PITCH LIKE A PRO
One of the strongest shapes in engineering is the equilateral triangle. A runner-up in terms of rigidity is the right-angled triangle. Think back to school maths and you’ll remember Pythagoras. “In any right-angled triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides.”
What Pythagoras says in terms of camping is that if a tent pole is 1,8 m long, you need to plant the tent peg 1,8 m from the base of the pole to create the strongest anchor point. You never expected to use the
Pythagorean theorem to pitch a tent, did you?
This, however, solves only one problem of pitching a tent, as a tent consists not only of rigid metal poles but also stretchy canvas and ropes that can confound the geometry.
In a strong wind, a tent will often lift and the poles will drop out. By first turning a guy rope around a pole before attaching it to an anchor peg, you’re essentially attaching the pole to the tent so that it cannot fall out. Tie the rope near the top of the pole so you still have a large right-angled triangle for best support. If you tie it down near the middle the pole might bend.
You receive full marks when you pitch your tent as follows: push the pole’s tip through the tent roof’s eyelet and use a pole steady pin to keep the pole’s foot from sliding sideways. Tie the guy rope above the roof canvas to the tip of the pole, guide the rope down for about a handlength and wrap it around this same pole. Estimate the distance from here to the ground and plant a spring-loaded peg about the same distance from the pole in the ground. Slip a pool noodle over the rope (so you don’t get decapitated at night) and tighten the rope at a 45º angle to the peg.
Another, even sturdier, technique is to use two ropes. Tie one rope to the pole’s tip, guide it halfway down the pole and wrap it around the pole before running it at a 45º angle to a peg. Now take the second rope, also fasten it to the pole’s tip, but run it directly at a 45 ° angle to its own anchor. This technique is used to anchor radio masts, so it’s good enough for camping.
Yet another solution is to drape a cargo net over your tent and anchor it to the ground independently. Even Hurricane Edna won’t be able to move your tent now. Happy camping!