Date:         Wed, 10 Jul 1996 10:54:38 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         ryan@falcon.cc.ukans.edu (Ryan McGee)
Subject:      Re: Westfalia tent setup

>
>For whoever uses a similar tent, there is an easier way to assemble it:
>
>1) Park the van in position for the tent setup;
>
>2) slide the tent rubber moulding (you can add a little dish washing soap to
>make it really slippery) into the raingutter so that the tent hangs down the
>side of the van (you neither have to move the van nor the tent frame for it,
>right?);
>
>3) sort and partially assemble the poles, crawl underneath the tent and lift
>it up gradually by setting up the frame right in place;
>
>4) even with a tent for a good sized trailer camper (and the typical bunch
>of loose tent poles that you have to match up), this procedure requires a
>maximum of 2 people (and I once in a while did it alone), and takes about 10
>minutes. It helps if you color-(bar)code (w/ tape) the matching ends of all
>tent poles.....

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I can set up my tent alone: make the
frame (okay, so it's harder with one person, but not impossible), then hang
the tent on it. Then, with both the bus and the tent stationary, sort of
"twist" the rubber onto the rain gutter. I'm not sure how to describe this
process, except that I don't slide it (never even occurred to me to slide it
until reading this thread, as a matter of fact), I just kind of rotate it
down and over the gutter, six or eight inches at a time.

Sorry if this is only confusing; I meant for it to help...