Drash tents: what's at stake.

Although the TMSS medium tent isn't hard to put up, its design is unlike that of most tents. The TMSS has a strut frame covered on both sides with polyester blend fabric. And that design calls for some special set-up and strike procedures.

Set-up

* First of all, it's a four-man operation. That includes carrying, erecting and striking.

* Lift the tent bundle from the transport bag. Unwrap the floor from the bundle. Arrange the tent so the outside (green or tan) is facing up and the inside (white) is facing down. Remove the cinch straps.

* With both hands, take hold of the hubs or the framework closest to the hubs. The outside hubs are the ones with the coated wire loops.

* When your team leader gives the word, lift the tent off the ground and take a step back to expand the tent. Look at the tent to make sure no wind lines or debris are wrapped around the struts, binding them. Snagged lines and debris can keep the tent from spreading, rip the fabric or damage the struts.

* Lift the tent again and continue stepping back until the tent is fully expanded.

* Line up one end cap at each end of the tent's center section. Put the red end cap hubs over the pins sticking out from the white hubs on the center section. Make sure to insert the catch pins to hold the red and white hubs together.

* Line up the small, black tabs on the center section with those on the end caps. Join the hook-and-pile seams together, working from the center outwards. Start with the inside seam and finish with the outside.

* Inside the tent, locate the four push point hubs with red flags where the end caps join the center section. Place a push pole against each hub. Push up until the four poles are supporting the tent. Lift with your legs.

* Spread out the floor inside the tent. Join the floor to the wall with the hook-and-pile fasteners.

* Uncoil the wind lines and stake them about four or five feet from the tent. Pound in the stakes at a 45[degrees] angle with the heads pointing away from the tent. That angle does a better job of holding the tent stable That's unlike the technique you use with canvas duck tents. With those tents you drive in the stakes straight up and down or angle them toward the tent to allow some give when the canvas shrinks.

Use the tensioners to keep the wind lines taut. Each tensioner has a three-position lock to fit variations in rope size.

* Along the tent walls, pound in the ground stakes straight up and down through the eyes of the staking plates. Vertical stakes do a better job of keeping the walls secure.

Striking

* Detach the floor by unfastening the hook-and-pile fasteners. Remove the floor from the tent and fold it lengthwise twice. You'll use the floor later to wrap up the tent bundle.

* Close all windows. Tie all doorways open.

* Pull out all stakes.

* Station four soldiers around the tent. Grip the hubs, lift the shelter about six inches off the ground and step backwards. The center of the tent will come down to ground level.

* Finish detaching the end caps by unfastening the hook-and-pile seams. Detach the red end cap hubs from the white hubs on the center section. It takes two soldiers to depress each end cap. Lift up the end cap by its hubs and walk toward each other.

* Compress the center section of the tent by lifting up at the and walking toward each other.