TO PITCH, STRIKE, AND FOLD COMMON, WALL, AND PYRAMIDAL TENTS [T. R. 225-15] TO PITCH, STRIKE, AND FOLD COMMON AND WALL TENTS 395. Pitching common and wall tents.-a. Preliminary arrangements.-The officer or noncommissioned officer in charge selects suitable ground. He indicates the direction in which the tent is to face, the line on which the tent is to be placed, and the position of the door pin. Four men are required to pitch each tent. b. Procedure for each tent.-First, a pin is driven to mark the center of the door. Then the tent is spread on the ground it is to occupy, the door loops being placed over the door pin. The front corners are drawn taut, aligned, and pegged down. The rear door is laced, if there is one. Rear corners are drawn taut in both directions and pegged down. Then the four corner guy pins are driven to prolongation of the diagonals of the tent and about two paces beyond the corner pins. The front door is temporarily loosened and the lee corner loops loosened from the corner pins. The ridge pole is inserted between the ventilation strip and the tent ridge. The upright eyelet pins are inserted in the ridge pole and in the eyelets of the tent. The fly eyelets are placed over the endpole eyelet pins. The tent is raised and held in position. The lee corner loops are replaced and the corner and fly guy ropes secured and tightened to hold the poles vertical. The wall pins are driven through the open loops as they hang. Finally, the intermediate guy pins are driven in alignment with the corner guy pins already driven. 396. Striking common and wall tents.-The men first remove all pins except those of the four corner guy ropes. The pins are pulled and neatly placed in a receptacle. One man holds each corner guy rope, and the tent is lowered. The poles are removed and the tent folded. The poles are fastened together and the remaining pins collected. 397. Folding common and wall tents.-First, the tent is spread flat on the ground, folded at the ridge so that the bottoms of the side walls are even, ends of the tent forming triangles to the right and left. Then the triangular ends of the tent are folded in toward the middle to form a rectangle. The top is folded over about 9 inches. The tent is folded in two by carrying the top fold over to the foot, and again from the top to the foot. All the guy ropes are thrown on the tent except the second from each end. The ends are folded in so as to cover about twothirds of the second widths. The left end is then folded over to meet the turned-in edge of the top right end, then the right end is folded over the top right end, then the right end is folded over the top, completing the bundle. Finally, the bundle is tied with the two exposed guy ropes. TO PITCH, STRIKE, AND FOLD PYRAMIDAL TENTS 398. Pitching pyramidal tents-a. Preliminary arrangements. The commander designates the ground on which the tents are to be erected. The line of tents is marked by driving a wall pin on the spot to be occupied by the right front corner of each tent. The interval between adjacent pins should be 30 feet, which leaves a space of about 2 feet between tents. Each tent is usually erected by the squad which will occupy it. See paragraph 103. b. Procedure for each tent.-(1) If the tripod is to be used, it is first spread on the ground where the center of the tent will be. (2) The tent is next spread on the ground which it is to occupy, door to the front. The corners and door are laced and the right front wall loop is placed over the corner pin already driven. (3) The left corner wall loop is carried to the left as far as it will go, and a wall pin driven through it, in line with the right corner pins already driven. (4) At the same time the rear corner wall loops are pulled to the rear and outward, so that the bottom of the rear wall of the tent is stretched to complete the square. Wall pins are then driven through these loops. Each rear corner pin should be directly in rear of its corresponding front corner pin to form the square. Unless the canvas is wet a small amount of slack should be allowed before the corner pins are driven. (5) Three men crawl under the tent and fit the pole into the rings, and such accessories as hood, fly, and tripod are adjusted. (6) Steadied by one man at each corner guy rope, the tent is then raised by the men underneath. (7) The four corner guy ropes are then placed over the lower notches of large pins, which are driven in prolongation of the diagonals at such distances as to hold the walls and ends of the tent vertical and smooth when the guy ropes are drawn taut. (8) A wall pin is then driven through each remaining loop, and a large pin for each guy rope is driven in line with the four corner guy pins already driven. The guy ropes of the tent are placed over the lower notches of the large pins. All ropes are then drawn taut. 399. Striking pyramidal tents.-First, all pins are removed except those of the four corner guy ropes and the rear corner wall pins. The pins are neatly piled or placed in a receptacle. With one man holding each corner guy rope, the tent is then slowly lowered to the rear and folded. The tripod and poles are fastened together and the remaining pins collected. 400. Folding pyramidal tents-a. Procedure for each tent.(1) The tent is thrown toward the rear, and the back wall and roof canvas pulled out smooth. This is accomplished by leaving the rear corner wall pins in the ground with the loops attached. One man at each rear corner guy and one or two holding the square iron perpendicular pull the canvas to its limit away from the former front of the tent. This places the three remaining sides of the tent on top of the rear side, with the door side in the middle. (2) Next, to straighten the right side wall and roof canvas, the right front corner is carried over and laid on the left front corner. All canvas is pulled smooth, the guy ropes thrown toward the square iron, and the bottom edges pulled even. Then the right front corner is returned to the right to cover the right rear corner. This folds the right side of the tent on itself, with a crease in the middle and under the front side of the tent. (3) Next, to straighten the left side wall and roof canvas, the left front corner is carried to the right and back in a similar fashion. This will leave the front and rear sides of the tent lying smooth and flat and the two side walls folded inward, each on itself. (4) The square iron is folded downward toward the bottom of the tent and then the hood is placed in the square iron. The tent is now folded around the square iron as a core, all folds being pressed down flat and smooth, and parallel to the bottom of the tent. If each fold is compactly made and the canvas is kept smooth, the last fold will exactly cover the lower edge of the canvas. (5) All exposed guys are laid along the folded canvas except the two on the center width. These two are pullel out and away from the bottom edge to their extreme length so as to be used later for the final tying of the bundle. (6) From one end the bundle is folded toward the center hinging on the first seam; that is, the one joining the first and second widths. It is again folded toward the center, so that the canvas already folded will come to within about 3 inches of the middle width. It is again folded to the opposite edge of the middle width of canvas. (7) From the opposite end the first width is folded in half. A second fold comes about 4 or 5 inches from the part of the tent already folded from the first end. This second fold is then thrown entirely over the part already folded. (8) The exposed guys are drawn taut toward and across one another so that they are at right angles. The bundle is turned over on the guy rope which is in prolongation of the tent seam. The guy ropes are crossed on the new top of the bundle. The bundle is turned over again on the crossed ropes and tied. b. The bundle.-(1) When properly tied and pressed together the bundle will be 11 by 23 by 34 inches, requiring about 8,855 cubic inches to store and pack. (2) The unit designation, stenciled on the lower half of the middle width of canvas in the back wall, will appear on the exposed top of the bundle. IN THE FIELD 401. Procedure. So far as practicable the same procedure is followed in the field as for instruction. Details of execution are invariably subordinated to the tactical, administrative, and sanitary requirements of field service. 402. The General.-When The General is sounded in camp as a signal for striking tents, they are prepared for striking as herein prescribed but are steadied in an upright position until the last note of the bugle, when all are caused to fall simultaneously in the same general direction. |