Wet tent on a tour?

[J-Lo]

How-do,

Picture this...

Your on a tour (cycle camping) and when packing up to cycle to your next day camp spot its raining and the tent is soaked. I know your not meant to keep tent's wet when packed away so what the heck are you meant to do? Is it alright if your going from site to site daily?

What if the next day is wet aswell so no time to let it dry out?

Cheers

 

[stephenjubb]

It is not a problem, the went tent will only be packed away for less than 12 hours if camping day to day. It only goes mouldy when left in the stuff staff for 24 hours or more.

So the only time it would be an issue is if you are going to stay in a hotel for 2 or 3 days (or somewhere equivalent). In this case you need somewhere to dry it out or hang it in the hotel bath.

 

[willem]

That is life if you are a tent. It was harder in the days of cotton tents, and if left wet for a long time this is indeed still bad. If it happens a couple of times, there is no problem with modern nylon tents. Moreover, there is a fair chance that the weather will be dry for a couple of hours during the day. If you plan to have a lunch break, pull out your tent, dry it on a fence or whatever is available to dry the tent. If you cannot, your biggest problem is that you will have a wet tent in the evening. If you want to avoid that, keep inner and outer separate. I have Hilleberg and Helsport outer first (or better: inner and outer together) tents, and with these you can pull down the inner while the outer is still standing.
Willem

 

[Davidc]

The biggest problem IME was that a wet tent is bigger than when it's dry and won't go in its bag. It's also heavier but that's life.

 

[BearPear]

My son spent 4 wet days hiking & camping doing his Duke of Edinburgh gold award. The tent was wet and filthy when he got home but it dried out & cleaned off no problem.

 

[snorri]

If it has stopped raining, or only raining lightly, I wipe the tent outer down with an old facecloth. It's amazing how much water you can remove, this reduces the weight and helps to speed up the drying process when you next unpack it.

 

[P.H]

Separating the inner and fly while you travel makes a lot of sense, I find this a lot easier to do on an inner pitch first tent than an outer. The rare occasion the inner gets damp while pitching is nothing compared to wrapping a damp outer and dry inner up together.

 

[shirokazan]

Pretty much what stephenjubb and willem have said.

On a few occasions I have had to pack away the tent wet. I always pack the inner and outer separately in clear plastic bags (I think they're large freezer bags), so as to keep the inner dry, and then pack these into my dry bag (along with the Thermarest, the footprint, and the poles/pegs). Sometimes, I'd be camping again in the evening so it would dry then (or not if the rain resumed), but other times I'd be staying at hostels or a B&B. In the hostels, there's usually a drying room so I take advantage of that and dry the tent. At B&Bs, the tent stays in the dry bag so the tent would be sealed up for about 33-36 hours before being pitched again, with no adverse effect.

I've been quite fortunate that most days, after a rainy night (or a heavy dew), it would be sunny at some point, so as willem suggests, I'd pull over at some convenient point and get the tent out to dry: usually, 15-20 mins would be enough.

And as Davidc says, a wet tent is heavier. I've certainly noticed this when putting the dry bag on the rack - it's also visibly bigger too.

 

[shirokazan]

If it has stopped raining, or only raining lightly, I wipe the tent outer down with an old facecloth. It's amazing how much water you can remove, this reduces the weight and helps to speed up the drying process when you next unpack it.

Good tip. I do this, too, with a dishcloth but more usually when the tent has a lot of dew on it, which is most days as I tend to be on the road early before the sun has had time to burn it off.

 

[J-Lo]

Thanks for all the suggestions, reckon I'll keep the inner and fly seperate - not much extra work to pitch it really so may aswell!

Thanks maggot but im not worrying, I just like to be prepared Im sure I will - im not going far for my first go just a few days around the norfolk coastline etc

 

[chrtho]

Sunshine can actually cause more damage to a modern tent than moisture, especially at altitude. That thin, lightweight fabric does not like UV.

 

[shirokazan]

[QUOTE 1503537"]As for splitting the fly and inner, I think the biggest consideration is your pannier capacity. Personally, if you could keep it together, then I would, don't worry about a couple of damp days, it'll soon sort itself out...The benefit of pitching the whole thing in one will soon become apparant if it does hose down, the misery of crawling around trying to clip fiddly little things today in the wet will be a real low point.[/quote]

I should point out that my current tent is inner pitch first, so the inner and the flysheet are always separate. I can see the sense in what Maggot says for a pitch-as-one tent (I used to use one for cycle touring) as it would be a bit of a faff separating / connecting the inner and flysheet each time of use. Of course, the downside of inner pitch first tent is trying to pitch / unpitch it in the rain - I've learned to work fast in order to keep the inner dry!

 

[J-Lo]

Mine can be pitched as one or flysheet first so that is handy Yeah after living in the Yorkshire Dales & Scotland, suffolk is a dream - I can cycle twice as far nearly in a day lol!

However I do miss the scenery & hills...

 

[Ticktockmy]

Me i just take it down and stuff it into the pannier which is for wet stuff, neithe rof my tents which are Vaude Hogen and a TN lazer comp get the inner split too much trouble. when I get to the next campsite they get put up as usual. the ground sheet get a quick wipe down if needed, and that all.