Wet Tent & Stuff Sack

[rickb]

I have always put my wet tent into a traditional stuff sack lined with a garbage bag.

If I stuffed my tent into to a sil nylon sack (with no garbage bag) would it keep the wet inside? Or would I need to turn the sil nylon sack inside out to be effective?

Any better strategies? Thoughts on a drybag closure? Seems like overkill for my application.

[burger]

Silnylon is not actually waterproof, and if you put a wet tent inside a silnylon stuff sack, the pressure from the tent will cause water to get out and get the contents of your pack wet. It wouldn't matter whether the sack was inside out or not.

I think the best option for a wet tent is to stuff it in its stuff sack (without any special liner) and keep it in one of the external pockets on your pack until you have a chance to dry it. That way, nothing in your pack gets wet.

[garlic08]

I agree with what Burger says. Silnylon will "wick" with enough pressure, like if you sit on it.

My strategy with a wet tent is to pack it wet inside the pack with no stuff sack, and keep the stuff that needs to be dry in the pack with a trash compactor bag. My food bag can be wet, too. So can my rain gear. So I just put my sleeping quilt/bag and clothing in a plastic bag and everything else can get or stay wet. Silnylon dries so quickly, if I get a few minutes of sun and wind during the day I take a break and dry everything out and lighten up by an ounce or two.

[Gambit McCrae]

First of all Silnylons permiasion rating is much higher than people think. What is actually happening is that condensation builds on the inside of the tent and silny is light enought that when the rain hits it it knocks rain particles off the tent on to you. Secondly there is no pressure pushing water through a stuff sack for a tent?

[bigcranky]

I have used a Granite Gear roll-top silnylon stuff sack successfully inside my pack with a very wet tent. But last year I had Zpacks make me a skinny, tall cuben fiber stuff sack with a standard drawsting closure. It fits my tent perfectly, and slides into the stretchy front pocket of my pack. Cuben is waterproof, and holds in all the water until I can stop for lunch and dry things out.

[rusty bumper]

I slide my wet rolled-up Tarptent Moment into the longish narrow sack that it came with. It then goes in the long mesh pocket on the outside of my Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus pack.

[Namtrag]

and then you hike down the trail in your Salomon XA trail runners using your Black Diamond hiking poles...lol

Seriously, I just always carry my tent strapped to the bottom of my pack, so then it doesn't matter whether it's wet or not. My pack has two straps with clips to do this with, so it's pretty nice.

[rocketsocks]

I don't hike in the rain :p

[Ktaadn]

I just stuff my tent into my pack. My extra clothes and my sleeping bag are already in plastic bags, so nothing is getting wet.

[colorado_rob]

Generally, only my tent fly gets wet, maybe the tent body floor; in any case, when the fly is soaking (a common occurrence on the AT!) I put the mostly-dry tent body in the sil-nylon stuff sack and put it in my pack. Even with a trash compactor bag in my pack, I still try to keep the inside of the pack as dry as possible, so I carry the wet fly kinda rolled-up somewhere on the outside of my pack, starting its drying process (after shaking it off well too, of course). As said already, I then take a break sometime during the day and lay it out to dry it out, along with the tent body and sack. All it takes is 10 minutes of sun or wind. sure, some days it just rains the entire next day too. so then I put up a wet tent, of course. repeat the next day!

[ChinMusic]

No stuff sack for a tent. Put it on an outside pocket.

[Bronk]

You're not going to pack up a sopping wet tent in most cases. It will be damp. I don't worry too much about it because extra clothes and sleeping bag are usually in a plastic bag. But on a long distance hike everything you own is going to end up damp and smelling like mildew. Get used to it.

[Another Kevin]

I thought that a wet tent was one of the things that the big mesh pocket on the outside of most packs was for.

[evyck da fleet]

I just pack everything back in the stuff sack with the fly at the bottom. Usually, the only thing that is wet is the fly and I'll set my tent up when I stop for lunch to dry it out which doesn't take long. If need be, I'll use a small pack towel to wipe off some of the water from the fly to quicken the process.

[LIhikers]

I don't hike in the rain :p

No, but you hike in the snow :)

[Cookerhiker]

My tent rides on the outside anyway so my only change when wet is to not stuff it into the sack - just roughly fold it and tie it in the usual place on the pack.

[shakey_snake]

Just assume everything in your pack that isn't in a dry (traditional or garbage bag) is going to get wet.

So with that line of thinking, it doesn't matter if your tent is wet or not.

[rocketsocks]

No, but you hike in the snow :)
Yes we do!:)

[faxanadu]

I always put my tent in the pocket on the outside of my pack. I also rolled the sleeping part up in a specific way to keep the water and dirt from getting inside AND i put it in a separate water proof stuff sack.

- I never had an issue with a wet tent.
- It is easily accessible in bad weather. Don't have to open my pack and get anything else wet.