One person CAN put up a Paha Que 12x12 Cottonwood Tent alone

[Verna]

How one person can put up a Paha Que 12x12 Cottonwood Tent:

The secret is to put the tent fabric over the top of the Little Guy, and then push the long poles through their sleeves. BUT, make sure the poles are not going to hit the roof vent.

Then put the short curved poles into the ends of the long poles, and stick the ends of the curved poles into the appropriate holes on the straps on the tent fabric. Make sure the straps are completely loosened.

The tent will stand up when you attach the 4th (last) curved pole.

Then, just go to each pole and tighten the straps until the fabric is tight and not drooping.

This took me approximately 20 minutes (about 15 minutes to take it down and pack it up).

Now, put in your tent pegs, and enjoy the camping experience.

Here's some pictures:

[Miriam C.]

Love it! Might have to get me one of these. Do they hold up under heavy rain?

[Treeview]

How does that work in rain or sun that comes in at any angle?

It sure doesn't seem to offer much protection from a driving rain or angled sun.

Tom

[bonnie]

where there's a will there's a way. Great looking tent!

[Redgloves]

How does that work in rain or sun that comes in at any angle?

It sure doesn't seem to offer much protection from a driving rain or angled sun.

Tom

The answer is side walls.

[Verna]

The tent is advertised to be waterproof. Luckily I haven't tested that feature yet. As far as the wind, it's also supposed to take the wind very well, provided you stake down the two hold down ropes on each leg.

This model didn't have the side walls, or I would have gotten them. As I camp more, I'll see how it is in different weather conditions.

I like the fact that I can keep the roof vent open, even in rain. And that the galley hatch opens completely under it.

[pjo129]

Well done!!

[bdosborn]

We have the 10'X10'. Its a great shelter but we don't use it very often. Putting it up is hard on our marriage.

Bruce

[vaddisonme]

We just bought a green 12" x 12" and plan to try it out tomorrow using your method. After one night of listening to acorn nuts zing and glops of rain drop off the trees in the monsoon rains, we decided it would be nice to have a protective rain/ shade cover. We went with the larger size one since, like out 10x10 easy up, the shade part is smaller than size of the footprint. The 10x10 easy up is fine for over a picnic table, but I want something larger and more sheltering in rainy weather. I"ll let you know how it goes!

[Gary and Cheri]

We used to have an orange two man tent to camp in. Boy did that thing attract bees. We woke up to a lot of buzzing. Drove me crazy.

Gary

[Verna]

We used to have an orange two man tent to camp in. Boy did that thing attract bees. We woke up to a lot of buzzing. Drove me crazy.

Gary

Gary, so far I haven't noticed a bee attraction....and since I'm allergic to yellow jackets and wasps, believe me, I would be the first to notice!! I did get stung at the Hoosier Tearjerker Fall Gathering while at another campsite, but the yellow jacket was on my shirt, I brushed my arm against it, and it only got a wee bit of venom in my arm. No Epi Pen or ER visit needed (thank goodness!!).

We did have heavy dew at the gathering and it was nice to have a dry tear drop. I really like this canopy. I'm working on trying to figure out some side-walls for it.

[Verna]

We just bought a green 12" x 12" and plan to try it out tomorrow using your method. After one night of listening to acorn nuts zing and glops of rain drop off the trees in the monsoon rains, we decided it would be nice to have a protective rain/ shade cover. We went with the larger size one since, like out 10x10 easy up, the shade part is smaller than size of the footprint. The 10x10 easy up is fine for over a picnic table, but I want something larger and more sheltering in rainy weather. I"ll let you know how it goes!

So, how did it go? It was a bit windy when I put mine up using the "on the tear drop" method. I was able to work from the up-wind side and use the wind to fold the fabric out in the correct direction for me.

[vaddisonme]

Well, we cheated. We had a couple of friends over to lunch and said, " You want to eat, you have work to do.." The four of us set it up together. Works really smoothly with four setting it up. We did not end up trying to set it up over the car-go lite, because I was too lazy to drag it out of the garage.
I am itching to go on another trip and try out the whole system together, (Orange car-go lite, Green 12x12 Paha Que cottonwood, and 10x10 orange Sierra EZ-up. Two folding chairs, one memory foam mattress, and a little guitar,) Can't wait!!!!!!

[Verna]

Well, we cheated. We had a couple of friends over to lunch and said, " You want to eat, you have work to do.." The four of us set it up together. Works really smoothly with four setting it up. We did not end up trying to set it up over the car-go lite, because I was too lazy to drag it out of the garage.
I am itching to go on another trip and try out the whole system together, (Orange car-go lite, Green 12x12 Paha Que cottonwood, and 10x10 orange Sierra EZ-up. Two folding chairs, one memory foam mattress, and a little guitar,) Can't wait!!!!!!

That's OK. The first time I put it up was at a Tearjerker's Gathering. I "enlisted" 3 other TD campers to help me. It went up really quickly with no problems