packing away when wet

I've used tents that pitch inner & fly together since the 80's - Hurricane, Mineret & Akto - & just stuff it all in the bag linked together & let the inner get wet from rain or condensation.  Quick wipe of the floor with buff or similar when it's really wet is all I required.  For info I use down sleeping bags & a 3/4 length mat & apply above method year round.

I pack damp-sensitive kit away while still in the tent.

 I'm sure there'll be a more complicated method. 

I carry a small piece of micro cloth (face flannel size) useful for mopping up the worst or giving the flysheet a quick wipeover.  sometimes you just have to pack and run, sooner or later you will be able to dry stuff out.

Steve D

Packing a wet tent away should be no more than a minor inconvenience. Whenever I've had to do it, it's always been possible to get it dry again quickly once the rain stops. It generally only needs a really good shake, then half an hour's blasting with a dry wind. I can't remember when I last had to put a wet tent up, and I'd always be prepared to spend up to an hour getting a tent dry during the day, rather than unwrap it wet in the evening.

For the record, the last two times my tent has been packed away wet has been, of all places, the dry and arid Gran Canaria last year! Maybe I was just incredibly unlucky, but on two mornings in the middle of nowhere, after completely dry nights, it absolutely hammered down with rain only a minute after I'd started pulling the pegs out!

Same year... ten weeks in Iceland... and my tent never got wet!

Rosswm wrote (see)

...bar one who'll go to great lengths to keep his inner tent dry which is a good spectator sport for everyone else.

What does he do? Put a huge family tent up over his little tent to keep it dry?

I'm with Ross and Paddy - wet/damp sensative stuff gets dry bagged before I leave the tent.  If it' s just a touch of dew/under ground sheet condensatiion, I'll give the tent a shake then throw it on its side to let the wind do its stuff whilst I have breakfast.

If its wet from rain and/or raining, I throw the tent (inner and outer) in a dry bag - to protect other stuff in my rucksack.  Sometime during the day (usually) a dry spell will coincide with a need for a break - all I will do is throw the tentover a suitable spot to dry out

With our linked inner/outer tents I find that the inner stays dry enough just stuffing it in as fast as reasonably possible that ICBA to detach it. We pack everything but the tent inside, out into the clag and get it down ASAP.

Pete.

I used to take my tents apart and keep the inner dry but these days I do the same as Rosswm after giving it a good shaking and a wipe down with a J cloth(if stopped raining).

just dry it out in the day or  when it gets pitched I wipe the floor and open the vents - soon dries in a breeze

Indeed using tents with detachable inners form the outers. This way I can stow everything dry in backpack (including a dry inner) in my outer tent and last finally stowing away the wet outer and poles in drybags. When I'm lazy I just keep the inner attached to the outer. As others wrote if there is a breeze your inner will dry quick after you have erected the tent again.

A tenttowel to wipe most moisture of your tent helps reducing weight of water and ofcourse removes the ocaissional bird stains. 

As dry bags for the tent I started out with big document bags of DHL or Fedex or UPS. I could get my hands on these for free. They last easy a holiday.

Nowadays I just use seam sealed silnylon bags. It's not important the opening of the bag can be closed watertight. It's only a tent and as long as you keep the opening directed upwards there aint a problem of slowly dripping water into your back pack. 

Mole wrote (see)

I used to take my tents apart and keep the inner dry but these days I do the same as Rosswm after giving it a good shaking and a wipe down with a J cloth(if stopped raining).

just dry it out in the day or  when it gets pitched I wipe the floor and open the vents - soon dries in a breeze

I do still separate the inner from the outer (pack away all other kit first, obviously) and pack the inner in a drybag.  The wet flysheet just gets stuffed in the rucksack as I have already drybagged everything that has to be kept dry. 

I'm not so optimistic as to believe that the rain will stop during the day or evening to give me the opportunity to dry the inner.