The man himself reveals his mildly devious advice for staying dry in your tent when the going gets drippy
Richard Gear's Top Wet Camping Tips
It'd be great if it always looked like this, but come on, this is
Britain, and like it or not, chances are that sooner or later you'll
be pitching a tent in the wet, muttering darkly as a cloud and vowing
never to do it again.
Get it right though and you can experience the smug pleasure of
lying in your sleeping bag while your morning cuppa brews on the
stove and the rain beats a miserable tattoo on your flysheet, and
guess what, it's all about preparation...
Picking A Pitch
It might sound obvious, but choosing where to pitch your tent is a
good start. Low-lying ground is often tempting because it's flat, but
you should steer away from hollows that might collect water if it
rains and stay away from river banks which might flood. Use some
common sense, if part of the site is boggy or muddy, give it a miss.
If you do get it wrong, a geodesic tent will be easier to move to
another part of the site, but it's easier to get it right in the
first place. One more tip, if you don't like the noise of big drips
hitting your tent - no, not ramblers, raindrops - then don't pitch
under trees.
Pitching In The Rain
If your tent pitches in one unit like some Macpac and Vango units,
you're off to a good start, if it doesn't, pitch the fly first if you
can and keep the inner as dry as possible. I like to keep everything
else snug and dry in my pack then drag it into the bell end or porch
as soon as it's up. Don't pull a wet pack into the tent, instead open
it and take out what you need. Better than the damp spreading to your
dry clothes and kit.
The Wet Things
It sounds vile, but if you're on a multi-day backpack, have one
set of wet clothes and one dry. Yes, it sucks putting wet clothes on
in the morning, but it's great changing into the dry stuff at the end
of the day. I either stuff wet waterproofs into my pack, or invert
them and shove them into a far corner of the tent. If you have a
synthetic sleeping bag then mildly damp stuff will dry over night if
you wear it or put it with you in the bag. Don't try this with down
though.
Staying Dry Inside
Once inside the tent you should be able to stay pretty dry -
assuming it doesn't leak. One thing to watch out for is wet sleeping
bag syndrome, usually when your feet press against the inside of the
tent and get damp through condensation. Chuking a shell jacket over
them will make things better, alternatively wedge a dry pack or
similar between bag and tent wall.
Even in the wet, use any venting facilities to minimise
condensation. Wet tents don't breathe brilliantly so they need all
the help they can get. Another tip is to carry a small sponge or
sponge cloth that you can use to mop up any excessive condensation -
wring out and make into tea...
Morning Happiness
|
|
Cooking standing outside in your
waterproofs is a no, no.
Better to stay in your bag and make expresso
instead
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The key to a happy morning experience is preparation. Ideally you
want all you need for cooking breakfast ready the night before -
water, stove, lighter, food, utensils, mugs etc. A big collapsible
water carrier will minimise damp trips to the tap or water
source.
With practice you'll be able to stay snug in your sleeping bag and
cook in the porch. Tent manufacturers will always advise against, but
unless you're terminally dim you should be able to avoid incinerating
your tent. Always make sure there's decent ventilation to help carbon
monoxide and other combustion by-products escape.
If there are two of you in the tent, the easiest option is to
designate one person as cook and for the other to stay the heck out
of the way. Don't spill your porridge on your sleeping bag either, it
can look suspicious. Standing outside the tent in full waterproofs is
a complete social faux pas. Avoid...
Calls Of Nature
Whisper it, but the ultimate lazy camping accessory is a
wide-mouthed pee bottle. Okay, so they mainly get used in the greater
ranges where it's too cold to venture out unnecessarily, but there's
nowt but embarassment stopping you from using it over here... Girls
can get a special attachment to make things easier - see mountainwoman.com
for details.
Failing that, minimise what can get wet. If you're car camping, an
umbrella is a brilliant cover for a trip to the ablutions, to keep
boots and socks dry, try rafting sandals.
Getting Off
By now you should have scoffed your breakfast and be ready to
scarper. My advice is to dress for the hill (in your wet stuff),
pack everything you can and then take down the tent and stow it away.
Packing your tent somewhere easily accessible will make the whole
process easier, but you need to balance that against efficient
carrying, comfort and stability.
Morale
It's easy to get depressed when your sleeping bag is underwater,
but a suitable choice of mental music will make things easier. Mull
of Kintyre is guaranteed to drag you down, try Beautiful Day by U2
for a change, or Rock the Casbah by the Clash. It's Raining Men is a
popular choice with the lasses, but hope to God it doesn't happen for
real, even the sturdiest geodesic will struggle to resist a 12-stone
climber falling clean from 6,000 feet.
Disclaimer Richard Gear would like to make
it clear that he in no way endorses literally cooking in sleeping
bags. Even synthetic bags make a poor substitute for a cooking pan
(You're sacked Gear - Ed)
