tensioning tunnel tents

[simonineaston]

Can anyone comment of the fine art of getting the tension right when pitching tunnel tents - like most tunnel tents, mine has tendency to flap noisily in anything stiffer than a gentle breeze. What's the secret of getting it tensioned right so it stays quiet? My particular tent is a Hilleberg Nallo, and I know this is a popular tent with us cycle campers, so any advice?

[Ron]

I'm not so sure what is meant by a 'tunnel' tent, but my story may have some relevance.
I wonder if you are suffering the same problem I had with a one man tent by a reputable manufacturer. It just seemed impossible to pitch the tent in such a manner that the distance between the bottom hem and the ground was constant right around the tent. it was only after struggling for a bit on tour that I decided this was not due to being incorrectly pitched so I took it to a shop selling identical tents for some expert(?) opinion. They set up the tent in the showroom using velcro pads in place of tent pegs and could see no problem but gave me half a dozen bigger tent pegs so that i could apply more tension to the tent fabric. Even this greater tension failed to get the tent set up to my satisfaction. After more usage the stitching failed near the zip fastener and I returned the tent to the shop I had bought it from. They immediately accepted the stitching was defective, but were non commital on the pitching problem, however they gave me a direct replacement tent, same manufacture, same model of tent.
This new tent pitches perfectly every time, and it is only now I can assume the original tent was a Friday afternoon job, incorrectly assembled at the factory.

[al_yrpal]

If your tent flaps this could be because the seams are too short allowing the fabric to flap. Alternatively I noticed my mates Vango Helium tent is always floppy in the morning when its covered in dew. Very light tents seem to suffer in this way. You get all the seams as tight as you can but they flop because the material stretches when its wet.

Al

[mercurykev]

I'm able to get a fairly taught pitch with my Nallo 2GT but it makes the flysheet a bit like a drum skin so in strong wind it can be a bit noisy, nothing too crazy though. My approach is this:

1) pitch it with the upper air vent facing into the wind
2) to get it nice and firm by using the straps to tighten up the four main pegging points and the poles.
3) tension the upper air vent guyline - this gives addition tension across the top if the tent
4) set the main guy lines at a 45 degree angle facing up wind and go round the tent making these as tight as possible.

Using this method I've pitched in 40mph wind where other tents are flapping about madly and mine has been sitting rock solid. Here's my Keron 3GT pitched in Skye and what you won't see is the fact that it was blowing a gale but you can see how tight the fly is:

[bikepacker]

A few year ago Hilleberg did some demonstration shows at Cotswold Camping they had one of their technical guys there. When he pitched a tent I was amazed how much tension he put on the flysheet when putting up the tent. The outer skin was really tight to the point I thought it may split the door zip. He did admit that once a tent got damp in the evening or morning dew it would sag a little.

[mercurykev]

...He did admit that once a tent got damp in the evening or morning dew it would sag a little.

I should have added that I usually have to re-tension the tent at night before I turn in as the dew does slacken the fly.

[bikepacker]

If the tent is being left erected during the day it should be slackened off again one the tent starts to dry to avoid overstretching.

[johnb]

Simon,

The noise issue is a common complaint among Nallo owners and the cause is believed to be a combination of gossamer light flysheet and tunnel design, that being said the Terra Nova Solar competition has the same noise complaints and its not a tunnel tent but has a gossamer light flysheet.

Mercurykev gives good advice re pitching above and without sounding flippant would the use of a set of foam earplugs help block out the rustling of the flysheet when your bedding down.

[simonineaston]

Thanks, guys, for some really useful tips here I chuckled when I read your post, johnb, 'cos I came to the same conclusion about the value of the yellow foam ear-plugs!
By the way, my other tent - a cotton Vango Force 10 mk4 - is almost completely silent, what ever the weather, but as you can imagine I never take it with me when I'm cycling on account of it weighing about 2 tons!

[mercurykev]

If the tent is being left erected during the day it should be slackened off again one the tent starts to dry to avoid overstretching.

Good tip. I hadn't thought of that.

[BeeKeeper]

It is interesting how things have changed over the years. When I first went camping with my parents (in the days when we had long hot summers) my father would slacken the guy ropes at night as the cotton tent and natural fibre ropes would tighten when they got wet. Man-made materials seem to do the reverse.

[Edwards]

Larger Tunnel Tents usually have a guy line webbing or triangle of material at the top of the tent. This goes over the pole sleeve and the guy lint attaches to this webbing.
This gives the advantage of tension only the top most material in between the poles. It also means that the vents are not over tensioned.
This strap can be added or a triangle of material sewn to the pole pocket so that it does not pierce the flysheet.
This will stop the sag and is less likley to lead to overstretching the flysheet and get rid of the flapping.

[jags]

ahh i can never get it just right one side would look perfect but the other
still as long as it doesn't leak or blow away i'm a happy camper.

[bikepacker]

ahh i can never get it just right one side would look perfect but the other
still as long as it doesn't leak or blow away i'm a happy camper.

I thought your tent looked okay when pitched. can't say the same for the occupier though, especially when he was covered from head to toe and being eaten alive by midges.

[pjclinch]

Noisy Hilleberg tunnels...

It's brought up often enough that it's actually in the FAQ section on their web site:

My tunnel tent is very loud in strong winds. Is that OK?

A tunnel tent can at times indeed make more noise in very strong winds than certain dome tents. But the advantage in a tunnel is exactly this flexibility, not standing against the wind but giving in to strong gusts. With a flexible structure, wind cannot get hold of it. A side effect is of course that the fabric sometimes flaps. A dome tent with (quite often) more poles is more static and does not move as much but is not necessarily safer for that. There are different approaches in tent design, considering different behaviours in different conditions and in relation to weight and handling.

and

My tunnel tent is noisy, in strong winds, what can I do?

Make sure the tent is pitched properly and is fully taught. The adjustable pole holders should be tightened so the outer tent meets the bottom of the pole holder.
All guy lines should be drawn to their full length and pegged down. The guy lines attached to the vents should also be secured.
In winter conditions, you may have the advantage of being able to dig down into the snow a bit before you pitch your tent. Never dig the tent down further than half its own height. Be weary that wind will bring more snow with it and can block entrances.

In other words, if you have "quiet" as a major priority then you've possibly bought the wrong tent... If you want a tent that moves around less you'll have to pay a price somewhere. A Lightwave tunnel has a cleaner profile than a Hillie as the poles are all inside, and the structure is more rigid from the pointed arch cross section and that's all Good but on the other hand they're an absolute PITA to pitch compared to a Hillie (unless it's raining and blowing a lot, in which case they're a lot worse than that). You can go geodesic and have more support for the fly fabric via more poles, but that means heavier and bulkier. You choose, you lose, in other words.

We use a Kaitum (prefer a second entrance and more inner volume than the Nallo but it weighs more) and pitched on the dune tops in the Western Isles it moved around enough to make small drafts inside when it was blowing an estimated Force 7. Comparing to the Tarra we use when we're camping out of a boat the tunnel is a lot noisier, but you get a lot back in return for the noise. Ear plugs can make quite a difference to how much sleep you get: my wife favours "Bio Ears" which you can get at a chemist's.

For slackening over the day, IME tents will slacken themselves in any case by just pulling at their own pegging points so I can't say I've ever bothered with no obvious ill effects.

Pete.