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How to Fold a Backpacking Tent to smaller than a kids football in under 2 minutes.

folding a backpacking tent

“How do you roll your backpacking tent so small it is smaller than a kids football in under 2 minutes”? 

Well, after being asked many times, we finally decided it was time to write a blog on how we fold our trekking pole backpacking tents. After folding thousands of tents we finally came up with what we consider the right way to fold a tent (don’t laugh – many things are obvious in hindsight – but it really did take us weeks of packing tents before we found just the right method that works with almost all backpacking tents). We roll and bag every tent just before we ship it, so we consider ourselves experts in the field. So here it is the backpacking tent packing secrets that your scoutmaster forgot to tell you:
Step 1: Lay your backpacking tent flat with the tent floor on the ground and all cords and fabric laying within the four corners of the tent floor.

Lay backpacking tent flat
Step 2: Fold the edges inward so that all cords and fabric are contained within the tent floor.
Step 2 folding backpacking tent
Step 3: Fold in one more time.
Step 2 folding backpacking tent B
Step 3 B: This leaves you with a long flat tent with all loose fabric tucked inside the tent.
Step 3 folding backpacking tent
Step 4: Now fold edges inward again. This further contains all loose parts of the tent so nothing can come out when rolling the tent.
Step 4 folding backpacking tent
Step 5: Now fold the edges together again creating a square.
Step 5 folding backpacking tent
Step 6: Finally fold the edges together one more time.
Step 5 folding backpacking tent B
Step 6 B: Forming a small rectangle.
Step 6 folding backpacking tent B
Step 7: Roll or fold the rectangle up and tie with a piece of cloth.
Step 6 folding backpacking tent C
Step 7 B: Tie with a piece of cloth.
Step 7 folding backpacking tent A
Bag the tent.
Step 7 folding backpacking tent
and compare to a kids football.

There it is, how we roll almost every tent before we bag it and ship it to you.

Laugh all you want, but it took us years to become experts in the tent rolling field. In our experience, if you skip any of the above steps, instead of a neatly rolled backpacking tent that is a pleasure to unroll and use next time you go camping, you will end up with a wadded up ball with strings and fabric sticking out all over the place, that won’t fit back in its bag and is a tangled mess next time you go to use your tent.

Happy Camping

River Country Products

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Winter Camping in our trekking pole backpacking tent

Backpacking Tent in the Rockies

Brandyn from Denver Used our trekking pole backpacking tent this last weekend camping in the Rockies and sent us some photos and posted this review:
“I just wanted to let you know I received the tent and it is awesome. I attached some pics of my camping trip this weekend in the Denver foothills. It kept me comfortable in 25 mph wind and an 11 degree, snow stormy night. I also can’t believe how much weight it cut from my pack. Thank you.”
Thank You Brandyn, we love the pictures and the positive feedback!

Backpacking Tent in the Rockies
Backpacking Tent works for winter camping in the Rockies.
Backpacking Tent in the Rockies
Backpacking Tent in Snow Storm.
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Hammock Rain Fly on Columbia River

Two Rivers Hammock Rain Fly

Some pictures taken by a family who loves our Hammock rain fly and ultra backpacking tent. They set it up last weekend at two rivers park where the Columbia River and the Snake River meet. The water and park look great. These pictures are awesome because they show three of the 100 possible uses of the Trekker Shelter Tent 2. they show it as an emergency shelter, a tent over a hammock, and a hammock rain fly. I love the way they set up the tent over the hammock, it looks like it would provide quite a bit of protection from the wind and rain and keep you warmer even in a Hammock.

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Hiking in the Eagle Caps

One of our customers sent us some pictures of our tents in the Eagle Caps in Oregon. Thank you much for the photos! These images of our 2 person backpacking tent and backpacking rain fly with ground cover were taken on the edge of Mirror lake which is in the shadow of the Eagle Cap peak. This is a beautiful wilderness area and about a 7 mile hike in from two pan trail head. What a great part of the world to explore and hike, but don’t forget to bring along one of our quality backpacking tents.

Backpacking Tent
Backpacking Tent