How do you put up a tent at FW?

[goingquackers]

The weather here in Chicago has been beautiful the last few days. I decided to set up the new tent in the back yard to make sure everything works for our FW trip.

I had a hard time getting this tent up. It is 18x16 foot and about 8 foot tall. It was falling over and blowing in the wind. The frame of the tent had to be stuck in the ground about 8” to be secure (and even then it was fragile). I am worried the sand/shell pad at FW will not keep this thing up. How does to pad hold up to tent stakes and polls?

Can anyone who tent camped at FW or any place else give me some pointers? Going out and buying a new tent is not out of the question. Here is a picture of the one I got (it looks much bigger in person).

http://store1.yimg.com/I/campmor_1839_2274064

 

[Tri-circle-D]

The tent pad areas on the Ft. Wilderness campsites are not like the sand you would find at the beach. It is a clay-like substance that is packed down pretty hard. I have broken plastic tent pegs trying to hammer them into this stuff! Be careful! Once you get your pegs in, they will stay put. Looking at your tent, I am surprised that you have to bury the poles to keep it standing. If you really have to do this, bring a small camping shovel with you. You can dig in the tent pad pretty easily, and pack the sand (clay?) back in there. I wish I could describe the sand better for you. It is like sand, but it kind of sticks together, is a brownish/reddish color, and it is definitely not very comfortable to sleep on. It drains water very well, and they keep it clean and level for you in between campers. I'm not sure where they get it from, because it is not something I have ever seen naturally in Florida.

 

[bobcat]

I found that the metal thin tent stakes work best on the sand pads. You can buy these at walmart. One thing about the sand pad is that it gets everywhere. We are still finding sand in our tent when we set it up and it has been 4 years since we camped at FW.

 

[bsbkmacgowan]

We are still finding sand in our tent when we set it up and it has been 4 years since we camped at FW.

Ahhhh... the ultimate in souvenirs! Sand in the tent!

Yup, I'd have to agree about the thin metal tent stakes, for sure. We camped at FW in April of 2002, and Brian didn't have any trouble getting the stakes in (and we set up the tent around 9pm.)

goingquackers: Did you happen to use any "guy lines" to increase the stability of your tent when you put it up there in Chicago? We always attach these, unless we're just putting up the tent in the backyard as a run-through. If we're going to be sleeping in it at all, we string 'em up, for sure.

Strung properly, they should keep any tent up unless we're talking really strong winds.

Good luck!

Sandy (and Brian, Bonnie & Kellie, too!)

 

[Mirlui]

Quackers, when are you going to FW? I have a tent that looks just like yours (sleeps 8 to 10 people) and I'll be going to FW the weekend of April 22nd. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm a camping rookie: I've been thrusted into the scene by my daughter's Girls Scouts troop, for which I'm glad. I'm very much looking forward to camping at FW and I'm grateful for finding these boards with such woderful people willing to share their experiences.

 

[clkelley]

I have never used a tent like yours with the exterior "U" poles. To keep my tent from blowing away while setting it up, I stake it down first, then add my poles. (Mine are dome style tents).

However, the poles should not actually go into the ground. The base of the poles, should be in sockets at the base of your tent, and the stakes are what hold it to the ground.

Guy wires are extremely helpful. Yes, the thin metal stakes hold really well in the sandy pads at Ft. Wilderness.

Carol

 

[goingquackers]

Mirlui, I will be there on the 25th (hopfully the 1500 loop) maybee I will spot your site. Definatly a camping rockie also. This will only be my second time camping.

The tent poles had no hook like I have seen on other tents to keep it connected to the nylon. What are "guy lines" and where can I get them?

 

[clkelley]

Go to Wal-Mart or any other sporting goods store or section and look for "parachute" cord. Comes in white or camoflouge.

Cut lengths and burn the ends to seal it, then tie to the top of your tent at strategic points and then tie taughtline knots at the bottom and stretch them and stake them out.

Carol

 

[clkelley]

I looked up your tent on the wenzel web site, and found installation instructions.

There should be some pins attached to the bottom of your tent that the bottom of the tent poles slide onto. This stretches the fabric out completely, and should provide for more stability. Then you stake down all places where available.

Carol

 

[goingquackers]

Thank you for trying to help clkelley, that was very nice of you!

Unfortunatly that is the newer version of my tent and not the one I bought on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16041&item=5179716030&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

There is no hooks to attach to the main poles on mine. I dug up the yard sticking those poles in the ground and they still didnt stay. I am probably doing something wrong but I am not sure what.

If my wife would have seen it she would have cancelled the camping trip. It was hard convincing her to camp at WDW in the first place and if she would have seen our tent falling over she would have killed me! lol

oh, and how big are the tent pads at FW (1500 loop in particular)? Thanks!

 

[bobcat]

The tent pads are a pretty good size. We had our cabin tent wich has an additional small tent attached and a canopy set up and we could have fit another tent on out site.

Do you have little pockets on the bottom of your tent to put your poles into? If not then you might want to add some. You can use belt webbing, found in you fabric depatment of walmart, cut into 6in. lengths. Fold that in half and sew along one long side. Then you can attach the cut end to the seam of your tent.

Also don't forget to seal the seams of your tent. You can get a bottle of seam sealer at walmart for a couple of bucks. If it rains you will be glad you did.