I fit!

It has been windy the last couple of days and I decided to wait for the wind to die down before following the instructions on my new tent, “Assemble your tent at home before doing so during a storm in the wilderness.” Late yesterday, the wind had died down so I headed over to a nearby field to assemble my tent for the first time. I connected the poles together until they formed a lattice and then inserted then into the corner slots. I next clipped the hooks onto the poles and the tent was up. It uses the same ideas as Jason’s tent so I used some tricks I learned from the Shenandoah trip. The fly has some Velcro fasteners that attach it to the poles. I opened up the vent at the top to get some air circulating in the inside. The final step was to attach the footprint to the tent. I did the next operation with a bit of apprehension, that is, to get into the tent. Why the apprehension? I’m a little over six feet tall and finding things to fit my long frame is always a challenge. I laid down in the tent and saw that I could position myself in three configuration, left diagonal, straight-down and right diagonal. The left diagonal position didn’t work as my head brushed against the door. The straight-down position was a little better. The right diagonal position was the best as it gave me a couple of inches of space near my feet as well as near my head. It was a big relief when I discovered that the tent would fit my long legs. The tent ships with a set of six guy ropes which I think are used to hold open the vestibule and other parts of the tent. I’m going to have to get Jason’s advice as where to attach the other ropes as the REI tents share similar designs. My next task is to get a lightweight sleeping bag that I can use over the summer months. I think that the “down” sleeping bag I use in the fall/winter is too warm for summer hiking.