Tent campers - if it's raining when

[LindaBabe]

you pack out, how do you deal with wet stuff? DH is thinking of all the things that *Could* go wrong.

We'll be going to cocoa beach in a hotel one night and then cruising for 4, immediately after camping.

 

[loriandmatt]

oy, that is a sticky one......i guess your only option is either have all your camping stuff draped all over your room for that one night at cocoa beach or to keep everything packed up and hope for the best when you finally get home and can open everything up.

curious....what are you planning on doing with your camping gear while at cocoa beach and on your cruise. are you storing it someplace on land or are you taking it with you or are you paying to have it shipped home and it will be there waiting for you.

 

[clkelley]

Well.... As a rule, I try to not do other stuff after camping, so that at worst case scenario, I just have the drive home, then can spread out the stuff once I get home.

I did have one trip where it was pouring when we left and poured for two more days after we got home.

I have some extra large garbage bags that I put the stuff into, then once I got home and it quit raining, I rewet everything by hosing it down and cleaned any mildew, then let it all dry thouroughly, checked again for mildew stains once dry then reapplied waterproofing, let that dry, then checked again for any mildew, then packed it all up.

I also read a report that a tent camper at Ft. Wilderness used the pouring down rain as she was packing up as an opportunity to buy a new tent. She got so frustrated with the whole mess that she ditched the tent

 

[campingcorgi]

I also read a report that a tent camper at Ft. Wilderness used the pouring down rain as she was packing up as an opportunity to buy a new tent. She got so frustrated with the whole mess that she ditched the tent

And how's that new tent working for you?

 

[clkelley]

And how's that new tent working for you?

No, seriously, it was a trip report I read here. Maybe I used the wrong smiley

 

[CottontailCurl]

you pack out, how do you deal with wet stuff? DH is thinking of all the things that *Could* go wrong.
We'll be going to cocoa beach in a hotel one night and then cruising for 4, immediately after camping.

We put a tarp over our tent that covers it very well, it's so large we can set it up so it extends over one side so there is an area beside the tent that is out of the rain for stuff and sitting under without needing an extra dining canopy. If you bought a cheap tarp (I've seen them at Big Lots for $8 if you don't need a super large one) that might help in keeping your stuff dry and then after everything's packed up you can give it away to a neighbor.

When are you going? When we were there in December we didn't have very much rain until the morning we were leaving. We had about 2 hours until we packed up so a large amount of what was wet evaporated so all that was wet as we packed up was the bottom. I moved the tent to the dry parking area of an empty site across from us and as I folded it let it sit for a few minutes after I wiped it down with a towel. So the combo of the towel and fast evaporation of the area had it dry in no time.

Another possibility could be a container of the stuff you can find at camping stores to keep the inside of your RV/tent dry. I don't know what it's called but have seen in it camping catalogs. It comes in a plastic container, maybe someone who has used it could let you know if it's possible to put it in with your camping stuff to absorb any moisture after you pack up.