View Full Version : breaking camp after rainy night
I'm pretty sure I've got this right, but want to check for clever stuff:
I have been practice camping in the back yard for a week to get the bugs out before my section hike. It finally rained last night. I tried wiping down the tent before packing it up. I used a chamois like camp towel. It was a pretty useless gesture.
I assume you pack it up damp/wet/ whatever and then cope later.
I could unpack it at a rest stop and let it sun dry (assuming there is sun).
Or, easier. do nothing and set it up at the end of the day.
Barring bad luck or Karmic debt, this should be a occasional thing, not everyday.
What say you??
neighbor dave
03-23-2009, 09:37
shake it out, pack it wet ,dry it out if possible, wipe it down before you jump in at night
sixhusbands
03-23-2009, 10:11
get used to it and try and pack it away from anything you want dry. Now you have an extra few pounds to carry plus your wet boots and clothes.... so figure it all in if you are concerned about your weight.
No rain ...... no Maine!
All you can do is minimize and mitigate wetness, not prevent.
I've often wondered if a mesh pack would be better than a waterproof pack.
Pedaling Fool
03-23-2009, 10:24
When you're out on the trail and you get the first little bit of mud on you, you kind of freak out (in a very minor way), but then you just get used to it. Kind of like the dog that gets all muddy, but doesn't seem to have a care in the world.
Slo-go'en
03-23-2009, 10:32
shake it out, pack it wet ,dry it out if possible, wipe it down before you jump in at night
Yeap, that's about all you can do. Hope the sun comes out sometime during the day, say at lunch break. Most tents will dry out pretty quickly if you can get some sun on it.
Tent's are for wusses. No need to have more manmade things in the woods. I sleep on the wet ground.
max patch
03-23-2009, 10:37
Or, easier. do nothing and set it up at the end of the day.
Being wet all day won't hurt the tent a bit. Give it a shake, put it in the stuff sack, and forget about it.
All you can do is minimize and mitigate wetness, not prevent.
I've often wondered if a mesh pack would be better than a waterproof pack.I'll take a waterproof(ed) pack and keep my wet tent strapped to the outside, thank you much! :)
Shake a wet tent and fly off as best you can, pack it, stow it on the outside of your pack. If the sun comes out, you can spread it out to dry a little during breaks/lunch. If not, wipe it as dry as possible when you set up, and cope.
Pedaling Fool
03-23-2009, 10:38
Tent's are for wusses. No need to have more manmade things in the woods. I sleep on the wet ground.
Damn another pure nature freak:rolleyes:
wow what an awesome missuse of an apostrophe i used.
since im a sissy section hiker, when i get home I'll wrap it in a towel
garlic08
03-23-2009, 10:40
shake it out, pack it wet ,dry it out if possible, wipe it down before you jump in at night
Exactly what I do.
Tent's are for wusses. No need to have more manmade things in the woods. I sleep on the wet ground.Knock yurself out! One comfortable wuss here! :)
Those little microfiber car towels are great for wiping everything down before you pack it up. I always carry two, one for gear and one for me.
Many Walks
03-23-2009, 11:22
Grinder, "Barring bad luck or Karmic debt, this should be a occasional thing, not everyday."
You'll have stretches of multiple days of rain. We hiked through and just dealt with it. No big deal. Expect it, don't fight it...rain is just part of the journey. Enjoy your hike!
I like it Summit!!
"Shake it off and pack it up!!" Get on with your life.
The token useless wipe off is now off the agenda.
take-a-knee
03-23-2009, 11:55
This is why ULA packs have that generous mesh pocket on the back/front. Your tarp or tarptent will fit there, easily pulled out for a little sun later in the day if it shines for you
Walmart sells a PVA drying towel. It works like a sponge. It's called Aquadry. The only thing that should be wet is your fly. Take a few minutes and wipe it down. If you use a ground cloth, that should be dry unless you are in a 4-5 hour down pour. In the morning you can hang the ground cloth on the back of your pack or side mesh pocket to help it dry out. If you have to set up in the rain, take down in the rain and hike in the rain, you will "Shake it and put it away".
Blissful
03-23-2009, 13:14
I brought two of the smaller msr towels to dry off my tent (got them cheap from someone selling them). We double bagged it with teh stuff sack and used a Reynolds turkey oven bag since it went inside my son's pack. Then when we stopped for lunch, esp if it is clear, put the tent out to dry. Normally it was dry in 15 minutes. When on my own I carry my tent on the outside of the pack.
Farr Away
03-23-2009, 13:50
Walmart sells a PVA drying towel. It works like a sponge. It's called Aquadry. The only thing that should be wet is your fly. Take a few minutes and wipe it down. If you use a ground cloth, that should be dry unless you are in a 4-5 hour down pour. In the morning you can hang the ground cloth on the back of your pack or side mesh pocket to help it dry out. If you have to set up in the rain, take down in the rain and hike in the rain, you will "Shake it and put it away".
Second the aquadry. It really, really works.
Footslogger
03-23-2009, 13:56
I'm pretty sure I've got this right, but want to check for clever stuff:
I have been practice camping in the back yard for a week to get the bugs out before my section hike. It finally rained last night. I tried wiping down the tent before packing it up. I used a chamois like camp towel. It was a pretty useless gesture.
I assume you pack it up damp/wet/ whatever and then cope later.
I could unpack it at a rest stop and let it sun dry (assuming there is sun).
Or, easier. do nothing and set it up at the end of the day.
Barring bad luck or Karmic debt, this should be a occasional thing, not everyday.
What say you??
===================================
We pretty much had non-stop rain for weeks at a time in 2003 so we got pretty good at packing up after a wet night.
What worked best for me was to stay organized and pretty much pack up my entire backpack inside the tent. Once I climbed out of the tent the only thing left to deal with was the wet tent itself. I carried a nylon mesh stuff sack large enough to hold the tent. I pulled up the stakes and folded the tent inward and then stuck it in the sack. First chance later that day - - assuming the rain stopped and the sun came out -- I pulled out the tent and spread it over a tree branch or tall bushes while I took a break.
'Slogger
BUMP
I'm back from my section hike and thought I'd report on a rainy morning.
I used a tarp tent this trip. I have to say that complicated packing up because of the fetal position I had to sit in, in order to stay under the roof.
I packed into three dry bags in the tent, assembled my gearskin clone pack and loaded it in the tent.
Then, tearing down the tent and stuffing it was no big thing.
All in all, it's quite doable
I think that's a good strategy, to keep dry what needs to be dry, but to be able to pack stuff that is wet even when it is wet. That is why I think a mesh pack might be better.
superman
04-21-2009, 08:30
===================================
We pretty much had non-stop rain for weeks at a time in 2003 so we got pretty good at packing up after a wet night.
What worked best for me was to stay organized and pretty much pack up my entire backpack inside the tent. Once I climbed out of the tent the only thing left to deal with was the wet tent itself. I carried a nylon mesh stuff sack large enough to hold the tent. I pulled up the stakes and folded the tent inward and then stuck it in the sack. First chance later that day - - assuming the rain stopped and the sun came out -- I pulled out the tent and spread it over a tree branch or tall bushes while I took a break.
'Slogger
I did the same except that I used a garbage bag for the tent.
Second the aquadry. It really, really works.
Where in WalMart might one find it? I am currently using a Shamwow and they really work well, but I'm always open to experimentation.
SlowLightTrek
04-21-2009, 09:14
I did the same except that I used a garbage bag for the tent.
I used a kitchen garbage bag too. The tent will get the other contents of your pack wet.
I'm pretty sure I've got this right, but want to check for clever stuff:I have been practice camping in the back yard for a week to get the bugs out before my section hike. It finally rained last night. I tried wiping down the tent before packing it up. I used a chamois like camp towel. It was a pretty useless gesture......etcetcetcetcetcetcetc.....
MAN!....its a bitch packing up in the RAIN!:D
But, as has been said before...shake out the tent as much as you can...(getting the moisture off) then hike...when the SUN breaks out...take a break & eat lunch spread the tent out & let it dry.
Good Luck w/ yer hike!
I'll be out with "Jigsaw" & "Model-T" May 2-14 NOBO Harpers Ferry,WV to Swatara Gap,PA
===================================
We pretty much had non-stop rain for weeks at a time in 2003 so we got pretty good at packing up after a wet night.
What worked best for me was to stay organized and pretty much pack up my entire backpack inside the tent. Once I climbed out of the tent the only thing left to deal with was the wet tent itself. I carried a nylon mesh stuff sack large enough to hold the tent. I pulled up the stakes and folded the tent inward and then stuck it in the sack. First chance later that day - - assuming the rain stopped and the sun came out -- I pulled out the tent and spread it over a tree branch or tall bushes while I took a break.
'Slogger
So...the sun came out in 2003? News to me! :sun
Seriously, I finished up in Maine in '03, with 21 days of rain/drizzle/fog out of 25. I feel your pain.
We learned to pack up and set up in the rain almost efficiently. More like deal with it as best we could. Having a way to sop up the flooring before laying out the sleeping bag at night is most important. Ditto wiping down the interior before final exit in the morning. Mine is a single-wall tent, so the main body got wet like a fly on a double-wall tent would.
One thing that helped a lot was to carry the tent on the outside of my pack—using a pack rain cover. Fortunately, there is a bungie-cord system on the back of my Mountainsmith Auspex perfect for this. It helps to segregate the wet tent from the contents inside the pack. It helps to keep the interior contents drier if you don't have to open up the pack in the rain to stow the tent. It helps at the end of the day in a similar way—you can get at your tent without exposing the interior to the downpour. You can then unpack your pack inside the tent after you put it up and after you sop up the precip. (Sop-up cloth or shop towels easily accessible without goinbg into the pack's interior as well. A side pocket works for me.)
I used to have a double-walled tent. It was beneficial to carry the fly (which was the most wet) in a stuff sack that was separate from the tent body (which was hopefully a lot drier). It helped keep the tent body drier than stuffing body and fly into the same stuff sack would. Carried outside the pack, of course.
Two Speed
04-21-2009, 09:43
. . . It helps to segregate the wet tent from the contents inside the pack. It helps to keep the interior contents drier if you don't have to open up the pack in the rain to stow the tent. It helps at the end of the day in a similar way—you can get at your tent without exposing the interior to the downpour. You can then unpack your pack inside the tent . . . Critical technique IMHO. Tent/hammock/shelter/whatever on the OUTSIDE of your pack so you can pitch and strike camp w/o exposing all your gear to precip.
YMMV.
Old Grouse
04-21-2009, 10:13
Hey JAK, I thought you'd recommend wrapping your wet tent in a wool sweater.