Going on a Camping Trip

The other day I went on my first camping trip ever and it was quite an experience. I got to finally learn to pitch a tent when I realized that my group I had traveled with planned on staying overnight at the camp site, much to my surprise. We were a group of ten people and as luck would have it my friend had a ten person tent that my group borrowed from him. Now this was one of those old fashioned tents that you have to recreate by hand, not one of those new ones that deflate. We brought two giant bags, one contained the tent folded up and the old bag which was quite heavy contained the poles and sticks that were used to set up the tent along with a thorough instructional manual.

The first step is to find an area of land that is flat without tree roots and clear out any sticks or rocks in the way so that the tent is on flat ground. Then you take the poles and read the instructional manual on how to set them up. For some tents the poles usually just lock in and create on longer pole. On the bottom of the pole you should attach a crooked pole piece that lays flat on the ground. Then do the same for the opposite side of the tent. There should also be several poles that are used for the top of the tent. Those poles go diagonally as to make a roof on the tent so that if it rains or snows outside the water will rush down from the tent instead of laying on top of the tent and causing it to collapse. Once all of the poles are in place in accordance with the instructional manual, take one sheet of the tent and drape it over sides of the tent, creating a rectangle or square, depending on the design of the tent. The tent should also come with or have strings that come with the tent that are already attached to the cloth or that someone has to attach by hand to the tent. Once the strings are attached, connect them to the poles so that the tent doesn't sway in the wing. The tent bag and setup pieces will probably also have little markers that dig into the ground. These markers or small sticks connect to the strings on the tent cloth and are used to secure the tent to the ground. The sticks that go on the strings should be dug at least three inches into the ground to make sure that the tent cannot be blown away by the wind.

These sticks go all around the tent and the strings should also be attached to the tent in all sides of the tent. Also, as a precautionary tip make sure that the tent is several feet away from the fire and is not going in the opposite direction of the wind. At night time it can be very windy especially in mountain regions and the wind could pick up the fire and blow in several feet in the direction of the wind. That is why the tent should be moved to the opposite direction.

Some helpful supplies that you might need on your camping trip is lighter fluid, flashlights, several changes of clothing, blankets, sheets, food and bug spray.