Please someone, anyone, help me fold the Popaloo tent!

[Sab]

I am a broken man with no shred of dignity, or confidence, left!

I've shouted at my entire family and am contemplating cancelling the order for our new California.

What has done this to me? The Popaloo tent. How do you get the thing back in the bag? Help me please.

 

[calikev]

 

[WelshGas]

Have you viewed the video?

http://www.popaloo.co.uk/videos/

 

[Sab]

I have. It looks so easy! Unfortunately I still can't figure out what to do. Thanks for posting the film though.

Keep an eye on the for sale forum because at this rate I may have to sell the thing. Even this may be difficult as I can't fold it to post it either!

 

[Martin]

It takes a bit of practice but once you crack it you will do it with your eyes shut.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[BerndRos]

I am 'knots' stupid....sailed for close on 30 years but still can't tie any respectable knot...I just (hopefully) ensure they stay tied. As for these fangled tents, I have one in the Cali which is like a 'hula hoop' to fold up.....it usually gets its own back and springs apart giving me a good old whack in the chops

 

[Hotel California]

Now i seen that movie , even more conviced that a porta-potti is the best thing to have when on the road .
Takes longer to set up and break up all the gear , than the actual time to take a s&@t....
The way he is pulling to get the plastic parts appart , won't last long imo.

Not something i will be spending my money on.
...each their own i guess....

 

[LowMan]

It is a bit of a black art!

When we ordered our's from Pop-A-Loo, they sent me an additional video link to help guide me when packing up. It's a little easier to follow than the one on their site. Hopefully it will help you. Persevere though. Once you get the knack, it only takes a minute.

Good luck!

 

[GrannyJen]

It is a bit of a black art!

When we ordered our's from Pop-A-Loo, they sent me an additional video link to help guide me when packing up. It's a little easier to follow than the one on their site. Hopefully it will help you. Persevere though. Once you get the knack, it only takes a minute.

Good luck!

I would suspect that for many the "minute" it takes to get the knack could be one of the longest minutes of their lives



edit note: Smiley changed

 

[LowMan]

I would suspect that for many the "minute" it takes to get the knack could be one of the longest minutes of their lives

I think the key thing is to make sure it ONLY takes a minute. Back garden practice, over & over. Endure the sarcastic comments from the neighbours....

...but worth it in the end. Only if you're planning to use one of course

 

[Larkrise]

We certainly wrestled with this and watched the site video lots. They really ought to find a way of making getting the knack easier. I think there is a point halfway through where you have your hands next to each other and you have to move them in opposite and counter intuitive directions. So many people have struggled with this.

 

[AlanC]

It is a knack.

I found it very difficult initially and have folded large Lastolite reflectors with no problem in the past, so this tent was very frustrating.

My way is similar to the video that LowMan posted, with the only change that I place one hand in opposition to the other, i.e if my left hand has the thumb on top on one side, then the right one has the thumb underneath on the other side. Twist your hands so the thumbs point in the same direction (just like twisting up a sweet paper) and the tent will fold in on it's self, forming the loops you see in the video.

Hope that helps a little

Alan

 

[Skylark2.0]

Get the kids to do it!?

 

[Sab]

Thanks for the comments everyone and especially for the film Lowman.

I can now assemble and put the Popaloo away. So dismal is my social life on a Saturday evening that we actually timed my attempts!

Tent up and loo in 2.45 minutes. Pack up 2.30 minutes.

Time to get to this point 2 days with about 4 hours of swearing.

I found that the version of the tent I have appears to have stiffer metal wire than that shown on the web. If it won't fold I have found that if I flip it over and try again it's a little easier. Good idea and good quality loo but awful instructions.

 

[GrannyJen]

Thanks for the comments everyone and especially for the film Lowman.

I can now assemble and put the Popaloo away. So dismal is my social life on a Saturday evening that we actually timed my attempts!

Tent up and loo in 2.45 minutes. Pack up 2.30 minutes.

Time to get to this point 2 days with about 4 hours of swearing.

I found that the version of the tent I have appears to have stiffer metal wire than that shown on the web. If it won't fold I have found that if I flip it over and try again it's a little easier. Good idea and good quality loo but awful instructions.

and now,

victorious in popping a pop-a-loo into it's pop-inna-bag...

you've bought a porta potti and some plastic bags????

 

[WelshGas]

and now,

victorious in popping a pop-a-loo into it's pop-inna-bag...

you've bought a porta potti and some plastic bags????

But so much easier to dispose the bags.

 

[Victor]

We use our Popaloo for emergencies and the odd wild camping trip, plus points for us was no chemical smell, folds up very small when packed away and the powder bags can go in any bin so you don't have to go looking for a waste point. if you buy the bags in bulk it can work out quite economical.

I guess anyone who uses a toilet a lot will be better suited to a chemical toilet but for us this work very well.

 

[WelshGas]

We use our Popaloo for emergencies and the odd wild camping trip, plus points for us was no chemical smell, folds up very small when packed away and the powder bags can go in any bin so you don't have to go looking for a waste point. if you buy the bags in bulk it can work out quite economical.

I guess anyone who uses a toilet a lot will be better suited to a chemical toilet but for us this work very well.

Also carrying a chemical toilet as a disguised footstool is fine/acceptable, but carrying it in the kitchen cupboard without sterilising it first is not something I fancy. Thats why the kitchen at home is separate from the toilet. But each to their own.

 

[GrannyJen]

I combine both

I use a porta potti but also use the pop-a-loo bags as well.

I prefer to use a loo, full stop, and normally manage quite well but Cali Camping is all about escaping from civilisation occasionally and emergencies must be dealt with somehow.

I am one of those that is mechanically dyslexic or whatever the mechanical equivalent is, and knot-challenged, even putting a screw in the wall endangers the wall more than the screw so for me a pop-a-loo would be a disaster. I would end up with all the bears in the wood gathering around laughing themselves silly if I tried to use one

 

[WelshGas]

Bears can be very sociable. They would probably gather round for a good laugh and sort it for you when you had given up in exasperation.

 

[GrannyJen]

Bears can be very sociable. They would probably gather round for a good laugh and sort it for you when you had given up in exasperation.

I had a very close encounter with bears once. Two sow Grizzlies with cubs. Quite a few tense moments went by before they turned away and shuffled off. By coincidence it was at a place called Jenny lake.

Never mind about the lake, I needed a pop-a-loo afterwards

 

[Steve64]

Reminds me of a trick i bought at the Houdini shop in Las Vegas, the scoundrel who sold it to me made it look that easy...

 

[Teejay]

This looks a lot like the old Peter Lynn C-Quad kites. The only advise I can give you is don't be scared to fold the fibre glass rods will be OK. When you get a figure of 8 in one hand, fold the "bottom" into the "top" then you get the circle which should bag sized.

Teejay

 

[motacyclist]

Now i seen that movie , even more conviced that a porta-potti is the best thing to have when on the road .
Takes longer to set up and break up all the gear , than the actual time to take a s&@t....
The way he is pulling to get the plastic parts appart , won't last long imo.

Not something i will be spending my money on.
...each their own i guess....

Interesting idea but Popaloo would be no good for us as (presumably?) you can't use it when on the road. When not camping our loo lives at the front of the boot area, if we need to use it when out & about I just slide the rear seat right forward (I've removed the stops); step in the back, slide the loo out, drop the blinds and throw a towel or something over the headrests for your own private compartment. Almost as good as a full size motorhome!

 

[Velma's Dad]

Interesting idea but Popaloo would be no good for us as (presumably?) you can't use it when on the road. When not camping our loo lives at the front of the boot area, if we need to use it when out & about I just slide the rear seat right forward (I've removed the stops); step in the back, slide the loo out, drop the blinds and throw a towel or something over the headrests for your own private compartment. Almost as good as a full size motorhome!

Is that because you have a 4-Motion??

Seriously though, very cunning idea. Because we sleep upstairs, it never occurred to me you could do that with the seat to get at things behind it, let alone create a 'cubicle'.

The Cali truly is a Tardis of a vehicle.