Cuban fiber helps as it just does not hold as much water as silnylon. A accidental touch to a wet surface does not have much water to transfer.
New for this year is the Moment DW for 2....$$$Originally Posted by saltysack
Sleep on the ground, rise with the sun and hike with the wind....
I'm skeptical of this claim. A tent made from plastic film (polyethylene) or aluminum foil would hold no water, yet still have condensation issues.
Pitching any shelter on a bald with grass will lead to condensation, especially this time of year. Fog has been brutal in my area the last few weeks. Also, I use a Tarptent Notch. The fly is not attached to the mesh body, so I can keep is separated while packing up in the AM. This allows me opportunities to lay it out to dry during the day as I hike and take breaks.
I thinks it's was mainly operator error due to set up location....I like the notch but has half the space....Pitching any shelter on a bald with grass will lead to condensation, especially this time of year. Fog has been brutal in my area the last few weeks. Also, I use a Tarptent Notch. The fly is not attached to the mesh body, so I can keep is separated while packing up in the AM. This allows me opportunities to lay it out to dry during the day as I hike and take breaks.
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You have a great shelter. I have the Cuben fiber version. Weather and site selection are major factors. Avoid grassy open spaces. Some condensation is sometimes unavoidable. Enjoy. Great outfitter Outdoor 76.
Here's another good article on the subject
https://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi...s#.VEju-ckxq9U
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Salty,
I have the same tent. I think that your question was already answered: Cold night-high bald, no wind block= condensation.
On the single wall parts I do have it at times and use a small sham wow to wipe it off in the morning. Was it dripping as you slept? A solution for the toebox you are aware of is slipping you rain gear around that area as a poor bivy... it does work.
I was out last weekend and used my SM skytrekekker. used it at the Beauty spot area, no condinsation. I was really surprised. But I had the poles higher than normal so there was more airflow throughout.
I will read the articles posted by others, but I wanted to drop a line saying I have the same tent, and have had nothing out of the normal. BTW how was the airflow? I always try to keep the canopy pitched even just a little for better ventilation.
Best,
Floyd
Thx for input...really like the shelter esp the awning is huge!
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More on site selection: If you're familiar with mountain diurnal weather patterns, you'll understand that cooler nighttime air migrates to valleys. The ridges can be warmer, with lower RH. On the AT, I'd usually choose a site on a breezy ridge before descending in to the fog-prone valley below. I'd wake up dry, then get pants legs and shoes soaked in dew as I trudged through the bottomland, glad I didn't camp down there.
Of course, this usually means a dry camp and carrying more water to your campsite. On the AT, I'd have dinner and wash up at a stream then hike on to a dry camp carrying a small bottle of water. It's seldom more than a few miles to the next water source for breakfast.
Campsites on ridges often had other advantages of fewer bugs, fewer animals accustomed to being fed, breezy on warm nights, often better views, less pounded ground. And looking down at foggy valleys at sunrise is pretty nice, too.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
Now I'm confused......isn't this opposite what others have been saying?
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I have a hexamid twin and generally have been able to avoid heavy condensation by practicing the techniques already mentioned by others. On the occasions where I have had to camp near water adjacent to meadows, I expected condensation and took some steps to keep my gear dry such as covering the foot end of my sleeping bag with my rain jacket (unless the jacket was wet, of course). I found it much easier to avoid condensation on the John Muir Trail than in Colorado, probably due to differences in humidity. On the AT, I avoid the humidity of summer for the most part by hiking elsewhere. On my spring AT section this year, I mostly avoided condensation by choosing campsites carefully.
HST/JMT August 2016
TMB/Alps Sept 2015
PCT Mile 0-857 - Apr/May 2015
Foothills Trail Feb 2015
Colorado Trail Aug 2014
AT: Rockfish Gap to Boiling Springs 2014
John Muir Trail Aug/Sept 2013
Not really. Here is an article about temperature inversion and campsite selection -- http://windowoutdoors.com/WindowOutd...Inversion.html
Infact read the other articles on the website -- http://windowoutdoors.com/WindowOutd...20Outdoors.htm
igne et ferrum est potentas
"In the beginning, all America was Virginia." -William Byrd
You should do some reading on controlling condensation as it is vital to understand the relationship between temperature and relative humidity. Some hints at camping with a single wall shelter include:
Ventilation- You need a lot of it. To the point where I cut a vent hole in the top of my North Face Asylum and sewed in a screen. Your exhaled breath is highly humid and you need to find ways to vent it. Other sources of humid air include wet clothes or gear, sweating from too many clothes on in your bag, an animal in the tent.
Site selection- Valleys tend to have less breeze to facilitate ventilation and more humidity. You are better off camping up high.
Weather- You are going to have an especially hard time controlling the condensation when it rains or when it drops below freezing. With that said, it is still possible to minimize it and enjoy your night.
Gear- Given the choice of a single wall tent you should probably ditch the down bag and go with something that will dry easier.
My first couple of nights in the Asylum were drenched and miserable. I did some research and now I sleep dry every night.
I respectfully disagree with that sentiment. A single wall shelter with a down bag is a standard gear combo for thru-hikers.
I use of the simple steps to minimize condensation ralph23 and others have already suggested but I don't worry too much about it other than avoiding touching the walls.
Under some conditions I find it impossible to avoid condensation. If it's bad enough that I'm concerned about dripping, I'll wipe down the inside, but that might be once a month.
Condensation happens, get a double wall tent.
Probably already mentioned, but yeah, just cross vent it somehow, I use both a single wall and double wall tent.
For any tent, it's just a trade off for warmth and ventilation. Less ventilation, more warmth but more condensation. More ventilation, less warmth and less condensation, simple as that. I honestly don't notice a huge difference in single vs. double wall, unless of course I don't ventilate the single wall enough. In the middle of summer, I carry the single wall, because warmth is no problem and I can vent it very well; the tent basically keep me dry and keeps bugs away (full net). Fall through spring, I carry a double wall, venting it less to make it warmer. Simple as that, really.
Double wall ain't no cure.
I've only ever owned double wall tents... Kelty and Big Agnes tents to be specific. Most of my hiking is done in the humid Smoky Mountains and I've noticed a huge difference in the condensation I get on the fabrics used by Kelty compared to the fabrics used by Big Agnes. Now it might just be a coincidence, but every time I've used either Big Agnes tent, I've had condensation on the fly no mater how much I had the tent ventilated. But I seem to only get condensation on the Kelty if rain causes me to close most of the rain fly. If I can keep the rain fly folded back on the Kelty, I get pretty much no condensation if weather is good. But even with the fly folded back and good weather, I always have condensation on the Big Agnes.
(BTW, I specifically own the Big Agnes Lynx Pass 2, Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 2, Kelty Vortex 2 (predecessor to the current Gunnison line) and Kelty Gunnison 3.1)
I have the same exact tent! It took a few trips to figure out how to manage the condensation, but now its not bad at all. Stay in the middle of the tent, don't touch the walls, keep it open as much as possible and lengthen the poles so the tent is taut. Moving/touching the walls to much is the biggest problem i have when going with my daughter and dog. But if you move wisely, you will stay dry.
Also... To keep the corners spacious you want to stake the four corners, go inside and put the poles up, and THEN go back out and stake the other two stakes that go on the side of the tent. It seemed to give me a lot more space doing it this way. It may be obvious, but it took me a few trips to figure that out. Good luck, and dont get discouraged you bought a very nice tent.
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