Camping in the rain sounds awful – and it is if you aren’t prepared! Here’s ten tips for surviving rainy camping trips:
1. AVOID IT
I have canceled or rescheduled weekend camping trips if heavy rain or horrendously bad weather is forecast. We are Scouts not Marines and the safety of the free world does not hinge on our withstanding a long rainy weekend out-of-doors. Our high adventure trips are long enough that we usually get a day or two of rain.
2. BIG TARPS
We have several 10′x16′ tundra tarps made by Cooke’s Custom Sewing (see picture above). Weighing only 3 lbs these provide ample shelter for a patrol of eight. Regardless of the forecast we pack these tarps and they are among the first things to go up when we establish camp. These tarps are exceptionally well-made and worth every penny – don’t skimp on this essential piece of gear.
Related Posts: Sil-Nylon Tarp, Philmont Dining Fly, Rigging Tarps
3. PLASTIC BAGS
I am in the habit of packing all my gear and clothing in a plastic bag (heavy zip-locks or clear recycling trash bags). I also line my pack with yet another bag. Everything should have at least two layers of waterproofing between gear and the elements.
4. RAIN GEAR
A good quality rain jacket and pants is an essential part of any camping trip. Some folks like ponchos but I recommend against them, especially for Scouts. It is hard to keep dry in a poncho as compared to a rain jacket and pants. Wearing a backpack or paddling a canoe in a poncho is a good way to get wet. Cheap rain gear is cheap for a reason, they only last for minutes before they tear. Breathable waterproof fabrics work for some but are an added expense. With a little shopping a decent coated, lightweight rain suit will cost about $50-$60.
5. NO COTTON CLOTHING
We’ve all heard that ‘cotton kills’ but even if it doesn’t kill you you will be clammy and uncomfortable. Standard gear for any outing at any time of year is a suit of polypro long underwear. In wet conditions all one needs to stay comfortable is a rain suit and polypro long underwear. The poly wicks moisture away from the skin and leaves one feeling reasonably dry eve when it is soaked. A better bet for warm weather is wicking underwear tops and bottoms like Underarmor but it is more expensive than a set of polypro long underwear. A long trip demands that everyone be able to dress fully without using any cotton.
6. WARM AND WET BETTER THAN COLD AND DRY
If things go from bad to worse and everything is wet layering up with the clothing described above will allow you to get a reasonable night’s sleep even if your tent and sleeping bag are wet. As I tell our Scouts being warm and wet is okay, being wet and cold is unacceptable.
7. NO GROUND CLOTHS
Tents floors do not usually wear from the outside in but from the inside out. Ground cloths usually don’t stop the tent floor from wearing and often just collect rain water. Instead of ground cloths make a tent liner from heavy duty builder’s plastic or siliconized nylon. Make the liner about six inches too large in each dimension and fold the extra material up the sides and ends of the tent to form a sort of tub on the tent floor. This way if the tent floor gets wet your liner will keep your gear dry.
8. STOVES
Cooking in the rain means using either a gas or alcohol stove or a wood fired stove. The Littlbug stove is great in or out of the rain. Once a fire is going it is easy to maintain with small diameter wood that can be dried quickly .by keeping it close to the outside of the stove. With either option remember that there are no flames in tents. A very comfortable, usable kitchen can be set up under a tarp so long as the tarp is wet and far enough (5-6′) away from the flame.
9. MORALE
A deck of waterproof cards, a harmonica or some kind of low-key group activity will help maintain morale while you are hunkered down under the tarp or in your tents.
10. SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY
Don’t panic, you won’t melt. If you are hiking or canoeing stop and haul out the rain gear when the signs point to rain – don’t wait for the rain to start. Stay prepared for rain all the time and when it comes it will not be a surprise. Rain need not be the end of an adventure, but it may become part of it. For whatever reason it is the coldest, wettest most challenging outings our Scouts remember most fondly.
{ 14 comments }
Thanks Clarke!
Only one question. No tarp under the tent? Alot of commentators on the net put a tarp under the tent and fold the edges under the tent. I’ve seen this work in many cases. Your tent is directly against the ground, with another liner inside the tent?
That’s right, no tarp under the tent. We haven’t used ground cloths in years and have no problem with wear. The floor of most tents is pretty hardy stuff and designed to go right on the ground.
You will find that the liner is a much better way to stay dry.
Set up two tents, one with the liner, one with the ground sheet. Put a sleeping bag in each. Turn on your garden hose and try to get the sleeping bags wet. The one in the groundcloth will get wet first and you will have to work pretty hard to dampen the one inside of the liner.
Putting a folded tarp under a tent is a pain, it’s a pain to get the tarp stuffed under, and if any of it is exposed, then it funnels rain water under your tent, since it can’t escape through the water proof tarp, it tends to seep into your tent. It’s far better to custom cut a sheet of heavy plastic a few inches smaller than your tent.
Anyway, a quality tent with a good bottom, properly setup in a good location shouldn’t leak even without a ground sheet or liner. My 10+ year old tent with multiple floor patches doesn’t leek in rainstorms, and I usual leave the ground sheet behind on backpacking trips.
Thanks for the information, gentlemen! I’ll have to look at modifying my practice. That tarp in my backpack could better be used over the tent I guess, or just left home.
My experience, as a Canadian Scouter, has been that unless you have groundcloths made for the particular tent (footprints), youth invariably set it up poorly and the ground cloth acts as a funnel to move water under the tent.
Interestingly enough, I have also seen several Scouters, (Venturer Advisors, to my horror) who obviously don’t understand how to use a ground cloth. I took one look and wished for rain.
why cant you lay the tarp inside the tent on the bottom and curl it up on the sides?
i only skimmed over this but i think your advice on ground cloths is off. perhaps youre having problems with water pooling because your ground cloth/tarp is too big for your tent. your ground cloth should be a few inches shorter than your tent floor on all sides. otherwise you will get water falling from the sky landing on your cloth and directing that water under your tent. if you keep your cloth short the rain never collects on top.
Nope, my advice is not off; put the groundcloth in the tent over top of the tent floor not under the tent floor for precisely the reasons stated.
You are absolutely wrong; water will most certainly collect between a tent floor and groundcloth when it really pours and there is water flowing over the ground. Thousands of nights camping – I know what am talking about.
In my experience using a fitted ground sheet on the outside is the most effective way to go. First of all, the sheet is raised up enough on the edges that anything short of a small stream will flow underneath it where it can filter into the ground. Of course this is assuming the ground was fairly dry to begin with and surface flow was due to infiltration capacity.
of course water can also flow over the ground because the ground is over saturated. In this case you definitely want a tarp on the outside. Most tent floors are at least 5000mm waterproof. This is easily enough to handle the low pressure you would see from a bit of water pooling between the two layers of fabric, but not necessarily enough for the pressures associated with a persons weight pushing down onto saturated soil.
Basically what I am saying is for 95% of the time, a ground sheet on the outside IS a good idea and it definitely extends the life of your tent. I guess if you are in a situation where a lot of water is flowing at your tent then you might be better off without it, but really in this situation you should be diverting the water anyways.
Nope, Rich, you are just plain dead wrong about that one. Ground sheets on the inside.
Note that there are few things that I will dogmatically defend with absloute assurance that I am right. This is one of them – Excelsior!
Wrong. Ground cloth under the tent. Never had water in my tent. Been camping as long or longer than you. Nanny nanny boo boo!
I use my tents for 20 years. Just retired my Eureka Prism that I bought in 1991. You will not get that much wear from a nylon tent that goes directly on the ground. Not where I camp. Most guys I know that put the tarp inside is because they have ruined the bottom of the tent putting it directly on the ground. Lots of Scouts and Scouters replace their tents about every three to five years. That’s just too soon for me. I expect to be in my new Eureka Timberline 2XT for another 15 years at least.
I put my ground cloth under my tent then roll the excess up to about three inches inside the drip line. All water goes into the ground or under the gound cloth. I stay nice and dry. My tent bottom stays dry because it does not soak up the water from the ground.
Please note. I almost always camp where the rain quickly soaks into the ground. We almost never have standing water anywhere in camp. It’s just too sandy. YMMV.
Of course one must always provide a nuanced and tolerant reply to every issue ;>)and most of the time I do. It doesn’t matter at all to me what you guys do with your groundcloths I am sticking to my guns on this one.
Excelsior!
Nuanced. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I like the sound of that. Clarke, would you say that I’m normally nuanced? (It’s ok, you can just say no, YOU’RE NOT :-}
Oh my Goodness boys- really? Sounds like both ways work. But I have to say, being an objective spectator on the matter and a fairly inexperienced camping-in-the-rain Scout leader, I am going to put a ground cloth under my tent AND then line the inside with a second tarp. Nothing like being thorough.
Thank you for the advice and the entertainment!!