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  1. #1

    Default Tarp Tents on the AT - How much condensation ?

    With the humid air and rainy nights typical of the East coast, and the forested (low wind) trails typical of the AT - what percentage of the rainstorms does your tarp tent get enough condensation that rain nocks the condensation off the roof so that they fall onto your sleeping bag ?

    Is it enough of a problem to warrant a hi-tech "waterproof/breathable" coating on the sleeping bag - or is the standard nylon taffeta OK ?

    Is the condensation that falls onto your face big enough to wake you up ?

    Thanks.

  2. #2
    Hiker bigcranky's Avatar
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    Rarely, no, and not yet.

    Condensation is a fact of life in any tent, and depends on the local weather conditions and the tent site. We've been using tarptents since 2004, and had plenty of nights when the inside was bone dry, many nights with some minor condensation, and one or two nights with heavy condensation that dripped on our bags. (Those tend to be in spring and fall, when temps get into the 50s and the air is saturated with no breeze.) Our bags have regular taffeta shells with a decent DWR, and they dry quickly.
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  3. #3
    Hike smarter, not harder.
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    You could always throw in a 7 oz TiGoat bivy if you're real worried, and still be lighter than a lot of tents. The only problems I've have were due to location - damp ground, lower temps like bigcranky mentioned, and next to a river (all at once).
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    Registered User rpenczek's Avatar
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    I use a Tarptent Rainbow II when backpacking. It has been on about 100 miles of the AT TN/VA border in August. Both trips have been humid with lots of rain, in fact, at Elk Garden we had a drenching three hour rain.

    Additionally, I live in central IN and most of my backpacking is in the spring/summer/fall in the Hoosier National Forest (humid and no wind and rain).

    I get come condensation, but nothing too difficult to deal with. I keep an REI pack towel in my tent and wipe down the inside quickly (if necessary) before I really get moving in the morning. I have about 40 nights in my Tarptent with some good rains and very humid nights and have yet to have a wet sleeping bag.

    Finally, after carrying a Tarptent vs. a typical tent, I don't beleive I could go back to the additional weight.

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    Registered User HeartFire's Avatar
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    How about a different tent? check out the LightHeart Tentshttp://www.lightheartgear.com

  6. #6
    Registered User ChinMusic's Avatar
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    All tents get condensation if the conditions dictate. With a double-wall tent you have a tent within a tent to keep you from touching it, along with the potential for better ventilation.

    Condensation is a fact of life with single-wall tents. What works for me is to have a camp towel or bandanna in the tent and wipe down the ceiling as needed. I almost always wake up a few times during the night and it is a part of my routine to check for condensation. If it is there I soak it up and wring out the towel and go back to sleep. I've never had enough condensation to put my bags loft at risk. I use a Lunar Solo and not a TT but the idea is the same.
    Last edited by ChinMusic; 12-28-2010 at 17:22.
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  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by ChinMusic View Post
    All tents get condensation if the conditions dictate. With a double-wall tent you have a tent within a tent to keep you from touching it, along with the potential for better ventilation.

    Condensation is a fact of life with single-wall tents. What works for me is to have a camp towel or bandanna in the tent and wipe down the ceiling as needed. I almost always wake up a few times during the night and it is a part of my routine to check for condensation. If it is there I soak it up and wring out the towel and go back to sleep. I've never had enough condensation to put my bags loft at risk. I uses a Lunar Solo and not a TT but the idea is the same.
    Use a Gatewood Cape (essentially a floorless shaped tarp) a lot and do the same as what is described above if I need to, which is dependent on the conditions. At 11 oz (add 1.2 oz for stakes and 1.6 oz for polychro groundsheet), can't see going back to something heavier. Use a Serenity NetTent inside the Gatewood or inside a shelter without the Gatewood if it's buggy. That adds only 6.4 oz when I carry it, because it replaces the polychro.
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    Registered User garbanz's Avatar
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    Default It will be your castle.

    For many backpacking trips Id merely wipe the condensation off the inner side of my tarptents. For a long while Id enjoyed moderate weather and thought I had the right shelter. The bottom line was that my tents hadnt really been put to the test.
    Condensation wasnt a problem in my tarptent (Moment) until I hit a heavy deluge in Washington State---then the misting started. This wouldnt be a problem in the Sierras but WILL be a nuisance on the AT. Im starting out Springer in March with MSR's Hubba Hubba HP. Heavy---definely. Roomy---yes. A better protection against incliment weather---I think so.
    As the weather warms and I change to summer gear in Pearisburg I have the option of changing back to the lighter tarptent for summer when gear is more apt to dry out quickly.

  9. #9

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    After enduring a miserable hike with a Contrail when frozen condensate would fall on me everytime sleet hit the outside of the tarptent, I switched to a LightHeart Tent. Same weight and so far not a drop of condensate. The only think that bothers me about the LightHeart is that HeartFire keeps improving her design so I get tent envy.

  10. #10

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    I believe the Moment and a couple other models of Tarptent now offer a liner that only weighs a few ounces that you can attach to help with any misting or condensation. I've only used my Moment on one trip in October but I had very minor condensation issues. It held up fine to a good rain also. I also kept a towel handy but had no dripping.

  11. #11
    LT '79; AT '73-'14 in sections; Donating Member Kerosene's Avatar
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    I use half of a small kitchen sponge (0.5 oz dry) to wipe down the inside of my Lunar Solo. It soaks up more water than a cloth and squeezes drier. I've only had significant condensation once, on a cool, still night on a ridge overlooking Hot Springs. I had misting during a hard rain once at Dismal Falls. Both times I was thankful for my bag's DWR treatment.
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  12. #12

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    I spent the majority of the nights of my 2008 thru-hike in my Contrail, and never had an issue with the condensation getting my down bag more than a little damp. In the beginning, I worried about it a lot and woke up multiple times during a rainy night to dry off the ceiling and walls with my pack towel. As the miles added up, I worried about it less and less, to the point where I stopped caring what the weather was, my little tarptent was going to keep me dry enough.

    You see the thing is, even though the sil-nylon fabric would get covered in little droplets of condensation, when they ganged up together they didn't drip on me, they ran down the wall of the tent, falling into the mesh "window" area. Every once and a while, you would experience a very fine mist of water rain down, but it never amounted to enough to reduce the loft of my bag. I can be an active sleeper, and I would occasionally bump up against the wall of the tarptent, but even this wasn't enough to get my down bag too damp to function.

    The biggest issue that I experienced (and figured out how to work around), was a build up of a pool of water above my feet during heavy rains, where the slope of the ceiling levels out. Making sure that everything was setup taut was enough to stop this from happening, but was a common problem non the less.

    The tarptent served me well, and I will definitely be using it again on future long distance hikes.

  13. #13

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    I knew some folks who ditched the TarpTent and bought a Hubba Hubba after getting drenched in a downpour in GA.
    But the same tent worked well for me (but I've avoided downpours so far).

  14. #14

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    As mentioned, all tents will exhibit ample condensation at times, especially during the winter. On my last trip in December my four season double wall tent stayed wet for seven days and this was due mostly to the peculiar weather I was getting: Snow turned to sleet and then more snow, for seven days, so the inner tent stayed wet with either water or ice.

    This is normal. The biggest problem with any tent is length and whether the sleeping bag(especially the bag's foot)touches any part of the tent. Ideally, no part of the tent or tarp should touch the bag or it will get wet. The small---tiny---tents that are so popular nowadays commonly drape or rub up against the sleeping bag, and esp the foot of the bag. Any tent with angled end walls will wet a bag, and then there's the added problem of using a high sleeping pad(like the Exped downmat at 3.5 inches)which will throw you right up onto the slanted end walls.

    Which tents are long enough to keep away from your bag? There aren't many. And anyway, it's not the overall length of the tent floor that is important, it's the angle of the end walls.

  15. #15
    PCT, Sheltowee, Pinhoti, LT , BMT, AT, SHT, CDT, TRT 10-K's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    As mentioned, all tents will exhibit ample condensation at times, especially during the winter. On my last trip in December my four season double wall tent stayed wet for seven days and this was due mostly to the peculiar weather I was getting: Snow turned to sleet and then more snow, for seven days, so the inner tent stayed wet with either water or ice.

    This is normal. The biggest problem with any tent is length and whether the sleeping bag(especially the bag's foot)touches any part of the tent. Ideally, no part of the tent or tarp should touch the bag or it will get wet. The small---tiny---tents that are so popular nowadays commonly drape or rub up against the sleeping bag, and esp the foot of the bag. Any tent with angled end walls will wet a bag, and then there's the added problem of using a high sleeping pad(like the Exped downmat at 3.5 inches)which will throw you right up onto the slanted end walls.

    Which tents are long enough to keep away from your bag? There aren't many. And anyway, it's not the overall length of the tent floor that is important, it's the angle of the end walls.
    I ran into this problem the other weekend. During the night the snowfall effectively covered the mesh around my tent floor and I had a serious condensation problem due to no venting... I wound up sticking the foot of my sleeping bag into the trash compactor bag I use as an internal pack liner to keep it from getting soaked.

  16. #16

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    My worst case was a 16 degree night?????????? Not sure why, but condensation was brutal!!!
    Don't Die Before You've Had A Chance To Live!

  17. #17
    Registered User kayak karl's Avatar
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    you live in maryland, test it out yourself. too lazy???
    I'm so confused, I'm not sure if I lost my horse or found a rope.

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by kayak karl View Post
    you live in maryland, test it out yourself. too lazy???
    Cold KK, cold man...........
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  19. #19
    Registered User Rick500's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daydream Believer View Post
    I believe the Moment and a couple other models of Tarptent now offer a liner that only weighs a few ounces that you can attach to help with any misting or condensation. I've only used my Moment on one trip in October but I had very minor condensation issues. It held up fine to a good rain also. I also kept a towel handy but had no dripping.
    Same experience with my Moment. Used it on a 4-day section hike in October. Minor condensation, I wiped it off with a little square of ShamWow in the morning and had no issues.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick500 View Post
    Same experience with my Moment. Used it on a 4-day section hike in October. Minor condensation, I wiped it off with a little square of ShamWow in the morning and had no issues.
    Ditto re condensation, even in extended rain/humidity. A towel wipe remedied the issue.

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