SETTING UP YOUR

ERECTING YOUR MARQUEE: There is no doubt that you will develop your own routine for erecting your marquee with time. This should, however, help for the first time.

Select everything you think you might need plus a hammer to drive stakes. Remember that the most important thing to have at this point is two understanding friends with a great deal of patience and three pairs of arms.

Find a level spot. Lay out the ridgepole and vertical poles. Pin them together. Place the roof over the ridge and locate the pins through the peak grommets while everything is still on the ground. Place the loops at the center of the weather lines over the pins. Now is the time to place your finial if you have one and have not spliced it into the center of your weather line. Have your two accomplices slowly raise the vertical poles, lifting the roof while you pull up on two of the weather lines. Stand the pole system up. Now is the time to shift the location of the bottom of the poles if the marquee is not standing where you would like it. Standing on one side of the tent cross the weather lines, pull them out to taught and stake. Repeat on the opposite side. Each side should look like a rope “X”. Your friends can let go now but you do want to make sure your poles are plumb. (not the color, the gravity thing!)

You now have your main poles up and your roof hanging there.

NO PERIMETER POLES: Go to the center of one of the belled ends and find the middle guyline. With a stake in one hand, pull the guyline out from the tent. The action will lift the eave. Pull enough rope away from the dog bone to make a loop. While pulling tightly sight up the line to the seam from the grommet to the peak. Keeping the guyline and seam in line, drive one large stake. Find the middle guyline on the opposite bell and repeat the process. Next locate one of the guylines hanging from the seam transitioning the body of the tent and the bell. Stake this line, as previous, repeating at each of the other three similar locations. Stake the remaining guylines. Make sure all guylines are in line with each seam.

USING PERIMETER POLES: Go to the center of one of the belled ends and find the middle grommet. Place the pin of a perimeter pole into the grommet. The action will lift the eave. Place the eye splice over the protruding pin. With a stake in one hand, pull the guyline out from the tent. Pull enough rope away from the dog bone to make a loop. While pulling tightly sight up the line to the seam from the grommet to the peak. Keeping the guyline and seam in line, drive one large stake. Find the middle grommet on the opposite bell and repeat the process. Next locate one of the grommets at a seam transitioning the body of the tent and the bell. Place a pole and stake this line, as previous, repeating at each of the other three similar locations. Place poles and stake the remaining guylines. Make sure all guylines are in line with each seam.

Your roof should now be up and tight with a constant eave height from the ground. The top should be tight from grommet to grommet with no sags. If this is not the case it may be adjusted on a non-walled tent by bringing the stakes further from the tent or, on a perimeter pole tent by raising or lowering a particular pole.

HANGING WALLS: You will find two wall sections for your tent. Doors overlap by one full panel. Starting at the center of the body snap (or toggle) the door panel in place. Continue to hang the walls by snapping each hook into place until you arrive at the rear of the tent. Hang the second wall panel by overlapping the rear door and snapping each hook into place until you arrive back at the front. You should now have two overlapping doors and all of your wall seams are in line with all of your roof seams.

Stake your walls. Cotton canvas will shrink when wet and your walls will creep up and be shorter. You will save time by not staking your walls but you will not have the same size tent you purchased after a very short time!

Step back and take a look. Everything should be nice and tight. If it isn’t, look to see if all of your guylines and seams line up and that all of your ropes are pulled out far enough. This is nothing more than a three dimensional geometry problem. You did great in geometry class. You’ll figure it out!

Good Luck.