How to Pack Your Tent
This tip only applies to backpacking tents. It won't work for cabin tents or large family tents because they won't fit in your backpack.
To begin, you first need to take down your tent and take them apart. Then you can break up the poles into its segments. Make sure you do disengage the poles gently so that the poles will last longer. To reduce stretch from the shock cord, disengage the poles beginning from the center.
Put the poles aside inside its bag for now and it's time to take care of the tent body and fly. It's a good idea to make sure that the tent body is as dry and clean as possible before you pack it but don't worry so much about it if you're going to set it up again by the end of the day. But if you're in a hurry, you can always set up the tent again at home and let it dry for some time.
The tent body was nicely folded and rolled when you first bought it but you don't have to pack the same way yourself. In fact it's better that you don't fold it because folding at the same spot wears out the waterproof coating applied on the outer fabric. Simply stuffing the tent body inside the stuff sack also saves a lot of time.
Now it's time to get back to the poles. You can either pack it vertical and close to the back panel of your internal frame backpack or you can insert it into the stuff sack together with the tent body. Pack the tent body loosely first before you insert the poles and then pack the rest of the tent body and fly tight to get some support for the poles.
The tent body and fly can be packed into the top of your pack. This way you don't need to unpack everything else to get to the tent because the first thing you'd want to do when you reach a campsite is to pitch your tent. This can be useful when you have to pitch your tent in a hurry.
If you use an ultralight pack instead of an internal frame backpack, you can pack the poles on the outside of the pack. Just be careful of low hanging branches and other obstacles.
The stakes are easy to pack because they're small but you need to be careful where you pack them because they can make holes on your tent body or clothes. Pack the stakes safely away from the tent body.
To begin, you first need to take down your tent and take them apart. Then you can break up the poles into its segments. Make sure you do disengage the poles gently so that the poles will last longer. To reduce stretch from the shock cord, disengage the poles beginning from the center.
Put the poles aside inside its bag for now and it's time to take care of the tent body and fly. It's a good idea to make sure that the tent body is as dry and clean as possible before you pack it but don't worry so much about it if you're going to set it up again by the end of the day. But if you're in a hurry, you can always set up the tent again at home and let it dry for some time.
The tent body was nicely folded and rolled when you first bought it but you don't have to pack the same way yourself. In fact it's better that you don't fold it because folding at the same spot wears out the waterproof coating applied on the outer fabric. Simply stuffing the tent body inside the stuff sack also saves a lot of time.
Now it's time to get back to the poles. You can either pack it vertical and close to the back panel of your internal frame backpack or you can insert it into the stuff sack together with the tent body. Pack the tent body loosely first before you insert the poles and then pack the rest of the tent body and fly tight to get some support for the poles.
The tent body and fly can be packed into the top of your pack. This way you don't need to unpack everything else to get to the tent because the first thing you'd want to do when you reach a campsite is to pitch your tent. This can be useful when you have to pitch your tent in a hurry.
If you use an ultralight pack instead of an internal frame backpack, you can pack the poles on the outside of the pack. Just be careful of low hanging branches and other obstacles.
The stakes are easy to pack because they're small but you need to be careful where you pack them because they can make holes on your tent body or clothes. Pack the stakes safely away from the tent body.
