Help me with my Macpac Olympus tent!

[Big G]

Hi everyone,

I am chasing some information on my Macpac Olympus tent. I purchased this tent 2nd hand for $100 which is an absolute bargain from what i am led to beleive but as with most used equipment it came with zero instructions and missing a few bits and pieces.

PEGS - The tent came with only 5 pegs that look like a V when viewed from end-on. They also have a little hook coming off them about 1 inch from the top of the peg. Are these genuine macpac pegs and should i be purchasing more of these to complete the set? How many more should i buy?

PITCHING - Having never owned a tunnel tent before, the pitching side of things gave me a bit of grief! I worked it out in the end but have no way of knowing if im doing it the correct/easiest way or not. Is there anyway of finding out the correct way to pitch this particular tent?

I have attached some phots of the tent below. The woman i purchased it from said that she also purchased the tent 2nd hand over 7 years ago! What do you think the age of this particular model would be? Just curious thats all.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

[wayno]

it should go up as one, inner attached with the outer and you jsut have th thread the poles through the sleeves,
depends if htey'd detached the two before you bought it which may have thrown you cause you'd have to reattach the outer to the inner, once its all attached you should be able to pull it down and put it back up as one.
being able to detach it just gives you options..
othwerwise peg it out as per a normal tent, use teh guy lines if its going to get windy, at least use the middle guys.

[philm]

If you email Macpac NZ they will email you a copy of the instructions for the Olympus tent.
In terms of pegs I am not sure how many you will need but you can count the number you will need for the base of the tunnel tent then add in the number needed for the ropes and the front and rear flaps - you can also ask Macpac but my guess is you will need 6 for the base, 2 for each end and 4 for the ropes total of 14?

The tent comes with a mix of round pegs that are used to secure the base to the ground then V or U shaped pegs for the ropes and ends.

I purchased the MSR ground hog tent pegs instead of the standard issue for the ropes and ends as they are stronger and longer than the standards pegs.

[Moondog55]

Nice score, I'll give you $150- so you make a nice quick profit.
Looks like you got it right and the only answer is practice.
You should have a few more pegs but no need to use the Macpac ones, just get whatever you can afford. 12 should do it nicely
Get 4 to 6 * 300mm snow pegs as well if you ever take it where it is designed to be used and you will need guy line added as well if that is the case

[Son of a Beach]

Looks like you've got the snow fly. I don't know about those pegs, they don't sound like the ones with my Olympus though.

You only need 4 pegs to pitch an Olympus, but should really have at least 2 others for guy ropes at the ends (if yours is a recent model that requires guy ropes to keep the end vents open), and 2 or more pegs if you want to use the side guy ropes (in case of strong winds).

Pitching this tent is very simple. First find the straps that join the end of the inner tent to the ends of the fly - there are two at each end and they have adjustable tension. Make sure these straps are at fully loosened but not disconnected (ie, with the least tension). Then insert the three poles making sure they are secured correctly at both ends.

Then comes pegging out. If you have two people, its easier, but it is still quite simple with one. Grab two pegs and put them through the two loops on one end of the fly. Peg it in. Then do the same with two pegs on the two loops at the other end. NB: Be sure to pull it reasonably taught. If you have two people, you can do both ends at the same time. My wife and I take an end each, and pull the tent taught while holding it off the ground, the bring it down to the ground together and insert all four pegs at the same time (if the ground is soft enough).

The critical thing here, is that the tension should be on the FLY and NOT on the inner tent - that's why the first thing we did was make sure those straps were lengthened/loosened.

Once it is pitched this far, you should re-tighten those longitudinal straps (that join the end of the inner tent to the ends of the fly). Tighten them JUST enough to bring the inner tent to its full length, but not enough to put any tension on the inner tent. If you put any substantial longitudinal tension on the inner tent it will take the tension off the fly and cause it to go out of shape.

If you have a model that requires guy ropes at each end in order to keep the end vents open you should then peg out the guy ropes at the ends. If there is any chance of strong wind, you should then peg out the side guy ropes. You can peg out just one on each side, or two or all three. Some people share pegs between the side guy ropes if pegging out more than one.

The Olympus is an excellent tent. I hope you get a lot of good use out of yours!

[Son of a Beach]

PS. If the inner and fly are currently not attached, pitch the fly first, then attach the inner after the fly is fully pitched on its own. Normally you should not detach the two unless there is a very good reason for it. The tent can be pitched and packed up with the two permanently attached to each other.

When packing up, loosen those straps at the ends. Saves you doing it when pitching next time.

[wayno]

my tent didnt come with the snow pegs, just the normal round stakes and there were a dozen of them. half for anchoring the tent to the ground via elastic loops, and the others for the guy lines

[Franco]

I'll give you $155...
That is the Olympus Expedition..
According to Google , Rembrant is 407 years old today and I see that you have adopted in your photos the soft focus look style of his final years.
well done on both counts.
OK, how about $160 ?


your pitching looks spot on.

[Moondog55]

My comment about needed a dozen pegs was only if used in bad weather. The Olympus is a good tent
You can use the "pockets" on the snow flaps to put rocks or plastic bags of snow in to stop the wind and spindrift getting under the fly

[Moondog55]

$185 and that's my final offer

[Pongo]

Son of a Beach has pretty much nailed the pitching of this bad boy. Just make sure those understraps are loose when you go to insert the poles.

The only other thing I would add is that if you're pitching on your own (which I always am it would seem), I would suggest pegging one end of the tent down before putting the poles in. This saves it from moving all over the place when the poles are going in. These pitching instructions are for the microlight but should give you an idea of what I'm talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA4ogIgf-DU

I wouldn't bother with sourcing the instructions, they're woefully inadequate, something I discussed at length with some of the Macpac folk when I bought this tent.

[andrewbish]

How about $210? (Oh, scrub that - just bought a Macpac Minaret)

Excellent pick up! I'd like to see another set of photos with this gnarly beast under a foot of snow - how's the Tassy winter looking?

[Big G]

Thanks for all the helpful (and humerous) replies. Going by all the offers im guessing i have won the tent lotto! Im planning a trip to the NZ West Coast next year in May so snow will most probably be on the cards, i promise i will post some pics of her wearing some!

Tassie winter has been pretty mild so far. Had a cold front come through about 10 days ago which dumped snow and flooded rivers etc but the ground is still quite dry so hopefully we have more rain to come.

[Strider]

but the ground is still quite dry

Depends where you go. I was knee deep in mud on Mt Wellington this morning!

[clarence]

I think it is a late 1990s (1998-2001 I'd guess) version of the Olympus Expedition. Would be one of the good-old NZ-made models.
I'd cut off the side pockets unless you're using it a lot in snow/extreme conditions. They add to weight, collect rain/mud/moisture and reduce ventilation.
Great tent pitched end on to the wind. With side wind they are far less stable.
I'd agree that 14 pegs would be about what the tent originally came with. For a while a lot of macpac tents came with those t-shaped cross section pegs- they are very stiff for their weight, but not my personal favourite.

Clarence

[andrewa]

What a great pick up.

May be some condensation issues, but its a beaut bad weather tent.

Pegs will depend on use. I have a separate set of snow pegs that I use when ski touring, and just use the lightest weight pegs I have for other uses. I transfer them between tents.

A