I have a question - which may be a very silly question but I am puzzled!
When you pack your tent away after camping and the ground sheet is still wet what do you do with it when you get home?
If the tent was damp I would hang it over the bannister to dry but them how do I get it all folded up and away in its bag when I don't have a big enough clear floor area in the house?
Our garden is very steep (perfect for a mountain goat) and we don't have a garage. A friend has a big barn but this is currently jam packed full of furniture as they are in the process of building their own house and so living in a caravan storing their furniture in the barn.
So, what is the best way to get the tent completely dry before packing away when you have limited space?
------------- Complete novice!!!!
Planned 2012 camping (so far)
May - the field at the top of our lane with half the village!
July - Waxham Sands
August - wild camping in a field near Llanthony Priory, Wales
if it's just the groundsheet lay it on the drive or any outside area, it'll dry in moments if there's a bit of a breeze and help it by using a microfible towel like the cheap ones you get for dogs in pound shops. If there's a bit of sun it'll dry quicker, flip it over and dry the other side.
If it's over the bannister, you'll just have to leave it there until you get a dry spell outside. When I've dried my Icarus 500 indoors I've spread it all over the living room. You have to move a bit to sit down and it can be there for two days or so. If it's still raining I'll roughly roll it up just to tidy it out of the way. It still needs to by laid down outside for the final rolling up.
dehumidifiers or fan heaters come in very useful when having to dry big tents inside in very little space...if it's a separate groundsheet, then i'd wipe it as dry as possible first and drape it over whatever furniture was available and dry it a bit at a time...
we've folded and rolled up a Monty 6 in a small narrow hallway before...it's not easy and doesn't give the best results, but it is possible...you just have to set your mind to it...
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"tereba nessa, kemer wyth"
.~*MOONIE*~.
Snowdonia - Peak District - Brecon Beacons - Lake District
I've made it a fine art being able to roll tents back into their bags on the landing (sometimes using the stairs!). Basically use the stairs to pull the tent into a long shape about the width of the bag and roll it on the landing pulling it up the stairs as you go (a helper is good here). Kneel on it to get the air out as you roll and this works for anything from a tiny mountain tent to the 5m bell.
------------- Current tents in use: 5m Bell, Obelink Palamos 6, Vango Tornado 300 Vango Force 10 Mk3, Hypercamp Eldorado & Orange Raclet
I have dried off both the Montana and the Icarus by leaving them hanging over the bannisters. Can take a few days, depending on how wet they were. Ground sheets I just leave as flat as possible and dry off with a cloth.
The groundsheet is sewn in to the inner tent (its a Vango Diablo)so the whole lot would have to go over the bannister.
Hopefully our friends will move into their house soon and the barn can be used for tent drying, folding and packing!!
------------- Complete novice!!!!
Planned 2012 camping (so far)
May - the field at the top of our lane with half the village!
July - Waxham Sands
August - wild camping in a field near Llanthony Priory, Wales
Quote: Originally posted by stumpjumper on 06/4/2012
I've made it a fine art being able to roll tents back into their bags on the landing (sometimes using the stairs!). Basically use the stairs to pull the tent into a long shape about the width of the bag and roll it on the landing pulling it up the stairs as you go (a helper is good here). Kneel on it to get the air out as you roll and this works for anything from a tiny mountain tent to the 5m bell.
Oh dear... My stairs have two bends...
------------- Proud owner of a 1987 Sprite Alpine 370 EK, a cheap popup tent and a beloved retro Trio frame tent from the early seventies, called Giraffen.
Does your steep garden not have room for some sort of clothes line. Other than that anywhere in the house. Dont forget you need some space to try and roll out all of the air, stairs good as previous person said.
Quote: Originally posted by Big Brian 56 on 06/4/2012
Double oh dear , our stairs don,t have a banister !
We used the shower rail to do our awning once when we had a campervan. Spread right over the bathroom, with heat on, it was nearly dry over night, but certainly done and ready to fold up in there also. Was a bit of a job using the loo but got by.
Had strip washers at the kitchen sink instead of using bathroom and moving the awning. About 48 hours it took moving it around. But it continued to rain for about 3 weeks and that length of time we would of lost the awning to mildew, just for 48 hours max it was worth doing and not having to buy another £500 awning
We live in sheltered acc.bungalow, very very small.We have also folded an awning over our beds, first covering them with an old double sheet. That gives us a 6ft wide x 6.6ft long folding space.As we have 2 single beds always pushed together.