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Still packing away my only slightly damp Nabraska after errecting it at half term.  Having read a few threads on mould i thought it might me a good idea to get it out of the bag an give it a good airing before it goes away for the winter.  But how dry does it have to be?  This synthentic fabric doesn't really dry does it.  The moisture is either there.....or it isn't.  Thats the way it seems to me.  And laying out a Nabraska takes up a lot of space!!  Any advice.

Also, do pegs and poles go rusty if they are not put away sparking clean and dry?

Regarding pegs, I've started using aluminium if that helps at all.

They are hardened grade and can be stronger than cheap steel ones plus will not rust!

Thanks, rickit.  One small problem.  We've got a loft conversion! (and a very small garden).  However, as i type (in the 'loft',) the tent is in fact spread out on the floor behind me.  But it can't stay there more than a couple of days  -  it'll drive me mad!

Keep 'em coming

It`s easy to dry off poles and pegs...just let them air out till dry. They don`t take up a lot of space. Mud doesn`t matter unless it`s wet mud.

As to the tent, it needs to be dry. DRY.Damp won`t do it. The majority of mould takes hold in the inners, btw, where the upper sections are not proofed and thus can absorb water. Yes the tent is synthetic, but it can still get mould on the surface and that`s not good. (Wet canvas tents rot.)

Ask yourself how much you want to replace your Nebraska in the spring due to mould caused by you not drying it well enough. Wouldn`t that drive you mad too? Keep turning it over for another couple of days and make sure the groundsheet is dry on the base. Then it will be fine.

One thing...you brought it back slightly damp this time, but next time it could be soaking. Theink ahead as to how you`ll dry it then. Some folks have a few hooks screwed into the rafters in the attic to suspend a tent from, for instance. Or have put in an extra clothes line attachment or similar. We dry our synthetic tents over the stair bannisters.

One real problem with the current monster tents that are so popular is that 99% of new folk don`t think about what they`ll do with it at home when wet. Even a lot of experienced veterans don`t think about this. The forum is FULL of threads come summer about how folk can`t find anywhere to dry their tents, and it`s also full of threads on mouldy tents.

we came back from Cornwall at half term with a soaking wet monster tent !!

I just spread it over the doors , wardrobes , chairs & a step ladder in the bedroom then placed a small fan heater underneath , kept moving it arround to dry it all out , only took one evening now its all packed away back in its bag , just have to find somwhere to store it now !!

Valk - Scot

How long does your Vango Oregon 600 take to dry out?  I live in a flat and it when it would be erected it is bigger than my living room.  

thanks

Quote: Originally posted by Arne on 03/11/2006

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Valk - Scot

How long does your Vango Oregon 600 take to dry out?  I live in a flat and it when it would be erected it is bigger than my living room.  

thanks

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What...if I bring the flysheet back so wet it needs to be transported in bin liners?

Well, if I hang it over the stairwell to the basement it will hang flat in a sinngle layer. It takes overnight to dry it there, even though the basement is as cold as a morgue even in summer. The flysheet does have a HH of 2000 and is water repellent so it doesn``t get sodden, after all...the water is all on the surface, so a lot of it gets shaken off.

I hang the inner pods as well. I`ll have cleaned the underside of the groundsheet sections roughly with an old towel before I rolled them up and put them in thier own binliner,, so they won`t be soaking either. Same with the main groundsheet on the rare occasions I use one.

However, I AM lucky enough to have a big high bannister, and a concrete floor at the bottom so puddles don`t matter. If I was taking a tent home wet and having to dry it inside the main house, I`d give the flysheet a darn good shake outside if it had stopped raining then heap it up loose on some old towels first to mop up the runoff. Bath might be a good place for this? After that I doubt it would take more than overnight again to dry it if you spread it out loosely over the furniture.. The Oregon is not a big tent by most folk`s standards so easy enough to move around.

(Now ask me how long it takes to dry a 12-man SIG tent indoors? Dunno, because I really, REALLY wouldn`t like to try that.....Our 12-man outer-first Colorado takes two of us to manuvere the flysheet over the bannisters, and I have to take it round the corner to the Community Centre to fold it up, lol.) )

Thank you Valk Scot, and I am sorry for hijacking someone elses thread.   I like both the 400 and the 600  but l cant decide between them so I am trying to think about all problems there might be and I hadnt  got a clue how it would take for tents that size to dry.  I know you said the 600 is not big but even the 400 is huge in comparison with the only tent I know.

I think and hope your answer will help a few people who hadnt thought about what they would do with a large soaking tent.