How to pack your tent away

Most campers will be familiar with the packing up blues. You’ve had a great holiday and really don’t want to be heading back to the grind, but there’s a car to pack and a tent to take down.

You collapse the tent and roll it up into the tightest pack possible, but it still won’t go back into the bag from which you unpacked it just a few days ago.

Much cursing usually ensues and the temptation is simply to sling the wretched thing into the boot of the car and head for home.

But with a little extra care and a bit of inside knowledge, you should be able to get the tent back in its bag in no time. Here’s how...

1. Remove inners and fold separately, unless your tent is a pitch as one model.
2. Unpeg all the guys and keep the pegs all together in one place.
3. Use pegs to extract any pegs that are stuck fast.
4. Hank up the guyropes nice and tight.
5. Partially zip up the door, leaving a gap for air to escape from inside the tent.
6. Collapse the tent with the poles in place.
7. Remove upright poles: taking out ‘pins’ attaching them to the foot of the tent.
8. Remove the roof poles: shake them to loosen any stiff joints. Give them a wipe if they are damp or dirty.
9. Straighten out the fabric and fold it into thirds.
10. Get the bag and measure it against the folded tent. Fold again and again if necessary.
11. ‘Sweep’ the air from inside towards the door end.
12. Lay the pole bag across the width of the folded tent and start rolling from the closed end.
13. Keep as much tension as you can on it and if you aren’t happy it’s tight enough, start over again sooner rather than later.
14. Keep rolling, using your knees to expel any air. If you’ve got it tight enough, the pack should roll comfortably into the bag.
15. Zip up the bag. Don’t be shy about using your knees again to squash the two sides of the zip together.
16. Using your fingers to keep the material away from the zip jaws can help.
17. Keep the pegs and poles entirely separate and pack away into their own bag.

Read more top camping tips here.