Bushwalk Australia

Hi everyone! First time posting here. Also, probably worth mentioning that I’m very new to bushwalking (of the kind the goes beyond a day trip out of Sydney), Therefore this will probably be a really dumb question… Anyway, now that I’m trying to get into more challenging stuff, I went and got myself a Macpac minaret, to do multiday bushwalks. Tried doing a practice pitch, because up to this point I’ve never pitched a tunnel tent, and right away something doesn’t seem to make sense: poles go in the sleeve through one end, but the other end seems sealed shut and I can’t put that end of the pole through the eyelet. This seems weird and unstable… can anyone with experience with this tent tell me what I’m doing wrong??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTHaEQX6jxw

Sorry Not really much help. My Minaret doesn't have the new captive end pole sleeves so I'm not much help

yeah, watched that video before myself. At least now I know that a captive end pole sleeve is actually a thing and i'm not just losing my mind thanks!

they still make the minaret?

I retired one about 5 years ago that had done 20 years' service. It had its flaws but it never let me down once. easy to setup and survives awful weather.

enjoy it, it's probably the last tent you'll need to buy.

Also Don't forget to seam seal the tent as I think it comes with a tube of sealer
Good to do before first use to keep the water out!

The grommets on either side of the Minaret tent floor below each pole sleeve point are to allow you to pitch just the inner tent using the velcro loops on the inner to pass the 2 poles through then locate the pole ends in the grommets at either side. While you use the open-side pole sleeve grommet for the pole end to do a "pitch-as-one" setup the other end of the pole is located in the blind sleeve so the 2 grommets below the pole sleeve ends on that side aren't required when you pitch the whole tent as one unit. Hope this helps a bit.

The Minaret is a good strong tent albeit a tad heavy by today's LW standards.....I've been using a NZ-built one for my winter sambar hunting for the past 20 years and it's still rock-solid and 100% weatherproof. Cheers

s358

What is weird and unstable about it?

The poles are not meant to go through the eyelet at the sealed end. The sealed end is like a pocket and holds the poles in place. Works perfectly on my Macpac Olympus. Very stable, and not at all weird.

The advantage of this method is that you can insert the pole entirely from one spot, and fit the one protruding end through its eyelet, without having to jump over the tent, or walk around it, to fit the far end - the far end is already fitted simply by pushing it through from the near end. Makes pitching the tent just a little easier.

Thanks for clearing things up for me guys! that was very helpful