Camping may be a thrilling and enjoyable hobby. However, erecting a tent is not as simple as it appears. Stakes, ropes, tent poles, and other accessories are included with the tent, and each is necessary for its setup. Setting up a tent is difficult enough, but folding it is even more difficult. See this post for easy instructions on how to fold a tent.
It doesn’t have to be difficult to set up a tent, especially if you utilize the Hays system. Dick Hays, a former Outward Bound instructor, came up with this system. Here’s how to fold your tent using the ‘Hays’ system:
1. Take down your tent and spread it out on a flat surface to begin.
2. Fold the tent lengthwise in half.
3. Fold the tent in half widthwise again.
4. Take one of the folded tent’s corners and bring it up to the tent’s center.
5. Bring the opposite corner of the folded tent up to the tent’s center, overlapping the previous corner.
6. Fold the tent lengthwise once more.
7. Fold the tent in half widthwise once more.
8. Now, take one of the folded tent’s ends and bring it up to the center.
9. Bring the second end of the folded tent up to the center of the tent and overlap the first end.
10. The ‘Hays’ technique has now been used to fold your tent!
Anyone who wants to spend time in the bush will eventually need to know how to fold a tent. In general, setting up a tent isn’t difficult, but taking it down and folding it can be difficult.
Related to camping is sleeping under the stars in a tent. There have been studies on the impact of tent camping and quality recreational activities.
There are several instructions for folding a tent, but most of them are generic and hence of little use. Adventureix is here to provide you with a better guide to folding a tent.
Of course, we’ll begin by showing you how to fold a regular tent before moving on to alternative options. We will also provide you with some helpful hints for folding tents in general.
Furthermore, all of our steps written by us are made to easy to follow, and you will find some videos as well. Like drawing a tent folding it isn’t all that hard.
The stages for folding a general tent are thorough because if you master this one, the rest will be a breeze. The instructions for folding a dome or cabin tent, on the other hand, are simple to follow.
How to fold a tent:
Cleanup tent area
First and foremost, you must wipe out your tent. At the same time, you should tidy up the surrounding camping space. Sometimes I’d settle into a favorite camping spot only to discover it was overrun with trash from the previous camper.
Make sure to thoroughly clean the interior of the tent as you clean it. After that, wipe the inside thoroughly with a damp towel. This prevents mildew and other undesirable organisms from growing while the tent is being stored.
You must let the tent dry after wiping the interior with a wet cloth. The air-dry method is how I do it, and it’s the best. Simply keep the tent open to allow air to circulate to dry it.
You should never fold a wet tent since this encourages mold growth.
Remove tent stakes & pins
After the tent has been properly cleaned, you can begin the tent dismantling process. The stakes and pins should be removed first while dismantling a tent. These are the parts that hold the tent together.
Ropes connect a tent, stakes, and pegs; therefore, you’ll need to untangle them as well. After you’ve removed all of the pins and stakes, clean them.
You never know what they come into contact with because they dig into the dirt. While others argue that it isn’t required, I believe you can never be too certain.
In addition, each stake and peg should be placed in its own bag. The stakes are sharp and the tent is coated in materials. Enough is enough!
Take care when removing these pointy things. With anything sharp, though, an accident can happen at any time.
Remove tent poles
This step is so simple that even a child can complete it. In addition, the step is supposed to be simple. As a result, you should be able to deduce from the header what has to be done.
The tent poles must be removed from inside the tent to properly deconstruct it. There are tents with poles that come in various pieces, depending on the tent type. If you have a tent that uses something similar, you must first dismantle the pole. You must store the fitted pieces in a separate bag once they have been correctly removed. The bars, like tent stakes, are sharp, so keep them away from the tent fabric.
Shake the tent up
Now that you have tidied the inside of the tent and taken out the poles, the tent is ready for folding. But you and I can’t be sure that the tent is fully clean. So to ensure that you haven’t missed something I think you need to do one more cleaning.
I realize what I am about to reveal definitely sounds weird, but this is the best way. Just pick the whole tent up and shake it vigorously. Then, to make sure that any dirt or foodstuff left behind falls out, keep the flap open.
I know it appears to be a hassle, but doing so will ensure that mold won’t have a chance to grow when you store it.
Lay tent flat
Now you will finally start to learn how to fold a tent. The first step in folding a tent is to flatten the whole thing. I always place the tent on the ground when I want to flat it. Putting it on the ground will make the process of flattening the tent much more manageable.
However, before placing the tent on the ground, ensure that the earth isn’t wet. If the land isn’t dry, you could wipe the ground with a slightly damp rag and then wait for some time. If there is some sunlight, just waiting for the soil to dry out will also work.
Fold up the tent
We have to the part that many of you are looking for in folding a tent, the actual folding part. Before we start, I want to stress to you that you need to make clean folds and fold them as small as possible when folding a tent.
Firstly fold the tent’s outer parts to the center of the tent. While doing this part, ensure that the tent folds are leveled in straight lines. Keep in mind that you should fold your tent in a lengthwise manner.
Secondly, as you fold the tent door, keep it at the top of the tent. You need to make the tent a quarter of its original size as you fold a tent. Additionally, keep all air and moisture away from the tent. This is not to allow any mold to grow.
To remove any air trapped inside the tent, just pat the tent as you fold it.
Pack the fly
You are done folding a tent at this stage, so you need to focus on the tent’s fly. You need to keep the fly straight as you fold it. Also, the fly needs to be folded along the tent’s outer part and the same width.
To properly fold a tent’s fly, you might need two people. On the other hand, anyone with experience can pack the fly by themselves.
Fold the fly
While folding the fly, you need to be careful. As I fold the fly, I find out that you should keep the fly’s ends close to the supports. Moreover, when folding, move towards the center.
After you are done folding once, you need to do it again just once more.
Put it all together
Now that we have finished folding everything, it’s time to learn to put an already folded tent together.
Before we start putting everything together, we need to place all the parts in order from closest to furthers. Closest thing to us needs to be the tent, obviously. After that comes the tent poles, pegs, and anything extra needs to be far from us.
The fly needs to be rolled tightly first as you start putting it all together. After that, put the tent poles and roll them tight again.
Repeat, putting something and rolling that with the tent stakes and pegs. Repeat one last time if you have anything left.
Remember to pat what you are rolling to let any excess air out. This is because too much air will cause problems when you start to pack the tent.
Once you finish rolling and securing all the tent components, we can move on to the last step of folding a tent.
The last step is putting everything rolled in the tent bag.
Put it all in bag
Finally, we can store your rolled tent in its tent bag until your next camping or hiking trip. Do a final check before you put the rolled tent in the bag. There have been times when I rolled and packed my tent only to find I missed something like the fly or some pegs.
Because of missing that something, I had to do the whole process again. This also led me to fold a tent under direct sunlight.
Until now, I have been telling you how to fold a particular tent. However, there are other types of tents out there that are slightly or quite different from the basic camping tent model.
The first different model of tents we will talk about folding is the dome tent. Afterward, we will talk about the bigger cabin tents.
How to fold a dome tent:
It is, in fact, relatively easy to set up, but putting it back together can be a hassle for some. For that instance, here is an easy-to-follow guide on folding a tent dome tent style.
- Start off any tent folding process includes cleaning the tent and outside area. First, remove all foodstuff and dirt from the tent’s inside. If there are any stains, use a wet towel to clean them.
- Next, remove the tent pegs and stakes from the ground and tent. Some pegs come in multiple parts, so break them up. Make sure to place all the pegs inside the pole back that came with the tent.
- Dome tents have fly poles that need removing. So you need to take them out like I mentioned above and place them inside the pole bag.
- Now we can start the dome tent folding job. First, we need to place the flysheet inside the tent for later folding. Then, if the flysheet is wet, wipe the moisture with a damp cloth and let it dry out.
- To not trap any air inside the tent, when you fold it, all the doors need to be open the entire time.
- Sixthly we have to remove the tent poles of the dome tent’s center roof mounts. Like the pegs, some come in multiple parts that need to take apart. Place the tent poles inside the pole bag since they are sharp and could damage the tent’s cloth.
- To fold the main tent portion, you need to place everything within the tent’s edges. As I mentioned above, the flysheet needs to be inside the main tent. Use the pole bag as a ruler for the tent. Bring both edges of the tent to the edges of the pole bag. In the end, the tent can’t be wider than the pole bag.
- Release all the trapped air inside the tent by patting the folded tent.
- Gently roll the tent tightly from one side to the other while keeping the roll straight. Also, place the pole bag inside the tent as you roll it to keep it all together.
- Once you roll the tent and the bag together, you need to tie them up as well. Two two-inch pieces of rope are more than enough to tie a tent roll easily.
- Finally, place the rolled and tied tent roll inside the tent bag to finish folding a dome tent.
How to fold a cabin tent:
All cabin tents are to house a large group of people. Therefore these extra tents can be hard to fold together. Here is how to fold a tent cabin tent style:
- Remove the tent pegs
- Remove the tent poles
- Put the tent on the ground
- Square or rectangular shape
- Fold the tent in half over itself
- Keep it neat and lay flat
- Repeat step 4
- Make a long rectangle
- Check the tent length against tent bag
- Roll the tent by one third
- Place the pole bag on top and roll the rest
- Use pieces of rope to tie the tent roll
- Store the rolled tent inside the tent bag
How to fold a tent: Useful tips
Here are some valuable tips to make folding a tent easier for everyone:
- Tents will come in two or three pieces: poles, outer fly, and inner skin
- The best way to fold a tent is to fold everything together
- Spread the fly inside the tent
- Doors should always be open
- Fold to match the pole bag length
- Roll the tent with the pole bag
- Tie the tent roll for easier storing
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
Why Fold a Tent?
How to Store a Tent?
What is a Vestibule?
Are there Multiple Tent Types?
Conclusion
Even if you’ve never folded a tent before, it’s quite simple. It’s a useful skill to acquire if you’re going camping soon and want to properly pack your tent. Simply take your time and be cautious, and you’ll be folding tents like an expert in no time.
Now that you learned how to fold a tent, you should be able to go out and hike or camp anywhere you want. Just try to follow our tips and instructions properly to have more time enjoying and less time stressing.
Hopefully, after reading and following our steps the first few times, you can become a master at this.