Dealing with the wet

[Philster]

With all the recent rain we've been having the woods I wander about in are all soaked through and sodden with the paths flooded. Not really a problem when out walking but how do you folks manage overnighting when everything is so wet? I have my hammock which will keep me off the floor but you still need to cook and do the usual camp chores - what approach do you take to keeping your dry stuff vaguely dry?
Thanks in advance,
Phil

 

[Paulm]

I wait for a dry spell before I go out

Cheers, Paul

 

[Shewie]

I leave my pack in a cover just resting under my hammock, if it's really wet I might use a small piece of poly tarp instead. Day clothes get packed away each night, or hung under the tarp if they're really wet, keep sleeping clothes and socks dry at all costs, usually in a separate dry bag.

If it's forecast for more rain then a second tarp or some kind of shelter is useful for the fire area, I tend to have my hammock setup well away from the fire if I can.

A pyramid firelay of split wood always gets the fire going, a tea light in the base of the fire helps to get the kindling going and eventually the rest of the fuel. Take some strips of inner tube or a couple of firelighter brick as back up. Stack bigger fuel around the fire to act as a kind of reflector, but keep plenty of gaps to increase air flow, build a second proper reflector behind that if needed.

 

[tiger stacker]

Poncho up Bag contents waterproofed, bergan cover over ensuring no saturation.
Eating is either gas or small fire with hexy as a primer. Wood kept dry inside a plastic rubble bag means no dampness
One item that is invaluable, is the trusty foldaway seat, it helps alot.

 

[Insel Affen]

Poly bags with the self seal tops for just about everything. Socks and underwear in their own bags. For everything else any waterproof bags with the fold-over clip tops (canoe bags). Sometimes I use a Bergan cover, or an old hooded poncho. This can be used as a groundsheet too while under the tarp. Hexi I blocks are pretty bomb proof in the wet so I always have some spare with either a cooker or three nails. Usually stuff my sleeping bag in a bivvy bag and then into a compression sack. Wet wood can be split to get to e dry core and once going, dry it out by the edge of the fire.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I have a small but growing collection of alpkit dry bags that I use. I also have a waterproof phone case, and a rain cover for my backpack. This lot together tends to keep the worst of the rain & wet out.

J

 

[Kerne]

Kit in dry bags in the rucksack. Pitch my tarp as an A frame close to the ground. Drag everything under to keep it dry. Groundsheet and/or bivi bag to keep sleeping bag dry. Cook in a Bushbuddy.

I've tarp camped in some pretty dreadful weather and it's not so different to tenting it. Same problems of keeping stuff dry - and equally difficult to dry things that are already wet.

 

[sunndog]

some very good tips already

If the ground is very wet I use a cheap mesh hammock as a seat and gear store/admin area, I like the mesh ones so I can tie me bags to either end out of the way and still sit in the middle. Plus if everything is really soaked water drips through rather than pools under yer arris

A generous sized sit/kneeling mat is damn handy too....in warmer weather I just use a piece of flexible plastic (an old "camping" chopping board I think it was) in winter its a bit of old ccf sleeping mat

Again if the ground is totally sodden fires can be built up on large'ish split logs.....that'll give you an awsome cooking fire too

 

[Clouston98]

If it's so wet its just inevitable you'll get wet at some point I just get on with it, all the kit goes under the tarp and the fire prep is meticulous so you can get it going no doubt. Once the fires going just sit under the tarp- bedroll or g1000 blanket to keep my wool blanket dry off the ground- makes a comfy enough seat and with the tarp being canvas you can have the fire a lot closer without having to worry. Basically do the same just make sure it's done better so it'll work because you don't want to be stood getting soaked with a failing fire - I might spend a lot longer doing it but then you have your hot meal and less bother all in. I don't take much spare clothing so usually just base layers and an extra pair of kegs if I'm expecting it to get horrid - socks and boxers are a standard extra regardless of the weather for me. Hot tenting is different - tipi and stove set up, fire lit it's happy days, warm, dry, spacious enough to stand up and hang clothes to dry and to be honest you'd be hard pressed to get a better nights kip than in a heated tent when you're out and about. I think the wet weather is a really good test of skills and you have to be more organised to have a comfortable time- if the woods are wet when I arrive but it's not raining then that doesn't pose any problems to me personally, if it's raining ing then shelter goes up, kit under and fire going- as long as I've got something to keep the rain of and something to cook on/ warm me up then I'm alright, just my 2p as usual

 

[John Fenna]

In Wales Wet = Normal ... you get used to it...

 

[Ruud]

I setup my tarp and get out the rain cover for my backpack. I put it on the side where the shoulder bands and hip belt are. This way my pack stays dry from moisture of the ground and I can still acces everything I need easily. I tend to sit on my pack as long as I can, I only get my sleeping bag (which is already in the bivvybag when I pack it, makes it waterproof and you can just grab it and lay it) out when needed. Then I get a brew on and start carving or reading a bit.

Drybags are worth the investment, they keep your gear dry and make it easier to find certain items more quickly (I always pack underwear in a blue bag, thermal underwear in a green bag and so on)

 

[Bishop]

The wife bought some disposable liners for wheelie bins by accident earlier in the year and I've nabbed them as an addition to my bimble bag for these damp conditions. Bloody huge things, I can sit inside one covering me from the waist to my boots and use another as a improvised poncho.

 

[cbr6fs]

I use a tent so just cook in the porch if need be.

I usually remove my top half of clothing outside the tent, then sit just inside the tent with my feet in the porch to remove the bottom half.

I keep everything in dry bags so my sleeping stuff including my change of clothes are all together.
I use a Exped snoozle as my sleeping kit dry bag, pump and as a pillow at night.

The wet stuff is tricky, for socks try filling up a water bottle with hot water then sliding the socks over it.
This'll dry them quicker.

If the grounds wet and it rains all night though there is no chance your kit will get dry.


I've been looking for eVent stuff sacks, i've found some that have breathable bottoms for letting the air out, but want to try a full stuff sack made out of Neoshell or eVent.
I'll then cram my wet weather gear in, a couple of bottles filled with hot water and see how they dry through the night.


Gotta be better than hanging your wet kit so condensation makes them wetter throughout the night.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Tarp. Low for sleeping, higher for sitting under. Sorted.

 

[pysen78]

Lots of good tips already. I can add my newish routine for the backpack. (I mainly camp in wooded areas).
I have a carabiner with a few feet of paracord wrapped around it, clipped to the backpack. When stopping, I tie that around a tree trunk and clip the backpack to it. Keeps it off the ground. The ordinary rain cover can be used and it keeps mice and whatnot a bit further away from your food. An extra is, you get a good height for rummaging around in it standing up.

 

[backpacker]

With all the recent rain we've been having the woods I wander about in are all soaked through and sodden with the paths flooded. Not really a problem when out walking but how do you folks manage overnighting when everything is so wet? I have my hammock which will keep me off the floor but you still need to cook and do the usual camp chores - what approach do you take to keeping your dry stuff vaguely dry?
Thanks in advance,
Phil

When you have no other option and you know you are going to be out in the rain there's nothing worse than trying to sleep wet even when you have a good shelter to protect you from the elements!

When I was in the forces we went to Borneo where the humidity was unbearable at times, what we had was wet kit/dry kit, During the day you get hot and sweaty and within a couple of hours you would be soaking wet as if you had been standing in the rain and it would be uncomfortable especially when trying to sleep in a hammock at night, so what we would do is strip off out of our wet kit dry ourselves off and use talcum powder to keep us dry and put on the dry kit to sleep and leave our wet kit hanging up to dry, in the morning we would take our dry kit off and store it in a dry bag and then put our wet kit back on, to honest it was horrible putting on damp even wet clothing again, but after an hour or so you got used to it, we done this for two months and it worked, the magic was the powder 'non-scented' of course to help keep your body dry.

When I go out into the wild and remote areas in England, Scotland and Wales I still use the same principal Wet Kit/Dry Kit (Don't forget the powder!) the only good thing is we don't have the humidity over here so if you have a good fire on the go at least your wet kit can dry!





'The Past is Behind, The Future is ahead, Prepare for it, The Present is here, Live it'

 

[Gray]

You just do it, i dont really think about it. 3X3 tarp, sleeping bag inside bivi bag, good waterproofs, dry clothes inside bivi bag, jobs done

 

[Tavurth]

What approach do you take to keeping your dry stuff vaguely dry?

In my travels throughout the world rain has almost always been a tail end event. Meaning that most times, if I'm wet one evening I can dry the things the next day on the road.
If rain is unexpected in the evening I have a plastic bin bag to cover where my bivvy bag extends beyond the poncho that is above me.

The problem comes when you're in a multiple day wet spell, in the middle of nowhere. If so I cover my pack and I with my poncho and walk however many kilometers until I reach some form of civilization. Ask to rest up for a while under a roof and dry some stuff out before continuing.

Best

 

[jackcbr]

gear hammock under main hammock. keeps all my kit off the deck. when it comes to cooking, i make a platform out of sticks and pop my jetfoil on that.

 

[nigel3787]

best tactic on how to put away a wet tent?