Setting up a tent – what could be easier, it would seem? Even an inexperienced tourist, using the instructions, will cope with this task. But there are several subtleties and nuances that novice tourists overlook, but these techniques can extend the life of your tent and, most importantly, provide you with a restful and comfortable sleep.
Before setting up a tent, you need to choose a suitable place for this - the quality of your sleep, and sometimes your safety, will depend on the choice of site for installation. When choosing a location, you need to remember a few rules:
- Do not place your tent under overhanging rocks or slopes where rockfalls are possible. In winter, it is also necessary to take into account the possibility of avalanches.
Don't pitch your tent too close to rivers. This is especially true for mountain rivers. Firstly, the overnight stay will be cold due to the humidity coming from the water, and secondly, rain falling upstream can turn even a small river into a roaring torrent or even a mudslide that will simply wash away your camp.
It is dangerous to pitch a tent under old tall trees - in a thunderstorm they attract lightning, and in a strong wind branches can fall from them.
You should not set up a tent on roads, even if they look abandoned. The same applies to animal trails - an animal that sees your tent on its trail may come to inquire about such an innovation.
The tent must be installed so that the entrance and ventilation holes are located in the direction of the wind - then there will be more air in your tent.
Do not place your tent in low spots, depressions or holes, as water may accumulate in them when it rains.
In addition, you should not pitch a tent in close proximity to a fire - sparks can easily burn through a synthetic tent.
We do not recommend placing a tent under power lines, near landfills (even abandoned ones) and in close proximity to emergency buildings.
And of course, if possible, one should not forget about convenience: the place for the tent should be level, cleared, without a strong slope, with mandatory access to water and fuel.
In hot climates, shade over the tent is also key. This affects not only the comfort of the tourist inside it, but also the service life of the tent itself, which is exposed to the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays and heat.
Your campsite should remain as clean as it was before you arrived.
Having taken these rules into account and choosing a suitable place to set up the tent, you need to set up the tent correctly. If you are setting up a tent for the first time, it is better to read the instructions in advance, and even better, try to assemble the tent right at home in advance. Then during the hike you won’t have to waste time deciding where the racks are inserted. When the tent is already standing, it is necessary to stretch the wind guys, which are so often neglected by novice tourists. They not only provide stability to your tent in strong winds, but also provide the necessary tension for the awning, which increases its waterproofness. Drops of water roll off from well-stretched fabric much better than from sagging fabric. Sometimes, during prolonged rain, the fabric stretches from getting wet, then it is necessary to rearrange the guys, pulling them tighter.
It should also be added that the tent can be pitched even if the pegs are lost - they can be replaced with stones on guys or made on site from wood. And if you break the poles, you can use a special sleeve or tire for emergency repair of the arc segment, which in most cases is included by manufacturers in the standard package of tents.
Particularly picky hikers can also lay an additional floor under the tent in the shape and size of the tent; it will not only protect the bottom of the tent from damage or dirt and provide your sleeping area with additional thermal insulation, but will also create a clean surface for folding the tent in the morning. An additional floor is sometimes included with tents; often it can be purchased separately. It is made of thicker fabric than the bottom of the tent and provides better insulation against moisture. In dry weather, it can be sacrificed in favor of reducing the weight of the backpack.
Shoes are usually left in the vestibule of the tent, but it is worth taking into account that this rule does not apply in places where poisonous insects or reptiles can crawl into the shoes. And before folding the tent, it is advisable to shake out all the garbage from it.
How to deal with condensation in a tent
Condensation is one of the most common tent problems. Condensation is nothing more than moisture that is contained in your breath and, when you are in a confined space of a tent, settles on the inside of the awning. Due to condensation, you can find your tent damp even in sunny weather.
How to fight it?
- If you wake up and find condensation on the tent, open the entrance of the tent wide open (if there are two entrances, open both), and the wind will quickly dry the tent;
Remove the awning and hang it on the inside in a sunny or windy place;
If your tent has a snow skirt, roll it up - the ventilation of the tent will improve and there will be less condensation;
If you need to quickly close the camp and have no time to dry the condensation, you can simply wipe the inside of the tent with a towel made of;
Do not bring wet things into the tent; the moisture will evaporate and settle on the tent flap.
How to dry a tent
Drying a tent is a long and rather difficult task. Of course, if you were caught in a brief rain and then the sun immediately came out, then there is nothing to think about - just wait, and the sun will dry the tent. The situation is more complicated if your tent is wet and begins to leak water, and the rain does not stop. In this case, you can try drying the tent from the inside. The most common drying method is gas torch drying. This method is quite dangerous, because tents made of synthetic materials burn out in a matter of minutes, and combustion products can cause the inhabitants of the tent to simply die. But if, nevertheless, the desire to sleep in a dry tent is overcome by the instinct of self-preservation, then use this method with extreme caution, having first opened all the ventilation and entrances of the tent.
The second method of drying a tent from the inside is much less common. To do this, you need to heat stones in a pot and, placing the pot on a piece of wood, bring the resulting “stove” into the tent. The heat from the hot stones will quickly dry the wet fabric. But you should also be careful with this method, because the pot can burn the bottom of the tent. In addition, some types of stones can emit toxic fumes when heated.
How to transport a tent
Most tourists leave the tent lying in its original packaging, but I prefer to pack the tent in a compression case and then put it in a hermetic bag - in this form the tent will take up minimal space and will not wet the contents of the backpack if it gets wet. I stuff the tent into the compression case chaotically, without folding it. It would seem that a tent that is neatly and carefully folded should last longer, but in this case, neatness can do a disservice, because the tent is folded along the same fold lines. Accordingly, both the zipper on the tent and the awning itself bend in the same places, which quickly leads to their wear. When laying the tent chaotically, the zipper and awning bend in a new place each time.
For the first time I spent the night in a tent... I don’t remember when it was... A long time ago... I was very little... Since then, I only remember my father’s huge tent, fashionable, Polish, bright green and orange. The pride of the parent and the envy of the neighbors - savages. It stood like a fairy-tale palace among the gray-green tent world.
That tent has been to many places: in the Caucasus and the Baltic states, in the Crimea and Transcarpathia, in the Belarusian forests and among the fields of Ukraine. When I turned twenty, I took out a miracle - a tent from the attic and decided to use it for its intended purpose. Alas, the first rain showed that nothing lasts forever and the decayed canvas palace went to the dustbin of history.
And I began to build my camp for my fishing tasks. And this is what I finally built.
Departure to departure discord
Departures are usually divided into short and long. Although this is not entirely true. A couple or three men who are crazy about fishing will live well for a couple of weeks in the most spartan conditions. And if women, children and other people are leaving, unaccustomed to hardships and adversities, then they have to stay in maximum comfort for three days.
On short (or “wild”) trips there is no time, and there is no desire, to waste precious time setting up a large camp. If you have somewhere to throw your tired body at night and something to put in your hungry belly, that’s good! On long (or “comfortable”) trips, the camp is set up thoroughly, with all possible amenities and wisdom. It is highly desirable that the equipment for both types of trips overlap as much as possible - it’s cheaper and more convenient. But, alas, it doesn’t always work out.
Let's start with the tent
Everywhere and always the author uses these small tents with a small vestibule (photo 3). I have organized as many as three of them! When I travel alone, I take “my” tent. If with a family, I add a second one for the wife and a third one for the children.
Such tents take up little space and can be installed, with some skill, in 10 minutes. But everyone has their own separate apartment. No one snores, no one breathes evening alcohol in their face, no one farts in their sleep. The tents are for two people, but they are more spacious for one person, especially for larger people. In addition, there is space for clothes and all sorts of small items. The small vestibule is convenient for storing shoes and protects the entrance from rain.
I personally consider a large “family” tent to be overkill (although I understand that not everyone shares my point of view). Of course, you can put a mountain of things in it, put a table and even cook food. But we do things differently: if we go in a crowd or for a long time, we take a tent. It provides you with a kitchen and a dining room and a living room and cabins - company and shelter from rain and wind. A tent needs to have a strong metal frame and double walls. In hot weather - mesh. In cold or rain, the mesh is covered with fabric. For a short trip of one or two people, a small compact tent is suitable. It will protect from the rain and cover from the sun.
The main item of interior design is a tourist kitchen table. A very convenient thing! There are different sizes, for long trips a large kitchen one is more convenient (photo 6), for a short trip - a simple tourist one (photo 7). I prefer to sit on a simple folding chair (yes, I know about armchairs too). I choose stronger and taller. And always with bracket legs (as in the photo). This one does not sink in the viscous soil under the rider. I never became comfortable with folding chairs (either because of my height of 195 cm, or because of my weight of 140 kg). They seem bulky and not very reliable to me. Those that cost real money do not hold much weight and quickly break down, while the expensive ones are worth the price of a polished set.
For long gatherings of a large group, folding tables and tables are not very suitable - the design is painfully shaky. In such cases, we use a folding table (or tables) as utility tables, and a normal dining table is made of wood. So are the shops. Finding several boards is not a problem if you take care of it ahead of time.
We cook food on gas. A fire is very romantic, but vain and dirty. Therefore, the fire is left for the soul or for the smokehouse. In the tent, under the kitchen table on the “long” trips, there is an ordinary household gas cylinder for a two-burner stove.
For short trips I use approximately the same cylinders with different attachments - both for “cooking” and for “shine”.
Here you have both gas and electricity. Although for very short trips today, it is probably more profitable to use “long” cylinders and equipment for them. They are cheaper, are on sale everywhere and there is different equipment for them, too, “a wagon and a small cart.”
Light is a big topic!
We used ordinary flashlights, then fluorescent ones appeared, and tried gas, kerosene and gasoline lamps. Then LED lights came - the most “long-lasting” ones... And then one of our friends bought a compact generator, and life changed.
Phones and other tablets are always charged, there is plenty of light. Convenient thing!
“Personal” light is provided by cheap headbands (photo 16), placed in all corners: in a tent, in a car, in a kitchen, in a box with fishing baits. An electric bat-type flashlight is convenient for night fishing (photo 17). I also carry a powerful “spotlight” with me, but I hardly use it (photo 18).
About dishes
Let the special compact and lightweight sets of pots and bowls remain for backpackers. For serious trips, I prefer spacious, reliable boilers or even... old pots from home. I also prefer large frying pans with a non-stick coating. We live comfortably and don’t eat concentrates.
Everyone chooses personal dishes according to their taste. I use vintage stainless steel bowls, spoons and forks. But I don’t like metal mugs - they remind me of the army. I drink from a completely homemade mug made from “unbreakable” glass.
Another thing is short trips. A small pot with a lid - a bowl, inside which fit: a mug, a spoon, matches and a tin of tea, sugar and salt. Mixing up something “instant” and drinking some tea is quite enough.
I forgot one more important point...
After trying different types of bedding, I settled on a self-inflating mat (photo 19). I prefer a regular sleeping bag, like a “blanket” (photo 20).
You need to - zip it up and get a bag. If you need it, you unbutton it and there you have the blanket. By the way, I have two sleeping bags: a simple, lightweight one for warm weather and a serious insulated one, in which you can sleep comfortably even in frosty conditions.
That seems to be all the basic equipment. There is one small thing left that should not be forgotten either. No toy shovels or tourist hatchets. A real shovel with a short handle and a heavy splitting axe.
I prefer the cheapest, prefabricated grill.
If anything, it’s not a pity to lose him. I won’t give advice about the smokehouse. In this sacrament, everyone has their own secrets. In the "household" kit: nails, rope, electrical tape, several clothespins, a piece of thick polyethylene, a stopper - a washbasin for a five-liter plastic bottle. And, of course, strong and capacious garbage bags.
Everything stated above is a personal opinion based on the personal experience of the author. No brands or models of equipment are given as a matter of principle. The photos show the type of equipment, brands and models are also randomly selected.
And in general, you can listen to advice, but you don’t have to rush to implement it. There is a lot of different equipment on the market, good and... not so good. Everyone will be able to equip the camp according to their own understanding and capabilities.
Anyone who has ever gone camping overnight probably understands how to pitch a tent. For experienced travelers, the process of installing a house does not take much time. For a beginner, creating an overnight stay can cause serious difficulties.
Choosing the right place
Some novice travelers believe that a tent can be set up absolutely anywhere. Moreover, this misconception is often confirmed by sellers in travel stores. However, to make your vacation comfortable, you need to know where to put up your tent. When setting up an overnight stay, you need to consider the following:
- The tent should not be pitched in a place where there are stones, sharp branches, tree roots or an anthill. Particularly vicious insects can greatly spoil the sleep of a careless tourist.
- When camping in hilly areas or mountains, it is important that your head is positioned higher up the slope when sleeping, even if the slope on which the tent is pitched is slight. Otherwise, the next morning you will suffer from a migraine.
- The possibility of sudden rain cannot be ruled out for sure. Therefore, it is important not to pitch the tent inside a hole or crater. Otherwise, at night the water will flow directly into the shelter.
- When setting up a tent, you need to think in advance about the place where the fire will be lit. The tent catches fire very quickly and must be protected from fire. In addition, it is important that smoke does not penetrate into the tent.
- It is not recommended to install a tent directly next to a body of water. This place is usually damper and colder.
Every novice traveler must understand where to pitch a tent, otherwise he will not be able to avoid a ruined trip.
Types of tents
Before you understand how to set up a tent for the night, it is important to find out what type it is. Most often in stores you can find hemispherical (frame), tunnel (half-barrel) and gable (house) tents. The last view is already outdated. The gable tent was very popular in the early days of backpacking. But lately people take it with them on hikes extremely rarely. The thing is that such a house takes a long time to assemble, has poor wind resistance and is quite bulky.
Half-barrel tents are also difficult to set up. But this type has a big plus - it has quite a lot of space. Undoubtedly, the best-selling tent is the hemispherical (frame) tent. It is quite easy to assemble and has high strength.
Setting up the tent on site
Many novice travelers are interested in how to pitch a tent outdoors. The installation process for the most popular hemispherical (frame) tent is as follows:
- First you need to lay out the inner tent on the ground.
- Then you will need to install the arcs. First you need to collect them. Namely, insert frame elements into each other. This type of tent must have at least two arcs. Then everything depends on the design of the tent. The poles can be inserted into holes in the corners of the inner tent, and then secured using hooks, or threaded through fabric grooves and attached to the bottom of the tent. Then the arcs should be fixed with a rope to the tent itself. Due to this, the entire structure will become more rigid.
- After the steps have already been taken, it is necessary to pull the awning. It is important to compare the inlet on the awning with the outlet on the inner tent. The awning can be attached in two ways (to the arches or to the ground with pegs).
What should not be done by those who like to spend the night in the forest?
Some people who already know how to pitch a tent make the following mistakes:
- Use polyethylene so as not to stain the bottom of the tent. However, with slanting rain, such a nuisance will happen even faster. If you decide to use polyethylene, then its corners need to be folded and attached to the bottom of the tent.
- There is no need to pitch your tent on low beaches of mountain rivers. Due to rain, the water level in the river can suddenly rise and flood the shelter overnight.
- You need to be especially careful if the tent is placed in the mountains. It should be located away from avalanche areas. For example, on slopes where there is a thick layer of snow. It is strictly forbidden to stop overnight on snowy cornices.
Every lover of long trips should understand how to set up a tent correctly. As a rule, only a couple of people in a group of travelers know about this. Some people forget that hiking is not only relaxation, but also a great responsibility.
Setting up a tent is a responsible and important task. After all, it depends on how well you will rest after a long journey, or how easy and fun you will spend time in nature. But not only comfort and convenience will be provided to you by a tent, but also safety and coziness.
To set up a tent, choose a dry and level place, without hummocks and mounds (although they can be cut off with a shovel), protected from the wind. Also pay attention to the presence of an anthill nearby and ant trails within a radius of 1-2 meters. Being around ants is not always a joy. They are capable of occupying your backpack, things and tent in a matter of hours. And getting rid of them will cause you a lot of trouble and will take a lot of time. Remember, you are visiting them, not they are visiting you. The forest is their home, their territory. On my last trip to the sea with a tent, I made a mistake: I set up the tent right on the ant trail. As a result, after 3 days my backpack was swarming with ants. They got into my clothes and tent. It took me another 3 days to get rid of the ants.
If you are putting up not one, but several tents, then make sure that there is a convenient area for other tents. Think about your friend!
After you have chosen a place for the tent, prepare the site itself. Remove branches, stones and pine cones. Not only are they uncomfortable to sleep on, but they can also tear the bottom of the tent, which will be more unpleasant and dangerous.
On trampled or clayey soil around the perimeter of the tent, under its very walls, dig a shallow groove (4-7 cm) to drain water, which would otherwise flow under the bottom of the “house” and get it wet. This especially needs to be done if the soil is clayey; moisture will penetrate the bottom and remain there until you remove the tent, since clay does not allow water to pass through. This will cause you a number of inconveniences: at night the bottom of the tent will become very damp and wet, and in the morning an unpleasant cold will come from the bottom, the inside will smell of dampness and mold, and the fabric of the bottom of the tent itself will rot. Again, on my last trip, we did not follow these instructions and experienced all the “delights” of our mistake.
Place your dwelling with the back wall facing the wind and the entrance on the opposite side from nearby ravines, holes or the shore, since at night, getting out of the tent, you can fall (or in a state of joyful drunkenness).
On a non-steep slope, the tent is placed along the line of water fall with the entrance facing upward, otherwise tourists will slide onto each other. It is convenient to hang the tent by the ridge ropes between the trees.
Be sure to lay a piece of polyethylene under the tent that matches the size of the floor. Otherwise, during heavy rain, the bottom of the tent will leak. Even tents with a bottom of 5000 mm allow water to pass through perfectly if a lot of it accumulates below.
How to arrange your “bedroom” so that it is warm to sleep in a tent?
First, foam is laid on the bottom, and only then sleeping bags or air mattresses (if you like comfortable outdoor recreation). Foams (or they are called tourist rugs) will save you from dampness and cold that come from the soil at night, protect you from cooling and soften the surface for more comfortable rest. Your lower back must be on foam, otherwise you may catch colds and other diseases.
You can place soft and dry things on the mats under your sleeping bags to make your sleep warmer and more comfortable. Place ropes under your feet, spreading them evenly, “soft” and well-packaged products - cereals, dry mixtures, concentrates. A soft backpack is usually placed under the head, covered with a rain jacket or sweater. But it is not always convenient to sleep on a large backpack. A very good option is to put your clothes in a sleeping bag to create a comfortable and soft pillow. Another option is an inflatable pillow. It is easy to inflate and deflate and takes up little space in your backpack. I took a pillow with me, it helped me a lot. Read more about the inflatable pillow in the article “Useful “little things” for traveling and hiking.
Setting up the tent. We provide safe and comfortable sleep
There are different types of tents, and accordingly, the way to set them up is different.
Of the “Soviet” ones, the most common are two- and three-seater ones with a collapsible frame.
Set up a gable tent like this:
- Attach the lower guy wires to the ground with pegs so that the floor rests tightly and without distortions on the mat.
- Then take the racks and place one at the entrance and the other at the rear end, overlap them with guys attached to the roof ridge.
- Tie the ends of the guy ropes to pegs driven into the ground at a distance of 2-3 meters from the tent. The direction of the guy wires should be along the center line passing through the end of the roof.
- Pull the roof on, zipping up the entrance to the tent first. Guys should represent a continuation of the diagonals of the slopes. Therefore, drive the pegs at an angle of 45 degrees to the sides of the tent.
If you are setting up a tent in the forest, first stretch the main guys of the roof ridge between the trees, and only then stretch the floor and guys of the slopes. Use thin tree trunks and bushes as pegs. Instead of wooden pegs, you can also use metal pins that can easily be stuck into the ground. In water trips, oars can also serve as racks.
And so everything is ready! Have you set up the tent correctly? The tent should have a flat roof, without wrinkles or folds, the walls should not sag, and the floor should not be raised.
To properly install a two- or three-person tent, first lay out the bottom and secure it with guy pegs. By inserting spacers 150 cm long, using guy ropes, the roof of the tent is pulled so that there are no wrinkles, folds or sagging fabric. Attach guys to nearby trees or stakes
The most common modern tents are hemispheres or “half-barrels”. The principle of their installation is as follows:
- Carefully lay out the inner tent. Moreover, you place the bottom on the ground, and the “roof” should be on top.
- Secure the bottom with metal pegs (usually included with the tent) by pulling guy ropes.
- Install the arcs.
- Throw an outer awning, tie it to the inner tent and tighten it with guy ropes so that there are no wrinkles, folds or sagging fabric on the tent. Also attach guy ropes to nearby trees and stakes.
If you have an “economy” version of a tent, then do everything the same, only you won’t have an awning.
When purchasing a tent in a kit with a cover, poles and pegs, instructions for installing it are usually included.
How to sleep?
- It is better to sleep in a tent with your head facing the exit, unless, of course, your head is lower than your feet. This makes it more convenient to climb into the sleeping bag and look out. Very often, when tourists lie with their feet towards the exit, the bag often gets knocked out and gets wet...
- Remember that if you sleep in a sleeping bag, it is better to dress lightly at night (according to the weather). A person dressed too warmly quickly sweats and freezes. If your underwear is wet, no sweaters or jackets will keep you warm. It is better to insulate yourself from below by placing film or warm clothes under the foam.
- In good weather, it is better not to zip the entrance to the tent all the way. If your tent entrance consists of 2 layers: fabric and mesh, then it is better to leave one mesh fastened so that no one crawls in or flies in.
- If you are tightly sealed, the moisture exhaled by people will begin to condense on the inside of the walls and roof; the tent will seem to sweat, and water will begin to drip onto your face and sleeping bags.
- It is colder to sleep on the edge, so men or the healthiest of women sleep there. In addition, a small amount of condensation accumulates on the side walls of the tent overnight due to the breathing of sleepers, and by morning the edges are damp and humid.
When the tent does not have an awning, you cannot touch the roof in the rain, otherwise it will begin to leak in this place. Then run your finger along it from the inside from the place of the drop to the bottom - the water will flow along the trace of your finger and stop dripping.
In cold weather, you can warm up a piece of ground before setting up the tent. To do this, light a small but wide fire from thick logs and warm the ground for 1.5-2 hours. Then the fire is removed, coals and ash are swept away from the ground, a bedding is made of branches or spruce branches, and a tent is installed in this place. In such a tent, even at sub-zero temperatures, you can relax comfortably and warmly.
Fighting bloodsuckers
After setting up the tent, be sure to treat its surface with products against mosquitoes, ticks, midges and other insects, especially the entrance.
In order to drive mosquitoes, midges and other harmful bloodsuckers out of the tent, punch several small holes in the bottom of an empty tin can and attach it to a stick. Place a few hot coals from the fire in a jar, and then a piece of wet moss or resin from a pine or spruce trunk. “Blow” the coals in the jar, the thick smoke from which will drive the bloodsuckers out of the tent.
At night, place a smoker at the entrance to the tent on the leeward side, this will drive insects away from the tent. Several smokers can also be placed near the fire to ward off bloodsuckers.
Blooming bird cherry trees can also repel midges. Its leaves and flowers have a detrimental effect on small organisms. Therefore, set up your camp near the bird cherry bushes, place or hang fresh leaves and a few twigs at its entrance. But remember, don’t do this if your friend is allergic to bird cherry, which is very common.
The stems of wormwood and tansy have similar “repellent” properties. To prevent midges from bothering you around the fire, throw chamomile stems into it.
After resting and sleeping, be sure to dry the sleeping bags and the tent itself inside. To do this, take the sleeping bags out of the tent and hang them on ropes (if available), or simply throw them over the tent lid. Also remove foam from the outside of the tent. Open all entrances to the tent to evaporate any moisture that has accumulated overnight.
Fold the tent in a dried, clean state to avoid damage to the fabric during storage. If there is no way to dry it, then be sure to do it when you return home from a hike...
The site for setting up tents must be horizontal. As a last resort, the heads of those lying down should be higher than their feet. In the mountains, the site can be leveled by laying flat stones.
The chosen place is cleared of stones, branches, cones, in winter the snow is trampled down or cleared of it, depending on its depth and density. When it is windy, place the tent so that the wind blows against the back wall. It is advisable to orient the entrance to an open place - the edge of a forest, a river, a lake - preferably to the east or south.
Tents, which are most often used on simple and summer hikes, resemble houses in shape. Tourists call such gable tents “pamirs”, “half-dats”, “serebryankas”, “hunting tents”, depending on the material from which they are made and on some design features. On sale they can have a variety of names that say little. The number of sleeping places in the sales passports of tents is also determined arbitrarily. Therefore, you need to know that the “average” person needs about 50 cm of tent width. Therefore, if the dimensions of the tent floor are 150 x 200 cm, this dwelling can “accept” three.
However, house tents, for all their simplicity and even light weight (it is advisable to have a tent weighing no more than 1 kg per person; there are almost no such tents on sale) are inconvenient in autumn and winter when it rains and low temperatures. At this time, it is advisable to use large tents for 10-15 people, which can accommodate the entire group.
At the same time, since only one tent needs to be installed, work on the bivouac is reduced. It is warmer in such a tent; it can be heated with a stove. In addition, the weight of the tent per one of its inhabitants is noticeably reduced if, say, for a group of 9-10 people, instead of 3 “houses” they take one “tent”.
The design of such tents is described in the section on equipment.
A house tent is usually installed by two people, while more complex tents (“tent”, “chum”) are conveniently installed by three or four people. I start by raising the roof. It is placed on the main poles or stretched (depending on the design of the tent) and secured. Then I tighten the corner and side guys. It is good to use nearby trees for this, especially for stretching the ridge of a tent-house. Guys can be attached to pegs, round stones, trees. It is better to drive the pegs at an angle to the ground and perpendicular to the stretch.
If in rainy weather water can get under the tent, you can dig a groove under the slopes to collect water. The tent needs to be stretched, especially during rain: it will be better for water to drain from it and it will not leak.
Tent-houses can be erected without first fixing the floor. Before setting up the tent, it is advisable to zip it up, otherwise it can be stretched in width or height. When tensioning ridge guy lines attached to poles, which is preferably done first, you need to make sure that the ridge of the tent, the poles and the pegs for fastening the guys are on the same straight line. The direction of the corner guy lines on the wings of the tent should not be in line with the edge of the side slope, but should go diagonally. If there is no danger that the floor may move, then it can only be properly stretched without being secured with pegs.
If the roof does not wrinkle in folds, the walls do not sag, and the floor is not raised, then the tent is set up correctly.
It is advisable to have metal pegs for tents (metal rod, duralumin corner) or plastic ones, which are constantly used with the tent. If you also make racks, then you won’t need to spend time making pegs and racks at each parking lot. Of course, you cannot cut down living trees, branches or bushes for these purposes. Tent poles can be duralumin tubes with a diameter of 10-15 mm. One rack requires two, or preferably three, pieces of tube. Wooden plugs are hammered into one of the tubes on both sides, onto which the other two tubes are placed. When disassembled, these six tubes, 40-45 (60-65) cm long, can be carried along with the tent. In the mountains, stones are usually used instead of pegs, and racks are replaced with tied ice axes. In winter, instead of pegs and racks, you can use skis and ski poles. In water trips, oars are often used as stands.
In the old days (not so long ago, 15-20 years ago), when there were much fewer tourists and other people in the forests than now, you could afford to make a bedding for a tent from the spruce branches of coniferous trees in populated regions. It turned out soft, dry, warm, especially in winter. The scent of pine hung in the air. But now, when avalanches of vacationers, mushroom pickers, tourists (especially near big cities), even if all the rules of nature protection are observed (which, by the way, never happens!) with their mere presence cause significant damage to the forest, trampling the soil, allow yourself to break off coniferous trees for the sake of just an overnight stay is unacceptable.
What to lay under the tents? Place plastic film on the ground, cleared of knots and pebbles and cones. Lay polyethylene foam (foam, foam rubber) rugs or mats. Now you can lay out the sleeping bags. In summer you can get by with flannelette or wool blankets.
If it is going to rain or snow, then the tent if it gets wet; you need to cover it with a cape, tying it to the tent guy ropes or securing it with clothespins. You can also use a special awning made of light fabric or polyethylene film, stretched over the tent (with a gap between the awning and the roof) on its own guys.
For tent tents, if they are made not from calendered nylon, but from tarpaulin or other waterproof material, it is also good to have an awning, despite the fact that the slopes of such tents are located at a large angle to the ground and snow or water easily rolls off with it. tents can be sewn from light parachute nylon, repeating the shape of a tent without lower vertical walls. The awning has its own guys, they can be tied to rings, poles or skis, to which the tent guys are attached. If the awning is well stretched, it will protect the tent from rain, even if the fabric is waterproof. An awning is also useful in winter, even in the absence of precipitation, since a tent with an awning freezes less (there is less difference between the air temperature outside and inside the tent). If snow falls, freezing on the tent makes it significantly heavier, and it can easily be shaken off the awning. It is very difficult to clean the tent from external icing and internal frost - frozen condensation that permeated the tent canvas during a hike and is only possible with prolonged drying, which takes a lot of time and most often does not work (there is no fuel for a large fire). The outer awning can be replaced with an inner tent, preferably a light parachute nylon. The inner tent is attached (tied) from the inside to the main one using specially sewn short ribbons. There is always a gap between the main and inner tents. In addition, this double tent is warmer than a single tent.
Large tents usually do not have a floor. This has its advantages, which have already been mentioned. Installing such tents is not difficult, but, like any business, it requires a certain skill. Such a tent is supported by a central stake (or stand) 190-200 cm long or by a pair of skis of the same length (two skis are fastened with two clamps so that such a stand rests both at the top and at the bottom on the tail ends of the skis). Guys are usually attached so that the area from the inside of the tent approaches the shape of a circle, unless there is an intention to stretch it into an oval, which is sometimes more convenient for accommodating people. When using multi-person sleeping bags, there is approximately 0.4 x 2 m of floor space per person.
The area for the tent is usually trampled down with skis without removing the backpacks. Trees, skis, and sticks are used to secure the tent. In the taiga in remote areas, you can lay a layer of spruce branches under the tent. The floors (gates) of the tent can be covered with snow.
Installation of the tent begins by placing the top of the tent on the central stake. The tourist holding the stake finds himself inside the tent and commands its extension, since he can clearly see the shape that the tent takes. The vertical part of the tent walls usually has extra length or special folds that can be pressed from the inside of the tent with sleeping bags, backpacks, etc., without specially fixing them. The existing loops, however, make it possible to secure the tent more clearly. Multi-person tents (factory-made or home-made) are generally installed depending on the design. If there are trees, guy ropes are tied to them. At treeless sites, guy ropes are tied to skis or ski poles.
A large tent can be heated in winter with a special stove - a replacement or a floor one, the weight of which, together with the pipe, usually does not exceed 1 kg. The fuel for such a stove is small logs about 10 cm long, chopped from dry logs. Such stoves consume little wood. A small sushi is enough for 10-12 hours of continuous burning. True, you also need a fire for cooking. If you slightly change the design of the stove and make it floor-standing, standing on retractable legs, slightly increase its volume and add a hole for a bucket, you can cook food on it. The weight of such a stove with a pipe is about 3 kg. This is something else, as they say, great, since the savings on the time of bivouac work and their labor intensity become very significant. No tedious “logging” is needed. One small dryer will provide warmth for the whole night and will allow you to prepare dinner and breakfast. There is also no need for a fire set - flyers. or tagans, ropes, hooks, etc. An hour after stopping, the group can already rest in a tent. With such a warm overnight stay, when the attendants serve “coffee in bed” in the morning, people rest more fully and comfortably. you need to search for a long time for a plot of forest with an abundance of dead wood. It is enough to find one drying place in a place suitable for spending the night - and you can set up a bivouac and at the same time, fuel is saved and the forest is preserved. Experienced tourists have long noticed that when hiking with fires, especially in winter, people get more tired. not during transitions during natural human movement, but during the “fuss” of bivouac work and, most of all, in winter “logging”, when you have to cut down, cut and drag thick timber through deep snow. It’s good if the hike is short, 2-3 days, and great fatigue does not have time to accumulate. On longer routes, when after a day of hiking you have to fell and cut up the forest for several more hours, drowning in snow, the romance of the campfire no longer brings joy. In these conditions, not very trained tourists dream only of getting to their sleeping bag. And on long, long trips, where there are especially many difficulties and stresses, even a trained team will happily give up a fire if there is an economical stove that will provide warmth, food and comfort.
In tents in which you have set up a kitchen and dining room - with a primus stove or a gas stove - a linen floor is not needed at all. This is the opinion of many tourists. The floor will only bring inconvenience here. It will always be dirty, wet, and scorched. What about without gender? Just lay the same plastic film, polyethylene foam mats and foam mats on the ground or recessed snow, but only with sleeping bags. The remaining area is free from coverage. You are not afraid to tear, stain, get wet or burn the floor. In such a tent it is no colder than with a floor, it is more comfortable to live in, and it weighs less.
Tent equipment
Living in a tent requires certain skills, knowledge, order, and in a tent all objects and things must occupy a certain place during the entire trip.
Polyethylene foam (foam plastic, etc.) rugs or mats are placed on the spread film, sleeping bags are placed on the rugs, and soft things are placed at the headboards. Small items - compasses, glasses, toiletries - are placed in tent pockets, soft backpacks can be placed under sleeping bags at the feet. Easel backpacks are left covered with film outside the tent or under the awning.
In summer, shoes are placed at the entrance to the tent under the floor, dishes are left or in any other convenient and visible place.
For lighting in the tent, an electric or other lantern (“laterna”, candles) is installed (Fig. 3). The fuel for the lamp can be paraffin or transformer oil. Paraffin and stearin are easy to transport. The wick for the lamp can be made from asbestos tape 1-2 mm thick and 15-20 mm wide. The height of the flame is regulated by the position of the wick, held by a wire frame, as well as by greater or lesser immersion of the wick in paraffin. You can also attach a candle to a hanging candlestick, which must be moved upward as it burns.
Electric flashlights are used for portable lighting. For winter hikes, it is better to use electrodynamic flashlights that are not afraid of low temperatures. Flashlights with batteries must be protected from freezing in winter.
On a summer trip through a forested taiga area, it is advisable to sew a canopy of gauze or nylon mesh to the entrance of the tent, treating it with some kind of repellent - a liquid that repels midges.
In tents with a waterproof top used without an awning, it is advisable to hang a removable gauze canopy under the slopes to prevent condensation from forming in them. Drying a piece of gauze is much easier than drying a tent as a whole.
A stove in a tent requires a special place: hanging - a reliable support in the form of a central stake in a tent or a ridge rope in a gable tent; floor - support for legs. The supply of firewood for the stove is stored in the tent, usually near the entrance. You can dry things on a stretched rope in a gable tent or by attaching hooks and hangers to the central stake - in a tent.
On winter hikes, as if complete with a tent, group duty shoes are needed that any participant could wear. Usually they take one pair of felt boots, but it is better to replace them with lighter “chun boots”, sewn from double wool batting or padding polyester and covered with children’s oilcloth and “shod” with galoshes sewn to them. It is enough to take one pair of chunyas per group as spare warm shoes.