HowTo - Set up a Tent - SD

For those of you new to camping and maybe even for you veterans out there, we have put together this little howto video showing the basic principles behind setting up a tent.  Now there are a wide variety of tents out there and each have their own specific way to be set up.  Many tents however follow the same basic steps.
Here are a few things we take into consideration when setting up our tent.  First off our tent is a self standing tent which means it doesn't require tent stakes to stay upright.  There are tents on the market that do require stakes, so when shopping for a tent keep this in mind.  One advantage to having a tent that doesn't require stakes is if you are camping in an area that is very rocky, or the ground is extremely firm, you may not be able to put in stakes at every campsite.  With a self standing tent you will still be able to camp in these locations without too much trouble barring any crazy winds.
The first thing we look for when choosing a tenting location is how flat the surface is, and if there are rocks or roots sticking up that might be painful to sleep on during the night.  We try to find areas that are as smooth as possible.
If there is a slant to the ground we plan on sleeping on we try to position our on the slant so our heads and feet are lined up with the slant.  This way if any sliding occurs during the night you will slide into the end of the tent instead of into your fellow campers.
After the tent has been assembled and the rain fly has been put on, we do a quick check on the edges to ensure our ground cloth isn't sticking out anywhere.  If the ground cloth is visible any rain that does fall on it will be taken right under your tent and may lead to a wet night for sleeping.
We hope you've found this episode helpful.  If you have any added ideas, or questions, please post them in the comment section below.
Thanks for watching.