Picked up tent more suitable for cold-weather camping from REI. Decided to do a test setup last night and it did not go well. After much struggle, I was finally able to get the tent fully assembled. It was very, very hard to get one of the tent poles in the last grommet and I strained my left thumb and wrist a bit doing it. Disassembly wasn't much easier. It's a very nice tent and it looks like it would keep out the rain, snow and blowing sand, but if it takes that much effort to put up and take down, it's not going on the trip. I'm going to see if it's just a particularly tight one or if there is some trick I am missing, but if that's the way it is, it's going back. More later.
15 Nov 2012 Update: The good folks at REI suggested getting the tent wet, then setting it up. The fabric is stretchier when it's wet (hence the two grommets for the tent poles), so it's easier to put together, then it can stretch while drying. Fortunately, the condo basement has plenty of space and a handy utility sink. It was indeed much easier to set up the tent wet, and now that it's been up for some time, seems to be much easier to assemble dry. Yay!
