Diamantina Outdoors has expertise in the design and manufacture of tents for the Australian Market for 30 years. We are able to offer advice on what works and what doesn’t for different environments and uses.
We have written instructions for many different shelter designs over the years, and provided advice and support for design modifications and improvements. If you are searching for a set of instructions for an old model that is no longer in production, we may be able to help by searching our archives for previous instructions we have written. There may be a small fee involved to retrieve this information for you.
Please email us at info@diamantina.net.au and advise the model name of the shelter you have.
ADVICE AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DIAMANTINA SAFARI CANVAS DOME TENT RANGE.
- Setting the tent up
- Hopefully you either ordered a ground sheet from us or already have one. Put this down on the ground first and then spread the tent out on top. An open weave groundsheet rather than a tarp is best.
- Avoid walking on your canvas of the tent with shoes on, it will leave dirty footprints on the canvas. Kneel across it instead.
- Lay the frame over the top of the tent with the centre hub positioned where the two black ties are at the centre of the roof canvas.
- Tie the black loops around the frame centre hub and whist still on the ground, clip the first 3 steel S hooks onto each of the 4 corner frames from the centre down each arm. (IMPORTANT STEP).
- Unzip the front door and one of the windows to allow air inside the tent. If you don’t do this you will get a suction effect on the canvas as you try to lift it up.
- With another person in the opposite corner, lift the frame and bend it to put the corner of the frame in the eyelet nearest to the tent. Do this on all 4 corners. The tent should now stand on its own.
- Clip all the remaining S hooks down each frame arm by bending the frame down and lifting it back up inside the S hook. This is easier on the fingers than bending the S hook over the top of the frame.
- Peg the tent to the ground using all of the pegs and peg points provided, starting with the four corners. Peg the corners down into the eyelet furthest away from the tent in each corner. Pegs go into the ground on a 45 degree angle away from the tent for best results. Have it taught but not over tensioned. Check the floor inside is not over stretched in one direction and too loose in the other. Peg down the remaining peg points.
- Throw the fly over the top. Clip the fly on the tent at each corner into either the brass eyelet or through the black rope loop between the frame sections. Tension by tightening the webbing and buckles.
- Set up the front awning poles starting with the middle one (may have 2 or 3 front awning poles depending on the model). Put the guy rope straight out and into the ground off this pole first. It will free stand. Then do the two side poles, setting the side guy ropes out at 45 degrees. Ensure the front awning is tensioned correctly and water can drain easily off the roof without pooling.
- At night lower the side poles, or have one pole high and one pole low. This is to avoid any water pooling overnight in the roof and create effective water drainage away from your tent.
- Regularly check the tension on your peg points and your guy ropes, especially in windy conditions or soft sand conditions.
- Guy ropes are attached by threading the rope inside themselves and they hold firm when under tension. When loose the ropes can pull out from inside each other and its simply a task to poke them back inside again. Very easy.
- Weathering your tent
Now your cool new tent is up and you are admiring how brilliant it looks and the fantastic job you have done in setting it up, its time to weather it. Soak it with the hose on a spray setting. (make sure your windows and doors are zipped closed first). This will swell the canvas and stitching seams. Because the canvas is very water resistant, water will just run off at first. The aim is to get water into the seams for it to swell. So it may take a few times before the water soaks in due to the brilliant canvas quality (just to remind you of something you didn’t already know !!) If you get some spots of minor water leakage, whilst this is rare, it is not a problem. The seams need to swell and tighten and this will stop the leakage.
If you identify some leaks, have a second person inside the tent while the other is wetting the outside, to try and identify the exact spot where the water is coming in. Mark the spot with chalk.
Allow the tent to dry thoroughly. The drying process swells the seams. Once the tent is dry its time to use the orange wax stick provided with your tent.
Put the wax stick in a pot of hot water to soften it. Apply onto the inside seams of the tent, concentrating on the main seams and the floor seam where the PVC floor is sewn to the canvas.
Pay particular attention at the points where the black webbing peg loops are sewn between the floor and wall materials. These 3 layers of materials are where leaks occasionally occur.
Once you have applied the seam sealer, you can then try the hose spray on the tent once again to test it.
After this process is done the seams will close up and you will not have to do it again and your tent is set for many years of great camping trips.
Please note – you do not need to apply another waterproof coating on the canvas panels of the tent. This has already been done and applying more will do more harm than good. It will clog the pores of the canvas too much. You do not have to re waterproof a tent of this quality for upwards of 10 years.
- Pack up and storage
Pack up the tent in the exact reverse order to the set up steps above. Don’t pull pegs out of the ground using the material. You may cause damage. Use another peg instead.
Fold the tent neatly and close all window and door zippers before rolling it. Measure the length of the bag and fold the tent into thirds to fit the bag length. Roll it tightly and you will find it will fit back in the bag very easily.
Store your tent in a cool and dry place with good ventilation. Not in the roof or under your house and not on a cold cement floor. On a shelf off the ground is best. Never store it wet for any more than 12 hours at a time. It needs to be aired and dried properly. Follow these steps well and your tent will last for a very very long time.
Some of the tent models developed over the years by Diamantina Outdoors include –
Diamantina Hacienda 15×12
Diamantina Riviera
Diamantina Bungalow
Diamantina Sheraton Majestic
Diamantina Grande Palace 16×14
Diamantina Astoria 10×8
Diamantina Villa 12×9
Diamantina Outrigger Touring Tent
Diamantina Outrigger Extended Touring Tent
Diamantina 9’x9′ Bus Touring Tent – we used to make these in Australia for bus touring companys.
Diamantina Escape Mono Dome Tent
Diamantina Escape Duo Dome Tent
Diamantina Escape Trio Dome Tent
Diamantina Escape Portable Gazebo
Diamantina Drysdale 6,9, and 12 Family Dome Tents
Diamantina Drysdale 9 Extended Family Dome Tent
Diamantina Fraser 4 and Fraser 6 Geodesic Dome Tent
Diamantina Discovery 3V
Diamantina Discovery 4V
Diamantina Discovery 4EV
Diamantina Discovery 4FEV
Diamantina Discovery 6 – 3 room dome tent
Diamantina Explore 1 Hiking Tent
Diamantina Explore 2 Hiking Tent
Diamantina Freelander 4+ Camper Trailer
Diamantina Weekender 1, 2, and 3 Safari tents
Diamantina Safari Overlander 3M
Diamantina Safari Tourer 4
Diamantina Family Weekender
Diamantina / Campmor Safari Bow
Diamantina / Campmor Hennie
Diamantina/ Campmor Rambler
Diamantina / Campmor Travel Tramp
Diamantina / Campmor Bella Vista
Diamantina / Campmor Bushbaby Combo
Diamantina / Campmor King Canvas Gazebo
Diamantina / Campmor Junior Canvas Gazebo