How to Set Up a House-Shaped Tent

House-shaped tents provide more interior space than smaller, backpacking tents. House-shaped tents are designed for "front-country," commonly called car camping, where you do not carry your gear with you. This style of tent is often cheaper than lightweight back-country tents because weight-reducing technology tends to cost more during production. House-shaped tents are designed with few moving parts to ease the task of putting it together.

Things You'll Need

  • Ground tarp
  • Tent body
  • Poles
  • Rain fly
  • Stakes
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Instructions

    • 1

      Gather the tent's materials and lay them on the ground, making sure all the necessary parts are accounted for. You should have a tarp or footprint that goes on the ground under the tent, the tent body, poles, a rain fly and stakes.

    • 2

      Spread the ground tarp or footprint on the ground. Do not put the tarp on large rocks, sharp sticks or uneven terrain. Do not erect the tent where water appears to run when it rains. A layer of dead leaves under the ground tarp is ideal as it will keep you warmer at night.

    • 3

      Spread the body over the tarp, aligning the bottom of the tent's body with the corners of the tarp or footprint. Some tents are wider by the door. You do not want the tent on the tarp backwards or water may come into the tent at night.

    • 4

      Assemble the poles. For a house-shaped tent, you should have two poles that go together to form the apex at either end of the tent. Longer poles attach to the four ends of the apex pieces, creating the four corners of the tent. Many house-shaped tents also have a long pole that connects the two apex pieces parallel to the ground, creating the roof-like shape of a house. Other tents rely on pulling tension in the poles to create the roof's apex.

    • 5

      Thread the poles into the body of the tent. Some tents use sleeves, which are more common on front-country tents than back-country tents. However, your tent might use clips.

    • 6

      Pull the poles away from the center, making the tent pop up. You should have to bend the poles to get them into the metal-lined circles on each corner of the tent, called grommets. This is more easily done with a friend on the opposite side stabilizing the tent.

    • 7

      Secure the rain fly over the top of the tent's body, ensuring the doors align. The poles may snake through sleeves on the interior of the fly or be held down by clips. Some flys buckle into the corners of the tent and others are held down by the poles through its grommets. Secure the poles through all three grommets -- in the fly, body and footprint.

    • 8

      Stake out the tent's corners, pulling the material taut before running the stake into the ground. Do not use your foot as this causes stakes to bend. Use a rubber hammer or rock.