Taking down inflatable tents

[tunnocksreturns2019]

So I love my new vango inflatable tent. Well I did. Got it up with just one DC helping. But I couldn’t get all the sodding air out of it and now it’s taking up my entire car boot.

Tips?

It’s never lame to ask for help. Most will want to but not always sure how to offer. Wish someone would have helped me put trailer tent canvas away when wet. Ended up on top, rolling around and fell off into giant puddle....didnt see the the funny side of it....particularly with young twins,

Best

Poor you, Curly!

Yes I suppose no man is an island (unless his name is Madagascar)

Buy an electronic pump. Mine was a tenner from amazon and makes life much easier. It took a decent size bouncy castle down in about 15 mins.

Also you might need to pinch the valves. I've used a strong peg in the past so I'm not tied to the valve and can sqiush the air out.

Hope that you got it packed away. It will get easier each time and campsites are full of friendly people who'll help you out of you're struggling.

With mine I open the valves as much as possible, then fold it across as many times as needed, so its long and thin parallel to the beams, then roll towards the open valves. Hope that makes sense?

It's much much easier if you do it when the tent is hot (but clearly this isn't always an option!!)

The air comes out of our beams really easily, there’s a little white twisty bit inside the valve that you turn and it all whooshes out. It is generally quite voluminous whilst folding though- I leave the bottom of the front door and the bedroom compartment unzipped and roll towards the front door IYSWIM? That way it pushes the air that’s actually inside the tent out. We do walk on it a bit to get it to all fold together.

I’m sorry about your DH 💐 It sounds like you’re doing a fabulous job.

Thanks everyone!

Got it back in the bag, albeit without the smaller bag of pegs and pump.

The tips are helpful. Think I just need more practice and not to try and do it in a rush!