Care of zippers: Your Hilleberg tent has the best zippers there are! A zipper is a vulnerable closure and there are big differences in qualities. Using your tent always puts a strain on zippers so you should clean them frequently with a small brush to keep them in good shape. The runners in zippers are easily worn down from sand and dirt, resulting in poor performance. You can fix a failing zipper by carefully pinching the jaws of the runner together. However, in the long run you will have to replace the runner or possibly the entire zipper.
No zipper handles dirt and sand very well, no matter what the quality. If you are planning a longer overland trip it may be wise to take along a spare zipper just like you would take a spare tube on a bicycle trip. Sooner or later you will need to replace the zipper, and a spare one can always be sewn in, wherever you are!
Securing ground pegs: In strong winds you should secure your tent pegs by placing a stone on top of them. Remember: To avoid damage to the flysheet fabric you should tie a string to the peg ring to get some distance from the tent. Then put a stone on the string and the peg to keep it from getting pulled up. Make sure that the guy line does not chafe against the stone.
Instead of pegs you can also use walking sticks, paddles or just an ordinary stick that is placed at an angle of 90?to the guy line and weighed down with heavy stones; this way the risk of the guy line chafing against the stone is reduced.
Make sure to put the stones back from where you took them when taking down your tent to avoid erosion.
Use of snow pegs: To obtain the best possible function a snow peg should have a line and a hook (the way our snow pegs are supplied). This way they can easily be attached to the guy lines and these can be run unhindered through the hook. You also get the desired extra length often needed when the peg has to be dug deep into the snow.
In hard snow you can use the snow peg as an ordinary ground peg: you just push it at a slight angle into the snow or dig it in horizontally.
Extra guy lines: It is wise to take along some extra lines either as a back-up or to tie them in as reinforcement at a different angle for higher stability of the tent when the wind is very strong. You might also use extra line as a clothes line outside.
When you stabilize your tent by tying the lines around rocks they may chafe at the sharp edges of these rocks. Avoid this by using a strap around the rock or take along a few short bits of plastic tubing to protect your guy line.
Packing your tent on sledging trips:
It is easiest to keep the poles inside the pole sleeves. Loosen the pole holder and push out half the pole. Pull it apart in the middle and fold the two pieces together. Gather or roll the tent around the poles and place this bundle on top of the sledge. For 2005 we are offering a Sled Pack which allows quick packing of the tent for winter touring by sled or summer canoe trips. This item can be found in the accessories ?spare parts section. Packing the tent this way makes it even easier to pitch again in the evening.

Storage of your tent:
It is very important to dry your tent after you have used it. Check everything to ensure that there are no damages and that all accessories are there before you pack it away.

If there is room available it is best to hang the tent in a cool, dry place, and store it in a roomy storage bag.