Tell me about the first time you pitched a bell. What do I need to know??

[MisSalLaneous]

First camp of the season is tomorrow. I didn't do a first pitch in the garden as planned, so need to mentally prepare myself for public humiliation...

How long did it take to tie the first guys?

Anything else I should look out for?

Thanks!

There is a brilliant video on youtube by canvas and cast. Let me see if I can make a linky thing. Hang on!...

Not sure I can make that work so go to youtube and type in 'put up bell tent canvas and cast' and that should do it. The music is a bit loud but you can get the message!

Thanks fireandlife, just found it. Wish me luck!

Bit late but I found it incredibly easy to do by myself. Hope you managed it okay!

Hi Mollie. You're right - we've just returned from our camping trip (1 night only), and it was amazing. I was rather scared of what the first pitching would involve, but nothing scary after all.

Oh great! Please give me any tips. Were you warm enough?

supersal.

fire, yes, we took enough stuff to survive the north pole, so we were lovely and cosy at night. We used Fat Airics, giving plenty of isolation from below, and slept inside a normal sleeping bag, topped by a down duvet.

The site we went to allowed fires, so we could warm up properly before going to bed. Also had 3 hot water bottles, but moved them all to ds's bed when he was cold (refused to wear his hat, silly boy!)

Tips pitching - it was all really straightforward, so if you've seen one of the youtube links, you'll be fine. The part that I worried about is tying the guy ropes for the first time - I had no idea what that meant or involved. It was however just that - tying a rope through a loop.

When we were pitching it started raining really hard, but luckily we got most of it up beforehand, so didn't get too wet. All stopped 10 minutes later, and we had a fantastic day (feels even longer) with great sunshine, surrounded by bluebells in the woods.

Thanks Misal! That sounds fantastic. Thanks for the tips. How lovely to have been surrounded by bluebells