Difficulty to assemble RedWing soft boxes

I have a small, medium and large RedWing Cumulus soft box, which I assemble when needed and really like as soon as they are put together. However, putting them together is not that easy for me. If I'd follow the instructions, I would probably break my fingers; just can't be done. So, I losen one Velcro strip to release the tension at one corner. That works but is still tough. Does anyone have a better way? What am I doing wrong?

I have never seen a Red Wing softbox, but they are all pretty much the same. The trick to putting it together and also taking it apart it to press the rod opposite the one you are trying to insert into the ground to flex it. This takes tension off the box and makes it easy to put together (and take apart). I hope this helps.

Patrick

Thanks for the quick reply. I tried it, but I'm really afraid to break the wand. I bent the opposite wand as much as I could, but I still could not get the first wand out. By the way, RedWing is sold by Calumet.