Best Way to Setup a Shangri La 3

[Backpack Hunter]

What do you guys think is the best way to go about teaching someone to set up the Shangri La 3 tents? I'm trying to teach a group of boys how to set up the tarp/fly only, and it has been interesting so far.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

What age are the boys, and how many are there?

 

[luke moffat]

I'd say stake out each guy point "inline" with the seam of that guy point or the 6 major guy out points. Insert the pole and guy out of the rest of the points if you already have guyout lines on them. I would bet after a setup or two the boys will be setting up a tipi faster than a traditional tent.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Boys are ages 9-11, and this past weekend there were 30 of them. My group is usually less than 15 though.

Luke, that is what I initially tried but only one seemed to pick it up this weekend. Only the one kid had a very tight pitch so I didn't know if there was a different/better way to do it?

I had seen a video on youtube about using the tent pole to get every stake spaced correctly, but don't really know that method, and it did not explain at what length he set the pole too.

 

[Becca]

I set up our SL5 by myself a lot (Luke always seems to volunteer to go "filter water", and then is gone forever...I think he might be glassing or just get distracted, but who knows ) and it has gotten way easier the more I have done it. Besides putting the stakes "inline", it helps a lot to make sure the adjustable portion of the guy outs are as loose as possible when you start. This way once the pole goes in and the tipi is erected you can cinch up the guy outs to get a tighter pitch before you finish the rest of the guy out points. I will reposition stakes if I have to "suck up" the adjustment more than half way, as we find having a little more adjustment space available is nice if it rains or the tent otherwise stretches later on. Also helps if it's pitched so that you aren't to maximum pole height at the start too (we alternate trekking poles and the stock poles depending on the trip), because you can increase the height a little afterwards if the pitch isn't tight enough.

Probably goes without saying, but make sure the door is zipped shut when you start too...

Not sure if this answers your question, but I am not certain a particular teaching method is as important as emphasizing the key steps and then encouraging repetition. I got a lot faster at it a few years ago when we used our SL5 on a 100+ mile thru hiking trip over 10 day trip where we moved camp every night. Trying to do it in rainy weather when you are really hungry is good motivation to learn to do it faster too

 

[>>>---WW---->]

There was a guy on youtube that was using his center pole to lay out the position for the stakes. Looked complicated to me so I decided not to buy one. Looked like a jigsaw puzzle. LOL!

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Sounds like you guys do it the same way I normally do too. I guess like you said emphasis the steps and repetition. Thanks!

WW - that sounds like the video I saw too. Guy should have been a plumber.