How do you pack a tent?

[Morning Glory]

For those of you who pack a tent, do you roll it/fold it so it is nice and neet or do you stuff it in a stuff sack? I have a couple of my hiking buddies that look at me like I'm nuts for stuffing it in a stuff sack instead of rolling it up to fit it in it's original bag that came with the tent. One of my friends even told me that it would ruin the seals on my tent and that it would leak. Opinions?

[otterman]

I roll mine. It just seems like it would be less stress on the seams than folding or stuffing. I figure that seams can't last forever and creasing them will reduce their effectiveness over time, although stuffing has got to be better than folding.

[tlbj6142]

Ditto. I just stuf the thing into a sack. Now I have a few car camping tents that are just too big/thick for their sacks, so I have to fold them up just to get them to fit. But with a backpacking tent, shove it in.

[Footslogger]

Folding a tent the same way every time is both a lot of work and potentially damaging to the tent. As the others here have said, either roll it up or just stuff it in a sack. When not in use be certain to shake out the tent and store it in a loose bag.

'Slogger

[Bolo]

Do you mean I coulda avoided carpel tunnel from folding and rolling my tent all these years? YIPPEE! I'll take my wrist braces off and start stuffin'!!

-Bolo

[Whistler]

I do both, sort of. I loosely roll up my Tarptent into a relaxed bundle, just to keep things contained, keep the guylines from getting tangly, and keep it from dragging around in the dirt. Then I just stuff it without any special care.
-Mark

[The Solemates]

For those of you who pack a tent, do you roll it/fold it so it is nice and neet or do you stuff it in a stuff sack? I have a couple of my hiking buddies that look at me like I'm nuts for stuffing it in a stuff sack instead of rolling it up to fit it in it's original bag that came with the tent. One of my friends even told me that it would ruin the seals on my tent and that it would leak. Opinions?

your buddies are wrong. continuously folding a tent in the same place and then rolling it up forms a crease, which if folded enough times, will begin to weaken, or even tear. stuff it in like you have been doing it.

[gravityman]

For those of you who pack a tent, do you roll it/fold it so it is nice and neet or do you stuff it in a stuff sack? I have a couple of my hiking buddies that look at me like I'm nuts for stuffing it in a stuff sack instead of rolling it up to fit it in it's original bag that came with the tent. One of my friends even told me that it would ruin the seals on my tent and that it would leak. Opinions?

My college roommate had this great book about gear and maintenance. It said, fold a dry tent but change the scheme up so you don't always fold it on the same place every time, but stuff a wet tent. Then it said, but everyone seems to disagree about this subject.

We folded/rolled our squall 2 for our thru, and we used it almost every night we were out past the end of april or so and I didn't try to adjust the folding spot. No noticeable wear spots... That's probably the most use I will ever get out of a tent, so I figure that it is fine to fold it...

Gravity

[Seeker]

i'm a hammocker, but the principle is the same... repeated folding will eventually weaken it, so i stuff mine... i actually use snakeskins to slide over the whole thing, but then i just cram the resulting 'snake' into the stuff sack or my pack. same with my tarp... just cram it into the bag.

[Singe03]

I always just kind of gather it up then stuff it, I'd read or heard the same thing as everyone else about not wanting to have the same creases all the time because it will damage the tent.

[Peaks]

Well, I've heard all the reasons about wearing out a tent at the fold lines. Now, I have folded and then rolled my tents for years. Haven't had one wear out yet along the folds.

[The Solemates]

Well, I've heard all the reasons about wearing out a tent at the fold lines. Now, I have folded and then rolled my tents for years. Haven't had one wear out yet along the folds.

i have. had a eureka timberlite that i folded and rolled along the same fold line for nearly 8 years. the fly eventually wore through and was no longer waterproof.

then i heard the adage about stuffing and havent had a problem since.

[saimyoji]

i have. had a eureka timberlite that i folded and rolled along the same fold line for nearly 8 years. the fly eventually wore through and was no longer waterproof.

I've had my timberlite for nearly 8 years too, no problems at all. Though I'm pretty meticulous about cleaning it at the end of a trip. Yeah, my fly is pretty faded and battered, I figure from UV/exposure, but the tent is in great shape. I always roll it up around the poles.

[PKH]

Used to roll and curse - now I just stuff. It's really easy with a silnylon tarptent, and a hell of a lot faster and more convenient when evil weather is threatening.

Cheers,

PKH

[tlbj6142]

Folding probably isn't as much of a "bad thing" with the newer fabrics. The older coated stuff had problems with repeaded folding as laminate would start to flake off at the creases. But with the silnylon impregnated fabrics, I doubt that's much of an issue.

[Doctari]

I do a combination of roll & stuff.

I have a Nomad, I take it down, roll it length wise, then stuff it into the stuff sack. Just rolling it means it dosn't fit the sack, and I need at least 1 extra arm to just stuff it, mostly cause the sil nylon is so d*** slippery. Doing the roll & stuff is the best of both worlds for me.

Doctari.

[alalskaman]

The only reason I roll a tent the same way each time, is so if I need to get it pitched in a hurry, I always know where the door and foot are...been doing it that way so long, that when I pick my spot, I already know how to roll it out so it will be oriented the way I want it. Otherwise, any old way would be fine. Bill