How to Make a Tent for Camping

Have you ever tried to go camping without a tent? It’s doable.

In some cases, your campsite may not have the right tent, or you may have left your tent at home. Whatever the reason, we can still make a tent with a few simple items.

These items can easily be obtained from home or from nature.

Gather materials

You don’t need a lot of things to build a makeshift tent. And usually, you can set it up very quickly.

Before setting up this temporary tent, you need to collect some items. They include heavy ropes, two tarps, four stakes, or large stones. Once we have these things ready, we can start setting up the tent.

Set up the tent in a suitable place

At high altitude, it can get cold at night. You need to set up your tent at a place with a lower altitude.

Avoid pitching your tent in a steep valley because rain may flood you.

Find the right two trees. The two trees need to be close enough together, that you can tie the rope to them. Also, the distance between the two trees needs to be far enough for you to hang the tarp. In addition, the two trees also need to be strong enough so that they do not fall down in a storm.

Check the ground where you need to set up your tent. Remove any branches and large rocks from the ground so they don’t damage your tarp. If the ground is slightly damp, that’s even better. This prevents dust from flying around when you set up your tent and also allows the tarp to adhere better to the ground. Of course, you can also sprinkle the ground with water to wet it.

Tie heavy ropes between trees

At a suitable height, tie the heavy rope between the trees. Be sure to make it go around the tree trunk a few times before tying the knot.

It is important to note that if you tie the rope too high, then your tarp may not reach the ground. You will need to tie the rope less than half the length of the tarp.

Laying the tarp on the ground

You will need 1 tarp with small holes in all 4 corners. If your tarp does not have holes, then you will need to create your own.

Lay the tarp on the ground and make it stretch. Speak a stake through the tarp holes and push it into the ground, making sure that each tarp corner stays perfectly in its place.

You can also use rocks instead of stakes.

Building the Wall

Hang your other tarp from the rope you tied between the trees.

Remove one stake and align the holes in the two tarps, then push the stake through the two small tarp holes and into the ground.

Repeat this until the four corners of the tent are secured.

Building the dike

That’s not necessary. But building a dam will allow you to keep water out of your tent.

You can build a small wall around your tent with rocks, dirt, sticks, etc. to prevent rainwater from entering your tent from the ground.

If your tent is on a slope, you can also dig small ditches around the tent to help the rainwater flow elsewhere.

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Richard

Richard is a nature enthusiast with a master’s degree in Geology. He lives to explore, and has done incredible adventures in Europe, Asia, and all across America. When he's not writing, he's probably on a hiking trip or camping in the mountains.