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How to Pitch a Vango Airbeam Tent
David Scotland
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How to Pitch an Airbeam Family Tent

Vango Valencia 650xl 2021 Model

Airbeam tents have been a huge improvement to family campers, allowing for hassle-free pitching. Still there are things that can go wrong pitching, that’s why it is a great idea to follow our handy blog.

When pitching a tent, I like to split the task down into three tasks.

  1. Prepare

  2. Pitch

  3. Secure

Prepare

Making sure you pitch in the right place is key, because you don’t want to have to move once your all set up.

  1. Try and arrive at the campsite in good light conditions - there’s nothing worst than pitching in the dark by car lights on full beam.
  2. Check you are pitching on dry, clean and even ground
  3. Avoid pitching on top of boggy ground, or on top of a puddle.
  4. Put the footprint groundsheet down first (if you own one), in the desired pitching location.
  5. Get the Tent out of its bag, and keep the pegs close by, and the pump. I always keep each item in the tent bag, until ready to use it.
  6. Keep the tent bag close, and put some kind of weight inside to stop it from blowing away, and pop the straps inside the tent bag, as they are always needed when setting down, making it easier to pack away the tent.

Pitch

  1. Unroll the tent on top of the footprint groundsheet.
  2. Make sure the tent completely covers the sewn in groundsheet.
  3. Peg the four corners of the sewn-in groundsheet.
  4. When inflating the beams, start ideally on a middle beam and open a side door if possible to take the vacuum off the tent.
  5. Inflate the beams to 6PSI.
  6. After inflating one or two beams, it may be a good idea to go inside the tent through a side or front door, and lift the tent off the ground.
  7. Inflate the remaining Airbeams.

If your tent has a front enclosed porch

Most tents are what we call a “three-zone” tent, and have a built in front porch area, which can be difficult to pitch if you lack experience. Most people struggle to get the front to look correct the first time they pitch a three-zone tent.

To get the front looking good, follow these steps

  1. Zip closed all the front doors etc.

Peg the middle pegging point at the front of the tent - not too tight.

  1. Then work left pegging the corners, and then right. I always find it easier if I go to the left front door pegging point, and a partner was to hold out the other side at the same time so we get a nice even pitch at the front.
  2. This should give you an even pitching at the front.
  3. If the tent is lifting too high from the ground - it has been pegged incorrectly, and too tightly somewhere - usually on a corner.

Secure

So now the tent should be relatively well pitched, with the front pegged out and the four corners of the groundsheet pegged. To finish:

  1. Zip closed all entry points into the tent, as if re-pegging is required, we want to doors closed, so that when the tent is pegged, that it does not put too much pressure on the doors.
  2. Peg the tent neatly from the rear of the tent, and adjust any pegging points.
  3. Peg each pegging point outwards in the direction the pegging point is facing.
  4. Then securely peg out the guylines and storm straps
  5. Guylines should always be pegged the way the guyline is facing outwards.
  6. Never over tension the guylines or storm straps. They should not deform the shape of the tent, but give it extra tension, and strength.
  7. Check all the doors inside the tent open and close easily,
  8. Put the tent bag, and any spares left in a safe place, like the car.
Categories: Airbeam Centre
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