Re: Wet Tents

On Mon, 13 Jul 1998, Robert Gerhard wrote:

>
> Make sure you've trenched around your tent and have good drainage under your
> tent. (ie: don't pitch your tent in a low spot or a run-off area; keep your
> tent site a little higher than it's surroundings)

Yeek ! This is hardly " low impact " camping. If you have a good tent,
properly pitched trenching is not necessary. In my opinion, trenching is
a sign of a poor camper. On permanent campsites it will drive the Ranger
crazy, and on wilderness camps it is wanton destruction of the natural
environment.

Here in UK every leader who runs a camp - even overnighter - must have
completed training and certification. Trenching is one guaranteed way to
fail the assessment.

I have found that a heavy duty plastic groundsheet that is just slightly
smaller than the tent - say an inch or two less all round - under the tent,
and a similar groundsheet inside should be adequate for most purposes.
The alternative is to use one of the space blankets as your inner
groundsheet, which has the advantage of retaining body heat on cold nights.

Personal kit should be packed in plastic bags. One suggestion I saw was
to have each kid pack each day's clothes in a bag, i.e. socks, underwear,
teeshirt. A good idea, but if they pack their own kit ( and they ought to )
this tends to go by the board. <g> Certainly a heavy duty plastic bag
inside the kit bag is a great help ... and if you use a proper survival
bag this has the advantage that on high adventure type trips you always
have a survival bag with you.

The biggest problem is that inexperienced campers damage the groundcloth
by wearing shoes inside tents or with rucksacks, bags etc. that make very
small holes and cuts in the groundcloth.

The other problem is that inexperienced campers tend to shut the tents up
because they think they will stay warmer. What happens is the body heat
warms the air. The warm air rises and hits the cold fabric of the tent,
moisture condenses and it " rains " inside the tent. Get the kids used to
having the air vents open.

>
> Make sure you have a "breathable" groundcloth that will let water seep
> through. Gravity will take it down rather than up into your tent. Be aware
> that your tent bottom is probably a porous material (like nylon) which can
> wick moisture up if it gathers in your groundcloth and can't go down!
>
There is something to be said for wall tents that don't have sewn-in
groundcloths. Many UK troops still use the heavy canvas six-person tents
for standing camps. They are heavy - about a hundred pounds - but a tent
with a flysheet and a heavy duty rubberised canvas ground cloth, properly
pitched, will stand up to practically anything. Obviously they are not
suitable to more specialised use such as snowline camping or backpacking.
They are not cheap ( $500 plus per tent), but one group in my district is
still using patrol tents that they bought in the early seventies, so the
cost <per year> is less than a cheaper tent that lasts a few seasons.


Ian Ford
District Committee, Channel District, Transatlantic Council
ADC (Adult Training), Greenwich District Scout Council

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