Walking with a wet tent?

"Peewiglet" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Can anyone offer any tips on how best to avoid getting all my kit wet
from the tent? I know there's a theory about packing the tent at the
top of the sack for easy access, but I do wonder whether that would
encourage the water to run down into the rest of my things. What
d'yall think?

Also, I've seen references to waterproof stuff sacks for tent and/or
sleeping bag (mine's down) and/or other things like clothes. How heavy
are these? Are they very expensive, and is it considered worthwhile
getting some? If so, is any make particularly well thought of?

J cloth or small sponge for drying off before packing (if not still raining)
and put it in a plastic bag. Can't see purpose made waterproof stuffsacks
being worth buying.

Peewiglet said:

Looking out at the rain this morning, and pondering my upcoming walk,
I wonder what people's experiences have been of long walks moving on
each day, carrying a tent.

My walk will be about 16 days. When I've wild camped in the past I've
not done more than 5, and I wasn't moving around. This time I'll
mainly be camping on organised sites, but I'll be moving on each
morning.

Can anyone offer any tips on how best to avoid getting all my kit wet
from the tent? I know there's a theory about packing the tent at the
top of the sack for easy access, but I do wonder whether that would
encourage the water to run down into the rest of my things. What
d'yall think?

Also, I've seen references to waterproof stuff sacks for tent and/or
sleeping bag (mine's down) and/or other things like clothes. How heavy
are these? Are they very expensive, and is it considered worthwhile
getting some? If so, is any make particularly well thought of?

Many thanks if you can help 🙂

Best wishes,

I always put my tent and waterproofs in the bottom of my sack so the
water can just drip out the bottom. A good shake of the tent before
packing will get a lot of the water off.
I use an Outdoor Designs pack liner (weighs 200g) for sleeping bag and
clothes, and some Exped waterproof sacks (weight about 50-80g) for other
stuff. Bin bags and carrier bags work ok (and they are much lighter) but
they tend to rip easily, if you're going on a long trip it might be best
not to depend on these.
Tony

AndyP said:

"Peewiglet" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Can anyone offer any tips on how best to avoid getting all my kit wet
from the tent? I know there's a theory about packing the tent at the
top of the sack for easy access, but I do wonder whether that would
encourage the water to run down into the rest of my things. What
d'yall think?

Also, I've seen references to waterproof stuff sacks for tent and/or
sleeping bag (mine's down) and/or other things like clothes. How heavy
are these? Are they very expensive, and is it considered worthwhile
getting some? If so, is any make particularly well thought of?

J cloth or small sponge for drying off before packing (if not still raining)
and put it in a plastic bag. Can't see purpose made waterproof stuffsacks
being worth buying.

Oh but they are. You put your dry stuff in them and it stays dry. Wet
stuff goes outside the liner and can be wet to it's hearts content
because it will never come into contact with my dry clothes and
sleeping bag. Of course it makes sense to shake/wipe as much water off
your tent fly before packing so you don't carry any more weight than
you have to. Also when packing a wet tent keep the fly separate from
the inner (if it comes apart) you don't have to use the stuffsac the
tent came in. In fact it is probably easier not to, I laways find it
much easier to get the tent back in the makers sac at home when it is
nice and dry.

My liners are plain neoprene coated nylon bags with taped seams sold
by F&T. They come in 30 50 and 70 litre sizes. I bought two of them
ages ago and they are still going strong. Buy one big enough for your
whole sac and use it to protect about half the volume by folding the
top well down the sides.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

"Phil Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Can't see purpose made waterproof stuffsacks
being worth buying.

Quoted message said:

Oh but they are. You put your dry stuff in them and it stays dry. Wet
stuff goes outside the liner and can be wet to it's hearts content
because it will never come into contact with my dry clothes and
sleeping bag.

Do you mean what I'd call a rucksack liner rather than a stuff sack then?
I've got a placcy bag rucksack liner that came free with a magazine several
years ago and sleeping bag and dry clothes get wrapped in a bin liner as
further protection. The bag the tent came with seems pretty waterproof
anyway and fitted down the side doesn't make anything else wet. Wet
waterproofs get stuffed outside the rucksack liner if put away still wet.

AndyP said:

"Phil Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Can't see purpose made waterproof stuffsacks
being worth buying.

Quoted message said:

Oh but they are. You put your dry stuff in them and it stays dry. Wet
stuff goes outside the liner and can be wet to it's hearts content
because it will never come into contact with my dry clothes and
sleeping bag.

Do you mean what I'd call a rucksack liner rather than a stuff sack then?
I've got a placcy bag rucksack liner that came free with a magazine several
years ago and sleeping bag and dry clothes get wrapped in a bin liner as
further protection. The bag the tent came with seems pretty waterproof
anyway and fitted down the side doesn't make anything else wet. Wet
waterproofs get stuffed outside the rucksack liner if put away still wet.

Opps just noticed you said suff...

Yes waterproof sac liners is what I'm on about.

The Ortleib type drybags are usually overkill for hiking unless you
are going to be doing serious river crossings. Though if you have one
for other use (kayaking for example) then by all means use it as a
bombproof sacliner.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

AndyP said:

Do you mean what I'd call a rucksack liner rather than a stuff sack then?
I've got a placcy bag rucksack liner that came free with a magazine several
years ago and sleeping bag and dry clothes get wrapped in a bin liner as
further protection. The bag the tent came with seems pretty waterproof
anyway and fitted down the side doesn't make anything else wet. Wet
waterproofs get stuffed outside the rucksack liner if put away still wet.

It is worth plugging the new Mountain Equipment rucksack liners here which
are available in a range of sizes up to 70 litres I think.

I have a 50 litre version which is superb. Not only are these fully
waterproof but they incorporate a valve through which you can expel air from
the contents of the back, compacting things nicely. Well recommended.

Of course, you can only allow your tent to drip dry in the bottom of the
sack if you have sleeping bag compartment access at the bottom! Not all
packs have this.

Dry the tent down as best you can before packing it - trekking towels are
good for this as they are highly absorbent and ring out easily. If you have
no bottom compartment you can always strap the tent bag to the side/back of
the pack to drip or I have seen people that have attached the tent fabric to
the top or bottom of the pack simply so that it can dry - depends on what
top/side/bottom attachments are possible on your sack.

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 08:58:55 +0100, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Many thanks to all for the tips on this.

Best wishes,
--
Peewiglet

Quoted message said:

Opps just noticed you said suff...

Yes waterproof sac liners is what I'm on about.

The Ortleib type drybags are usually overkill for hiking unless you
are going to be doing serious river crossings. Though if you have one
for other use (kayaking for example) then by all means use it as a
bombproof sacliner.

I do use Ortlieb drybags. They are quite expensive, but they are pretty
indestructible. Personally, I prefer to put different things in different
bags after the time something leaked in my rucksack liner and left a big
puddle in the bottom ...

On the topic of wet tents, I like to pack the flysheet where I can pull it
at lunchtime to dry - if the sun's come out by then.

Adrian