5 mistakes EVERY new camper makes in WET WEATHER ⚡️⛈⚡️

Other gear I use👇

Camping mistakes If you have sleepless nights in the backcountry camping, backpacking, hiking, then this video will help. It's 5 tips and tricks to make sure you have the best sleep possible while out camping! How to sleep well while camping. How to sleep warm backpacking. How to sleep comfortable while camping in a tent. How to not get wet in spring rain. Wet stormy weather. lightning while at camp. camping dangers. backpacking. rainy bad wet weather. How to set up camp and a tent in the rain. Storms. storming at camp.

[tommccafferty]

There is really no better feeling to be dry inside a tent during a heavy storm. Hearing the rain pound on the fly is wonderful music to the ears.

[donxuop]

I've done most of my backpacking and camping in the rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State where it's not uncommon to get over 12 feet of rain per year. I learned a long time ago (the hard way) that if it was raining or if rain was expected, to always set up a light-weight silnylon tarp over the place I planned on erecting my tent and rain fly. By first setting up a tarp, I can erect my tent and fly without either of them getting rained on. Doing so also allows me to keep all the contents of my pack dry as I unload them as well. In addition to keeping my tent dry, having a tarp over my tent makes the task of taking down the tent and reloading my pack much drier too. I never have to be concerned about putting away a wet tent or having to set up a wet tent the following day. In the 35 years I've been doing this, I've never had to contend with having wet gear.

[thevigiles]

Don’t just make sure you’re setup is sound. Make sure your backpacking buddies are setup properly too. Otherwise you might find that your 2-person tent suddenly needs to hold 3 people.

[amiejo]

After a very wet weekend at cub scout camp with boys, I learned to always leave a dry set of clothes in the car for the ride home. Knowing that you at least have that too look forward to at the end of your trip makes it easier to deal with.

[justjonoutdoors]

The most common thing I see is misreading the lay of the land — ending up in that nice flat spot that is really the bottom of a bowl and waking up in the middle of a miniature lake!

[karenparle]

A couple of years ago my nephew was camping in the redwoods and a large limb fell on him in the middle of the night. Crushed his pelvis and broke several ribs. He is fine now but had to be life flighted out and took 2 years to recover. Be carful out there.

[Camp_Botanist]

A few months ago I made the mistake of pulling the ground tarp out a ways in front of the tent door to make a sort of 'entry mat' to stomp the mud off of our boots before going into the tent (which at the time I thought was a brilliant idea). Fast forward to 2 AM in the morning and water had puddled on the tarp and flowed underneath the tent and you could push your hand on the tent floor and hear/ feel the giant bubble of water like we were on top of a water bed. I was worried that the water would find some small hole in the floor and come inside the tent, so we ended up having to go outside during the worst part of the rainstorm, in the dark, at 2am, and try to pull the tarp out from underneath the tent to let the extra water drain into the (thankfully sandy) soil. The water between the tent and the tarp had made some sort of a vacuum effect and It was an interesting struggle to break the seal between the tarp and the tent in order to pull it out, I was worried we were going to pull the whole g** d*** tent over with it. Never making that mistake again!

[jessicaturecek]

Dead or compromised trees and branches are called Widow Makers for a reason. Stay safe folks, and always check for any trees or large branches that could be felled in a storm or high winds.

[thereindeertherabbitthebat]

When setting up on any sort of uneven ground, even if the ground is mildly uneven, try to pitch your tent with the entrance facing downhill.
I once experienced a brief, unexpected downpour while away from camp on a hike. When I later returned, I found that water had piled up so rapidly at the door, it spilled through the threshold via the closed zipper door, flooding the inside of my tent. Looked like a bathtub of muddy water. Everything inside was completely soaked. The tent held the water extremely well though... 🤔

[kellyjohnson]

The only thing that comes to mind, cuz I grew up in WA state which puts camping in the rain to the test, is not having proper shoes and warm dry gloves. Nothing like getting your shoes wet the first day then putting on wet shoes the rest of the time. Or having wet hands that more quickly go numb when the temps drop, and having to set up a tent with numb hands. Also a funny story. My dad decided, before we camped in the rain forests of WA, to make a car top carrier and make it without one screw or nail. Just wood glue. Well after two days of rain on our 7 day trip, the carrier came completely apart and we were miles from a hardware store where he could get supplies to fix it so me and my mom and siblings sat all day in the tent as he drove 2 hrs one way to the nearest hardware store to get tools, screws and nails and hammer and screwdriver. And then back to fix it in the monsoonal rain. He was not a happy camper, literally. My last trip with him before he died, I took him back there cuz I told him we needed a redo. We got a cabin cuz he was too crippled up to sleep in a tent. And you what? No rain. Nothing but blue skies, or that regions version of it. Lol

[Cubestone]

I don't suppose most ultralight folks will do this, but it's certainly appealing to weekenders. Carry an extra 16 oz. and bring a light tarp. Fly the tarp over the tent and you'll have an area where you can cook out of the rain, stand up and stretch, or just hang out without claustrophobia. A side wind can still get you wet, but your tent and camp will generally be dryer and more comfortable.

[Ottawaone]

Welcome, Emmet! Few more: 1) Not drying out wet tents/gear during hike breaks if it's stopped raining. 2) Wearing your dry clothes instead of putting your wet clothes back on and ending up with no dry clothes.

[jesseo]

I'll disagree on one aspect of the ground cloth: I've found it's actually best to use one that is *bigger* than the footprint of your tent. That way, the excess can be rolled up underneath the tent footprint. It still won't stick out, and the roll creates a dam to keep all ground water out of the space under the tent floor. I do plenty of canoe camping in the wilderness, and always use a mid-gauge plastic ground cloth under my tents, cut to size with several extra inches all around. Before the fly goes on, I walk around the tent and roll the excess underneath.

[alainaarrhodge]

OMG!! Where was this video last year when my wife and I were camping in Deception Pass and it rained for 2 days solid while we were camping?! Our tent went well past it's water resistance level, we had a tarp that we'd used under the tent, but it went well beyond the tent footprint (I didn't know any better then), and worst of all, even our rainfly was dripping. We almost packed it in and got a hotel after we awoke with soaked sleeping bags and pads, but after a quick trip to THD for some tarps, we solved our problem. I also learned that I'm really good at starting fires in the rain with firesteel. What a weekend! Welcome Emmett!

[ZORK]

Hey ive been camping for about 4 years now and in Europe where the Rain takes up about 70% of the year and these are tips you couldnt find that easy on here 4 years ago. So thanks for the New campers out there, these are good tips.

[catfishcorals]

As a brand new backpacker/camper, I've found your videos super informative and entertaining. I'm now much better equipped to spend time in the woods

[Lee-ish]

Lots of good advice.
Choosing the HH rating is quite variable imo .
After 50 plus years of camping I’ve learned teepees with a 2000 Hydrostatic Head are great at keeping out rain as they have a very steep fall
But dome tents etc need imo at least 3000 but preferably 4000 and up HH as the tops are way flatter to the weather .
One old army trick if you get cold wet feet and can’t dry them, boots off put your feet into ordinary plastic bags (shopping bags work well )
then put your boots back on.
I guarantee within minutes your feet will be toasty warm

[aaronhouse]

I'm a little late to the thread, but one thing that was made very clear to me in a hail storm my 2nd or 3rd night out on the A.T. in 2017 was that the tent orientation matters. I have a ZPacks Duplex. The vestibules are constructed as two overlapping flaps on each side held out by guy lines. If that overlap is open in the direction of the wind, at some point you will not have a tent. You will have loose cloth as the wind rips into that gap, pulls out your tent stakes from the (now) soaked earth and the entire structure becomes unstable. Learning to rotate that 180 degrees so the opening is away from the prevailing wind direction significantly improved the many rainy nights that followed on that trip and in the years since.

[martyfox]

Something I've always done with my tents is put a coat of scotch gard on the outside that has really helped with water proofing it

[TheAdventuringFoodie]

Good video, Dan! Thanks for the reminder about "widow-makers, " trees that can come down in the middle of the night. On my trip to the Shawnee National Forest last week, that was on my mind in each place we camped. The last night in particular was very windy. My son and I woke up, packed up, and started to head out. Just down the trail, we found a large pine that had fallen in the middle of the night. A good reminder to keep safety first!