Leaving annex attached while folding up tent?

[Scoutman]

Somewhere I had seen where you could unzip the annex but leave the welting in the second channel. This means you now have to roll up all the annex fabric and secure somehow. I haven't finished the securing portion but figured I'd show how I rolled up the annex.

Note, the cover on a summit series cvt has a bit more volume and is not contoured for the ladders. Results may vary.

-unzip annex but leave attached
-fold up tent as usual, collapse ladders
-straighten annex material and get even
-fold in 'wings'
-fold in half
-fold in 3rds (although 4ths may be better)
-at this point I would secure the 'burrito' that's up there with straps, I need to source some straps
-store the folded floor between ladders or other free space
-I flop my tent extension over the top instead of trying to stuff it between the halves of the tent.
-install cover, mine had plenty of room when folded nicely

I'll give this a shot and see if its worth the hassle. This was done on nice sunny day with a dry tent in the driveway (ie, ideal conditions which never exist) so real world may tell me its not worth it.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[dstock]

Nice and neat! I might try this with our CVT Mt.Shasta and see how it works as I'd love to not have to store the whole annex and floor in a separate bin.

 

[Gascan4X4]

Can confirm, I've just folded up an ARB Simpson III with the annex attached (sans one side of the annex, as it's not needed for the way my tent is mounted). Tent closed up and cover went on just as easy (or hard, depending if you're a glass half full type of guy/gal) as without the annex. I simply rolled up each annex wall and secured it to the tent platform with velcro strips.

 

[roving1]

The stuffed like a sausage look is how cover looks w/o the annex even under it on my MT Shasta Summit. I would love this functionality but I think it's impossible.

 

[myers]

Here's where I cut the seam to feed the loop through so I could strap it closed with the awning on. In case you can't tell I cut the seam where the zipper is sown onto the annex.
View attachment 476842View attachment 476844

Instead of cutting the tent I just used these, https://www.amazon.com/TEKTON-6268-Tarp-Clips-4-Piece/dp/B00A50NB24, and attached them to the ends of the straps that have the velcro on them. I then ran a ratchet strap across to the other one so I could ratchet the tent down. Don't ratchet too much because it will start to bow the bottom piece, just ratchet enough to get everything nice and compressed.

We have a CVT Mt Rainier Extended version. I leave the annex and floor attached all the time. Have 4 sleeping bags I keep in there too. Makes putting the cover on really easy. I have done it in cold, rainy weather and nice warm weather.

 

[Sclarkie]

Has anyone found a travel cover that does not have to attach to the awning rail? Eezi-awn Series 3 tents have these- they fit underneath the bottom edges and around the corners, then the bottom cinches up with a ratchet strap. This would be perfect, but the sizes don’t jive. My tent is 48”x56” and the Eezi-awns are either 55” or 63” long. Seems this would make packing up easier and faster, and would allow for keeping the annex back wall attached if you wanted.