Camping in the Rain Without Hating It

People cancel trips for rain that would not have bothered them at all. A wet weekend is only bad if three specific things go wrong — and all three are preventable with about $50 of gear and one habit.

Most "leaks" are not leaks

If you wake up damp, the water probably came from you.

Two adults breathe roughly a litre of water vapour into a tent overnight. In cool weather it condenses on the inside of the fly. If the inner touches the fly anywhere — a slack pitch, a bag leaning against the wall — it wicks straight through and looks exactly like a leak.

• Pitch the fly taut and use every guy line, so inner and fly never touch.
• Open the vents. Especially when it is cold and you least want to. A sealed tent is a wet tent.
• Keep bags and bodies off the walls. On a sloped pitch, orient yourself so you do not roll into the side.
• Do not sleep with your face in the bag. Breathing into insulation kills it.

Genuine leaks are usually seams, and usually on an older tent. A tube of seam sealer costs a few dollars and fixes them permanently.

The one item that changes a rainy trip

A tarp. Not for the tent — for the space outside it.

Rain is only oppressive when there is nowhere to be except lying in a tent. A 10x10 tarp strung over the picnic table creates a dry room where people can cook, eat, play cards and stand up. It is the single highest-return purchase for wet-weather camping and it costs less than a tank of fuel.

Pitch it with a deliberate low corner so water runs off one point instead of pooling in the middle. A pool of water on a tarp becomes remarkably heavy, remarkably fast.

Keeping the inside dry

• A doormat at the door. A folded towel or offcut of foam. Boots come off on it, not inside — this one habit keeps the floor dry all weekend.
• Wet clothes never come in. Hang them under the tarp or in the vestibule. A wet jacket in a tent raises the humidity for everybody.
• Two dry bags, minimum. One for the sleep system, one for spare clothes. Bin liners work. A wet sleeping bag ends a trip; a wet fleece does not.
• Groundsheet slightly smaller than the tent. If it sticks out, rain runs onto it and pools under your floor.

Staying warm when everything is damp

Wet and cold is the combination that matters, and it moves faster than people expect.

• Cotton is the problem. Wet cotton actively pulls heat out of you and takes forever to dry. Synthetic or wool for anything next to skin, always, in the rain.
• Rain shell over insulation, not the other way around. A wet insulating layer is a cold one.
• Change into dry clothes before bed, without exception. The sleep set never leaves the tent.
• Hot drinks do disproportionate work. Warmth from the inside, plus something to hold.
• Watch the smallest person. Children cool faster and complain later than you would expect. Shivering, quiet, and not wanting to move are the signs to act on.

Give the day a shape

The real enemy of a wet trip is not water. It is six unstructured hours with bored children under a nylon roof. Bring a deck of cards, a couple of paperbacks, a colouring pad — anything that works at a table under a tarp. Plan a mid-morning walk in the rain with proper coats on; twenty minutes of splashing about resets everybody's mood far better than waiting it out does.

Drying out afterwards

This is the part people skip, and it is why tents die young. Within a day or two of getting home, pitch the tent or hang the fly somewhere it can dry completely. A tent packed away damp grows mildew, and mildew permanently destroys the waterproof coating. Same for the sleeping bag: store it loose in a large sack, never compressed.

Heading somewhere wet and not sure what you are missing? Tell us the forecast and we will tell you what actually matters. The free Camp Checklist has a rain section.