We’ve all been there. Stood on a fell or by a tarn after a long day hiking, ready to pitch your tent, only to see an ominous grey rain cover creeping up on you in the horizon. The difference between pitching your tent quickly at this moment can be the difference between a good nights kip or a soggy one. Hopefully this guide gets you out of a few of these situations.
Trekking pole tents, although a go to for saving those precious grams on your back, can be tricky to pitch if you don’t know your way around one. Although simple in design (two trekking poles, an inner and an outer), there is a knack to it that you will want to know before you head out.
Once you’ve pulled the tent out of the sack, you want to lay the tenant flat and peg out all four corners, which is easier said than done solo in strong winds (Pro Tip: If pitching solo, peg the two bottom corners first before rolling out and pitching the top two corners).
You now want to make sure your trekking poles are put in their shorter position before placing into the tent. It’s important here that both poles are the same length, otherwise you will end up with a wonky tent that has a high chance of falling in on itself.
Once both trekking poles are in positions and staked into the ground, lengthen each pole to the desired height, to bring some rigidity to your shelter for the night. You should now start to see the shape of your tent reveal itself.
From here, make sure all guy ropes are fastened correctly to improve aerodynamics (the last thing you want is a flappy tent all night, believe me) and all pegs are firmly in the ground.
That's it. You should now have a strong, sturdy trekking pole tent, ready to protect you from whatever the night brings, along with more time to enjoy the mountains in all their glory.
Over and Out.