet) are present, including mallets that will be needed.
3. Fit together the upright poles (2 sections each).
4. Fit together the ridge poles (3 sections).
5. Connect the three sections of the ridge pole together. Place the ridge pole on the ground in the direction you want the tent-door to face. Put in a brailing peg at each end of the ridge pole at 90 degrees. This is to mark the positions of the bases of the upright poles.
6. Take 3 normal steps from one end of the ridge pole and mallet down a peg at 90 degrees
7. From the peg that was just malleted, walk another 3 steps to the left and right and mallet down a large peg at 45 degrees. Make sure the pegs are aligned perpendicular to the ridge pole.
8. Lay out the canvas tent which is still folded in half on the ground with the sod cloth(white) between the two brailing pegs.
9. Open up the tent.
10. Move the ridge pole to the center of the tent.
11. Place the upright poles, putting the spokes through the holes in the ridge pole and in the tent. The upright pole with a split should be the middle upright so as to ensure it will not spoil any further. Make sure that the bases of the upright poles are resting against the brailing pegs. Make sure that the poles are attached properly.
12. Insert a spacer between the flysheet and the inner tent sheet.
13. Fold the tent back into half, covering the poles.
14. Put the main guylines and a dolly onto each upright spike. Untie the main guylines and release the runners.
15. With a Guide timing ‘one, two three, raise both the uprights together until they are vertical using the main guylines with the stopper at the end of the upright pole at the furthest ends.
16. Put the main guylines over the four large pegs already in position.
17. Tighten the guylines together at the count of ‘1, 2, 3’ until the tent stands by itself.
18. Check that the poles are standing vertically. Also check that the three upright poles are aligned. Any signs of leaning should be correct by adjusting the guylines and not by moving the poles.
19. Fasten the doors and ensure that the door brailings are fastened to the two original pegs. Put in the four corner brailing pegs at the same time (squaring the tent.) One person should hold the tent door to the tent pole and another person should stand by to check if the tent is squared properly.
20. Untie the side guylines. Ask the pacer to pace three steps before malleting in the brailing pegs for the corner guylines at 45 degrees.
21. Put in large pegs for the remaining guylines so that the main guylines follow the lines of the seams, runners are about one third of the way up from the peg or when the guylines are tight and must be pegged at 45° to the ground.
22. Put in the rest of the brailing pegs around the tent wall. An extremely long twine may be used to go round the 4 pegs of the corner guylines of the flysheet/tent to ensure that the rest of the large pegs are in line at either sides.
23. Repeat steps 21-22 for the flysheet. Flysheet pegs and tent roof pegs should be roughly 1 pacing away.
24. After pitching, make sure that all the runners are facing the same way, pegs at the sides of the tent are in a straight line and all guylines are tucked into the peg notches and not on the ground.
25. Mallet in the rest of the brailing pegs (if sufficient) around the tent wall.
26. Put aluminium foil on the guylines and pegs once the tent has been pitched.