Multi-Day camping: How to handle wet tents?

[hikingfish]

Hi!
I was recently in a situation where we were doing canoe-camping in Quebec for 3 nights. Everything went well, but it brought up an issue I wasn't sure how to handle: How do you manage/pack your tent when it's wet? Let me explain: We set up camp on the first night and it rained. In the morning, the tent was wet on the outside of the fly (dew), on the bottom (rained on our spot before we setup) and on the inside of the fly (humidity from breathing). Now obviously, if I had been smart, I should of done the following in the morning: un-clipped my fly and put it in the sun so it could dry and turn my tent upside-down so the bottom could dry.

What if it had kept raining and I had to pack my fly (wet) and netting tent (which was dry) back into it's stuff sack...I guess I would of had to sleep in a wet tent for the rest of the trip or is there a magic little trick I don't quite get? Also, some stuff in my pack could of potentially gotten wet from the water that was on my fly.

Fish

 

[blacklab2020]

If you know its going to rain... carry a light weight tarp and pack up under that in themorning... if you dont have the tarp... Try and rig a tarp out of your fly and pack up underneath the fly.

The fly will likely be wet... its not by any means uncommon to carry a wet fly... The next night if it is dry it will dry out. You just have to deal with the weight.

 

[dave.m]

I kind of accept a wet tent as being its natural state. The biggest problem for me is the increased pack weight from carrying all that water.

I keep a small sponge in all my (floored) tents to help soak up moisture. I'm also increasingly seeing the wisdom of putting visqueen INSIDE the tent.

In terms of other stuff getting wet in my pack, I keep my bag, camp clothes and food in plastic bags. I gave up on pack covers to keep stuff dry. So a wet tent doesn't phase my pack. Nor does wet rain gear.

 

[spaddock]

In terms of other stuff getting wet in my pack, I keep my bag, camp clothes and food in plastic bags. I gave up on pack covers to keep stuff dry. So a wet tent doesn't phase my pack. Nor does wet rain gear.

I second that. I have drybags (Granite gear compression sacs) for everything inside my pack.

I'll wipe down the fly with one of those quick dry camp towels if it isn't pouring when I pack up.

Canoeing I might just strap the fly onto the bungies of my pack since it will just be sitting in a canoe anyways.

Most of the time though I just wear my magic "don't rain" pinky ring.


-Shayne

 

[Rick]

I try to shake out the tent body and fly as bet I can (tough with one person) or of there is a large treeless area, I will swing it around in circles much qas I do with my platypus tube, though I have never been convinced that it really gets some moisture off the tent rather than moving it to a different area of the tent.

Otherwise, I keep a couple of plastic Wegmans (grocery) bags (Sorry, I grew up near Rochester, Wegmans IS grocery) and stuff the fly in one and the tent in the other to avoid getting everything wet in my pack.

As long as it isn't raining, I find the tent dries out pretty quickly in the afternoon or early evening if I set it up right away when making camp.

 

[hikingfish]

I'm very intrigued by those pink "no rain" rings. Where could one purchase such a ring?

Fish

 

[spaddock]

I'm very intrigued by those pink "no rain" rings. Where could one purchase such a ring?

I mailed away for mine. It only took 1,000 Bazooka Joe bubblegum wrappers. The x-ray glasses were on backorder so they sent it instead.

I've also heard they can be found in cans of powdered gatorade.


-Shayne

 

[blacknblue]

You mean you don't bring your battery-powered hair dryer?
Wet tents suck. There's no way around it, and yet sometimes you just have to live with carrying a wet tent for a while. The best you can do is to be as careful as possible with set-up and take-down, trying to keep only the fly wet. Other than that, you just have to wait for a sunny and/or breezy day.
I remember slogging through the Carter rain and my tent and sleeping bag were beginning to smell mildewy from the days of rain. Not fun. But it made that sunny, breezy view atop Mt. Hight all the better!

 

[WBB]

Living closer to Buffalo then Rochester Tops bag were standard, but as they keep making them thinner and thinner I have switched to Aldi’s as they are made of a heavier plastic and are pretty much watertight. What is surprising is how much water can gather on a rain fly. We shake it off, but when we go to set it up later we can pour water out of the bag. As noted by other a pack towel or small sponge takes care of any water that is left.

 

[hikingfish]

I'll have to try that towel trick this weekend!!

Thanks!

Fish

 

[Lawn Sale]

If it's pouring, there isn't much that can be done.

If it's not raining, I shake off the fly as best I can and fold it separately. For the tent, I also shake it off and fold it so the floor is always to the outside and the mesh is inside. It has always worked in not getting everything else wet.