Packing up a tent: Rain fly packed separate from tent body?

[MJones]

Glenn’s great question about closing zippers or leaving them open reminded me of a tent packing question that I have had for some time now, should the tent fly be packed separate from the body of the tent.

If the fly is wet from rain (or to a lesser extent dew or condensation), should it be packed separately from the tent body so that the tent body doesn’t get wet?

 

[Subvet]

I just watched a trip from Northern Scavenger (Nova Scotia), and he advocates keeping the rain fly and tent body separate in two 5L dry bags after rain/heavy condensation.

 

[jdeerfoot]

I will never separate my tent fly from the tent body. On a Wabakimi trip several years ago I made a distressing discovery - when I set up my tent on the first night, I discovered I did not have the fly. It then dawned on me that I had given the fly to my wife the previous fall for some quick modifications. It was sitting at home in her sewing basket awaiting the addition of several pullouts.

I made it through the trip without having to double up with a buddy because I always carry a spare 10x12’ tarp, which served as the fly on this trip.

 

[Ripple]

For canoeing i use a freestanding tent from eurika. To set it up, the rain fly goes on last and comes off first. So I pack it all together. Other freestanding tents allow you to put the rain fly up first,( take down last). This is an advantage in keeping the inner dry.
I usually pack my gear in a dry pack(sealine) a wet anything in there and every thing gets damp. So I've been trying out a portage pack from recreational barrel works to be able to separate items. It's been working OK. When I pack a back pack I focus on weight, volume, and piece count. Portage packs in that aspect do not make great sense, but ifeel they do have an advantage in separating items and making them more accessible.

 

[yknpdlr]

But then again I am as likely to be tripping with a Hennessey hammock, unless I need to be i a tent in the shoulder seasons, or I expect a hard weather trip. My hammock easilyslips into its integral "snake skin" sylnylon tube with no folding required.

 

[recped]

I have no concerns about packing up a wet tent IF I'm going to be setting it up again the same evening. Of course packing a wet tent for long term storage is just asking for a mould invasion.

 

[jdeerfoot]

In all years of Wabakimi area trips, where it usually rains a lot, we always packed the wet tent or fly outside the waterproof pack liner but inside the pack. But when traveling with Uncle Phil (Wabakimi Project founder) we traveled on Wabakimi time which often allowed plenty of time in the morning for the tents to air dry since we almost never broke camp before early afternoon.

 

[Mason]

If the tent is separate from the fly, I pack the fly separately (under a pack flap, outside of liner, etc.). Packing it in a separate dry bag makes sense only if it's going in with your dry stuff. Packing everything together will soak the inner tent a lot worse than taking it down in the rain. One thing I do with a wet tent (whether stuffed with or without fly) is to have a plastic (visqueen) floor liner (innie) which I fold over upon itself on the floor of the tent if the tent gets packed wet. That way, when I set up the tent I open up the liner and have a totally dry floor, which is the most important part. I do this with my Hilleberg tent where you can't separate the fly from the tent body. But they dry out so fast due to their siliconized treatment that I rarely have to place the plastic inside (and there's always a breeze in the Barrens).

 

[Gamma1214]

I've thought about separating the fly but I've never actually done it. I just stuff it all in the sack & get what I get when I reach camp. If I know it's soaked, I'll try to get into camp a little early so it can dry (assuming that it's not still raining... in that case, I'll just embrace the suck & resign myself to being damp for a day or two.

In the case of heavy rains, I'll get a tarp up upon arriving at camp and the tent will be set up / torn down under it.

...since we almost never broke camp before early afternoon.

Hmm... "Hey, tell Phil that I'll be back" (as I paddle away after breakfast)

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I've always packed the tent and fly together. If the fly is wet and the tent is dry, I just make sure the tent is inside the dry side of the fly as I fold or roll it.

Fortunately, I don't recall a time when I had to pack both a wet tent and wet fly. If they were both wet, would it make any difference if I packed them together in one dry bag or separately in two dry bags, since they both would come out of of their bag(s) wet the next evening.

I do recall once trying to dry out a wet rainfly in my canoe. It worked sort of well because it was sunny and not too windy. When it seemed mostly dry, I just stuffed it under the flap of my Duluth pack.

 

[Tryin']

When faced with such delimmas, I generally just use my blow drier to remove excess moisture. Sure, hauling the 75 pound battery bank around gets old, and the hair dryer drains it almost as fast as my microwave, but its totally worth it to make sure my little fortress is snug and dry.

Or I just try to put all the dry parts facing in and get to camp a little early.

I havent used a dome style tent in a while though. My Lean shelter doesn't matter, and the hammock tarp has its own stuff sack.

 

[lowangle al]

I pack my nylon tent by stuffing the top of the tent body first, finishing with the waterproof floor. The fly goes on top and only contacts the waterproof floor. If the fly was really soaked I might just stick it separately on the top of a Duluth Pack.

In general I'm not too concerned with a wet tent. I don't usually pack it in a waterproof pack.

 

[Robin]

If the fly is wet I would stuff the tent in a waterproof bag and lay the fly on top of it, then place both above the waterproof liner and under the flap of my Duluth Pack. If I did get the opportunity I would stop on a breezy point or beach and lay the fly out on some bushes. I can’t remember where I read that, maybe Cliff Jacobson but it’s worked well for me.

 

[Jmharrick]

I always pack the tent and fly in separate bags. My tent goes into a stuff sack that is then put into my large dry bag. I bring a dedicated small dry bag for the tent fly, tarp, and anything else that might get soaked on a trip (this could include clothes). This dry bag keeps the wet in and prevents anything else from getting soaked. This has worked well for me.

 

[BWCA66]

When I leave home they are always packed together but during a trip I tend to pack them separately.

 

[tketcham]

I pack tent flies and tarps separately from tents and hammocks to keep wet from dry.

 

[Odyssey]

Our fly and tarps are seldom wet upon departure, but if they are they get stuffed into a dry bag, which is included in the tent pack.
The tents have different sacks for each component anyway; tent body, fly, poles, pegs... they all go into the same backpack regardless.
On dewy mornings it doesn't take long to dry tarps and fly on smooth sunny shield granite or on breezy vegetation.

 

[jdeerfoot]

On one very rainy Wabakimi trip in 2009, which was an extremely rainy year in NW Ontario, Uncle Phil showed us how to quickly dry out a really soaked tent. He fired up the Coleman 400 series stove put it in a pot and very carefully placed in the erected empty Timberline 4. The tent dried out in a few minutes. We did this a few times as needed, but only with really wet tents.

 

[recped]

My former paddling partner drying out some clothing with a Reactor Stove. I don't remember if we moved on to drying out the tent but we likely had breakfast in the tent. The tent warning tag says "if you use a stove inside the tent you will die" (maybe not quite as blunt) but we did that frequently (one persons job was to hold the stove in place at all times and ensure that at least one screen door was available at all times),

 

[scoutergriz]

When faced with such delimmas, I generally just use my blow drier to remove excess moisture. Sure, hauling the 75 pound battery bank around gets old, and the hair dryer drains it almost as fast as my microwave, but its totally worth it to make sure my little fortress is snug and dry.

Or I just try to put all the dry parts facing in and get to camp a little early.

I havent used a dome style tent in a while though. My Lean shelter doesn't matter, and the hammock tarp has its own stuff sack.

save the battery pack and plug it into a current bush...