How to Set Up a Tube Tent: 6 Steps and 3 Mistakes to Avoid

What a Tube Tent Is

A tube tent is a plastic tube that you hang from a cord tied between two trees. The cord makes a ridgeline, the tube drapes over it into a triangle, and the bottom of the tube is your floor.

It packs small and belongs in a day pack or car kit for emergencies. Ryan used the classic Coghlan's Emergency Tube Tent, an 8 foot orange polyethylene tube that comes with its own cord.

What You Need

• The tube tent and its cord
• Two trees, or two solid anchors, about 11 feet apart
• A few stakes for the corners
• A few flat rocks or gear bags to weight the floor
• Two heavy branches or clips to close one end

Check Latest Prices: Coghlan's Emergency Tube Tent

How to Set Up a Tube Tent in Six Steps

1. Pick flat ground between two trees. Ryan used two lodgepole pines about 11 feet apart. Look for two trees that far apart on ground that's level, not just nearly level. The floor is slick plastic, so even a slight slope matters (see the mistakes below).
2. Thread the cord through the tube. Run it all the way through so both ends hang out.
3. Tie off one end, then tension the other drum-tight. Ryan tied both ends with a taut-line hitch so he could tighten it. Do this before you open the tube or climb in.
4. Open the tube into a triangle. Spread the floor flat under the ridgeline.
5. Stake and weight the floor corners. Stake the corners, then put flat rocks or gear bags in each corner inside, so the floor holds its shape and doesn't slide. In soft ground, the weight matters more than the stakes.
6. Close the upwind end. Pin it shut with two heavy branches or gear clips, so wind can't blow straight through.

Once you know the order, the whole pitch takes about four minutes.

Three Mistakes That Ruin a First Pitch

1. A loose ridgeline

The first time, Ryan tied the cord off loosely and climbed in. His weight pulled the slick tube inward, and the ceiling sagged into a funnel 3 inches above his face. Tension the cord until it's drum-tight before anyone gets inside.

2. Pitching on a slope

On a slope of just 3 degrees, his sleeping bag and pad slid on the plastic floor like a sled. Every time he shifted he slid further, until his lower legs were hanging out of the back opening in the mud. Find level ground, and weight the corners.

3. Leaving both ends open

In a shifting 15 mph breeze, the open tube caught the wind like a parachute. It pulled a stake out of soft ground and folded a sidewall in. Close the end that faces the wind.

Tube Tent FAQ

How long does a tube tent take to set up?

About four minutes once you know the steps. Practice once at home or in the yard, so your first real pitch isn't your first attempt.

Can you set up a tube tent without trees?

You need two anchors for the ridgeline. Ryan used trees; any two solid points about 11 feet apart that you can tie a cord to and tension will do the same job.

Is a tube tent good enough for camping?

It's an emergency shelter, not a campsite tent. Pitched well, it gives you a windproof shelter for a night. For a planned trip, see our best backpacking tents; to compare emergency shelters, see our best tube tents.

The Bottom Line

Tension the ridgeline before you climb in, pitch on level ground and close the upwind end. Do those three things and a tube tent goes from a sagging plastic sled to a solid emergency shelter in about four minutes.

Editor's Note, 17 October 2026: New guide, from Ryan's notes on pitching a Coghlan's Emergency Tube Tent, including the mistakes from his first attempt.

Our Testers

This guide was edited by Sean Williams and tested by Ryan Williams.

• Sean Williams, Editor-in-Chief. Sean built the team of researchers and testers behind our reviews and sets the rule the site runs on: we buy what we test, and we say what we found.
• Ryan Williams, Lead Tester. A heavy fleet equipment mechanic by trade, Ryan tests our generators, family and basecamp tents, and emergency gear.