How to Set Up Your Big Woods Dome Tent

Hi. I'm Kevin Nadeau and I work in product development at L.L.Bean. I'm here to help you set up your Big Woods Dome Tent.

• 1. Unpack your tent. Select a clear site and unpack your tent. Inside the storage sack, you'll find the tent body, the fly, and two smaller bags containing poles, stakes, and guy lines. You'll also find waterproof instructions sewn right inside the storage sack, so they're always there when you need them.

• 2. Assemble your tent. Remove the poles from the bag and assemble them like this. Then, slide one of the long, straight aluminum ridge poles through one of the mesh pole sleeves on the tent's roof. Repeat this step with the second ridge pole, centering the two poles atop the tent. Next, take one of the four aluminum leg poles, and slide the elbow end over the end of one of the ridge poles until it is fully seated. Then, install a leg pole on the other end of the same ridge pole. Repeat this step with the second ridge pole.

  Now, insert the tips of the leg poles into the grommets of the black stakeout loops at the corners of the tent's main room. The main room should now be standing. Stake the four corners of the main room using the black stakeout loops. Next, attach the clips for the main room to the leg poles. Take one of the long fiberglass poles and slide it through one of the orange-rimmed sleeves located over one of the side rooms. Make sure the pole intersects with the aluminum leg pole of the main room. Repeat this step for the opposite sleeve.

  Next, insert the tips of the poles into the orange webbed grommets. Locate the hard plastic clips and bungee loops where the fiberglass and aluminum poles cross. At each of these four spots, wrap the bungee twice around the two poles before securing it to the clip. To finish staking out your tent, loosen the webbing on the loops on the outside corners of the side rooms and pull them out before driving the stake through the loop into the ground. Tighten the webbing on the stakeout loop.

• 3. Install the matching footprint (sold separately) To protect the floor and extend the life of your tent, we recommend our matching footprint, sold separately. If you purchased the footprint, lay it on the ground first with the coated side up, and position it under the tent, lining up the corners. Then, loop the footprint's adjustable webs at either end, over the stakes that hold the tent's side rooms staked down. Insert the main tent pole's tips through the brass grommets on the four shock coded webs at the mid-section of the footprint. Adjust tension as necessary. Slide the fly over the main room so the dark green sides are over the tent's side rooms and the light-green sides are over the doors. Locate the four clips at the corners of the fly and connect them to the corresponding clips on the main tent body.

  Use the two remaining short poles to create awnings over each of the tent doors. Undo one of the fly clips and slide the awning pole into the sleeve on the underside of the fly. Place each end of the awning pole into the grommets located in this clip panel that extends off the tent body. Reattach the fly clip and repeat this step for the opposite awning. Once the fly is positioned correctly, reach under the fly at each corner, and fasten the two loops to the tent's leg poles.

• 4. Attach the optional high-wind guy lines. If you're setting up camp in extremely windy conditions, we recommend you guy out your tent. You'll find guy lines, with pre-attached tensioners in your tent's stake bag. Tie the end of the guy line without the slider to a loop of the tent fly. Next, pull the loop from the tensioner and insert the stake into the loop, then slide the tensioner along until it's tight.

Now, you're ready to enjoy camping in your Big Woods Dome Tent. This durable tent is designed to withstand wind, rain and years of heavy use, so you can enjoy season after season of camping with your family.