10 Tent Mistakes Every New Backpacker Makes

Comments · 1.3K

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  @OscarHikes · 2 years ago · pinned

  Hey everyone! Thanks for commenting about tip 5, about not putting your feet inside a backpack because your feet will get wet from condensation. At first, I didn't believe it because I've done this for a long time myself with good results. In this video, I was showing as an example my new ultralight pack which is waterproof. I had never done it with waterproof backpacks before. Sure enough, yesterday I tried it when sleeping in a tent at -4C, and I woke up in the night because my feet felt colder than usual. I checked and the bottom of the sleeping bag got wet from condensation because the backpack wasn't breathable. At the same time, my wife was doing the same thing with her regular backpack (not waterproof), and her feet were staying warm. So moral of the story - don't use this tip with waterproof backpacks! Especially if you have a down sleeping bag that loses insulation properties when wet. Also probably don't do it if your socks are a bit damp. Only do it in freezing temps or when you're sleeping on an incline, and only with breathable backpacks.

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  @Spirit986 · 1 year ago

  Do not cry while inside the tent. The water vapour from your tears will make the inside of your tent wet from condensation and will make you cold early in the mornings.

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• EX

  @Existentis_Lux · 7 months ago

  @<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M98wYdANfTo&amp;t=89">1:29</a> Some practical advice from a graduate who has taken microbiology in university, never put wet clothes or items in bags. Mold, fungus and anaerobic bacteria prefer these conditions and will breed multiplicatively. Instead hang a clothesline outside your tent between trees. Airing out wet clothes will shift the microbial balance toward aerobic bacteria which will be able to outcompete and suppress the anaerobic bacteria, and that shift is generally beneficial because it reduces the conditions that allow odor‑producing and potentially harmful (pathogenic) microbes to thrive.

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• PO

  @porrirocci · 2 years ago

  The Tent Commandments.

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• NO

  @noodlesthe1st · 2 years ago

  Mistake 7: BREATHING. Dont breathe in your tent or CONDENSATION

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• FE

  @ferryvantichelen6521 · 2 years ago (edited)

  Tip: don&apos;t put your tent on the lowest part of the field, or you will wake up in a boat when it suddenly started to rain during the night. If there is no other option you can try to dig a few gullies for drainage in strategic spots. However, try to avoid that as much as possible because of &quot;leave no trace&quot;

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• JA

  @jackypearcejustme · 2 years ago

  Always roll your tent door/other flaps under, not over, so that the outside surface is the one you can see. This stops the inside area getting wet and increasing interior condensation when you close the door. An old girl guide trick!

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• KG

  @kgranger · 2 years ago

  A video in 2023 that gets directly to the point, presents the information promised in the thumbnail first, and doesn&apos;t push ads! Subscribed! Great content, thank you and keep it up.

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  @spinewalker_ · 2 years ago

  I got one! Tent tip 11: If you use a ground sheet, make sure it doesn&apos;t stick out underneath the tent floor. Otherwise rain will hit the ground sheet and get trapped between it and the floor. Most likely this will soak through your floor where you sleep over time. <br>Happy trails!

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  @tomaszczarnekplasota6165 · 2 years ago

  Mistake 6 - it applies to lakes too. Better to set tent on high ground above lake instead near lake shore. Morning mists will moisture everything in range

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• WH

  @whynottalklikeapirat · 2 years ago (edited)

  - It’s a mistake to begin with to place your backpack outside of the tent. All the bugs are going to love that accommodation option and the next time you DO open it inside they’ll be all over the place as well as in your smelly clothes, which are to ticks as a hotdog stand is to a rottweiler.<br><br>- They’ll like your boots too if you leave those in the apsis.<br><br>- Don’t just change socks if your feet are cold. Dry the space between your toes THOROUGHLY. There is frequently enough moisture between your toes from, sweat, rain or whatever else, to take most of the night for it to naturally evaporate. Dry your feet if you want to stay warm and don’t rely on a fresh pair of socks to absorb all of it.<br><br>- It’s ALWAYS between the sensible spot and the nice view. Check the weather forecast before you make up your mind to gamble on the view, and be prepared for contingencies at around 04.00 in the morning.<br><br>- Remember whatever shit can go down always seems to go down at 04.00 in the morning.<br><br>- Drink rain water but don’t drink it off a rain pocket in your tent cover - it’s most likely waterproof because it’s a chemically treated surface.<br><br>- Think your tent was set up nice and tight when you left it in the morning? It won’t be after the fabric and guylines have stewed and expanded in the sun for a few hours. Might not be a problem now, but it may be when the wind picks up and everything starts flapping about like a coked up flamenco dancer. Set your tent tight at a time when it has the most slack.<br><br>- 70% of the stress of sleeping in a tent in a storm is from the noise. Set your tent properly tight so it doesn’t effing flap around like a mad bastard, remove anything that rubs against it yes even the long grass and pretty flowers, and CERTAINLY anything like twigs or branches, yes even the soft and leafy ones, and put on some kind of woollen balaclava over you head so you hear enough that you’ll notice if things go south at 04.00 but not so much you can’t go to sleep. Remember, that if your gear is right, and you set it tight, it’s all in your head, so let it go. YOu’re not gonna stop any sudden unexpected mayhem from descending by lying ready to jump into action any second from inside your sleepingbag are you?<br><br>- Remember: A tarp may be more open to the elements but it virtually never has condensation problems, and it offers a nice 360 degree view. Also you can run it almost flush to the ground if the wind gets extra-super mean.<br><br>- Like your expensive lightweight tent or tarp solution? Don’t rely on a nearby fire to keep you warm then unless you don’t mind the burn holes. You will when the rain sets in at 04.00 in the morning though, I suspect …<br><br>- Bring a wee-wee bottle in the tent unless you want to go over your whole dry foot routine again at 04.00. Make sure air can pass your wiener as you fill it or it will push you out like a cork gun and you’ll have to invent a dry sleeping bag routine at 04.00 …<br><br>- When you’re far enough up north in the summer, there is usually no single spot that will stay in shade for 24 hours straight. Remember that when you deposit your food, water and electronics out of the sun and go to sleep or leave for the day. Gotta shift that shit around unless there is an actual cave nearby or something.<br> <br>- When you’re far enough down south and should you for some reason not be behind a mesh or bug net - just remember than any crumbly snack you like in bed, will likely appeal to ants and shit like that as well … I think by now you know around what time to expect the surprising results of leaving bits of food around where you rest or sleep.<br><br>- It’s kinda nice being under a bug net playing hard to get with 1000 mosquitoes and their midge sycophants. Makes me feel all special.<br><br>- You may fancy lean-to type shelter setups but somehow nature doesn’t seem to be as convinced about this whole “prevailing wind direction” thing as some people are. Just expect wind and rain to come at you horisontally from any corner of the compass at some point or another is what I am saying. Or don’t, I don’t care. Maybe you actually LIKE it at 04.00 in the morning. <br><br>- You may eventually have to trust rocks for your guylines instead of pegs. If you do - just remember you need something at least about the size of your head if you want to REALLY be on the safe side. Seen some mighty expensive light weight tents left on rock getting blown into the sea with all their contents, just saying.<br><br>- If you peg out the lines and then secure them by putting rocks on them, fine, but put SOMETHING between the line and rock that doesn’t gnaw it through when the wind starts shifting things around you-know-when.<br><br>- Always have some cutting implement handy so you can cut your way out of your tent should it catch fire or if there is some kind of animal attack or what not. I don’t want to needlessly scare you with the true story of the Finnish axe wielding person who trapped these young people by rolling them up inside their tent to where they couldn’t move and started merrily hacking away and was never caught, but now it’s in your head as well as mine, only I always know where to reach for my knife or machete and flashlight when I am out. I don’t think about it. Anymore. Really.

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  @fearghal10 · 2 years ago

  Somehow over the years the one but of camping gear that&apos;s become indispensable is this big old pashmina scarf I picked up from a charity shop on a cold day for a couple euros. Can be a buff, a blindfold for lie-ins, a semi-functional mosquito net, a sling or bindle, light blanket, towel, shade-tarp, basically anything. And a scarf, obviously. Douglas Adams was onto something.

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