10 Tent Mistakes Every New Backpacker Makes

In this video, I share 10 tent mistakes that most backpackers make when they're just starting out.

▼ THRU-HIKING POSTERS (MADE BY ME & MY GF)

▼ GEAR USED IN VIDEO (affiliate links)

▼ MY HIKING GEAR (affiliate links)

▼ TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:00 - Intro
00:06 - Mistake 1
00:35 - Mistake 2
01:12 - Mistake 3
01:41 - Mistake 4
02:02 - Mistake 5
02:35 - Mistake 6
03:31 - Mistake 7
03:59 - Mistake 8
04:24 - Mistake 9
04:50 - Mistake 10
05:12 - Outro

▼ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

▼ AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE
In some of our videos, we sometimes use affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking our affiliate links, we might get a small commission from the total purchase, at no additional cost for you. We participate in the Amazon Associates affiliate program and other affiliate programs.

[OscarHikes]

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.

[noodlesthest]

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

[whynottalklikeapirat]

- 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.

- They’ll like your boots too if you leave those in the apsis.

- Don’t just change socks if your feet are cold. Dry the space between your toes THOROUGHLY. There is frequently be 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.

- 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.

- Remember whatever shit can go down always seems to go down at 04.00 in the morning.

- 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.

- 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 has 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 flamenco dancer. Set your tent tight at a time when it has the most slack.

- 70% of the stress of sleeping in a tent in a storm is the noise. Set your proper tent 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 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. And remember, that if your gear is right, it’s all in your head, so let it go.

- 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.

- 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 …

- 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 …

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- You may like 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.

- You may eventually have to trust rocks for your guylines instead of pegs. If you do - just remember you need something about the size of your head if you want to REALLY be on the safe side. Seen some mighty expensive tents left on rocks getting blown into the sea with all their contents, just saying.

- 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.

- 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 hacking merrily 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.

[spinewalker_]

I got one! Tent tip 11: If you use a ground sheet, make sure it doesn'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.
Happy trails!

[kgranger]

A video in 2023 that gets directly to the point, presents the information promised in the thumbnail first, and doesn't push ads! Subscribed! Great content, thank you and keep it up.

[ferryvantichelen]

Tip: don'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 "leave no trace"

[fearghal]

Somehow over the years the one but of camping gear that'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.

[lughole]

I thought of another tip! Silk sleeping bag liners are amazing! Warm it cold conditions, wick moisture and ifbyoure away for long expeditions they keep your bag clean and microbe free meaning youll have to clean you sleep system less / be fresher. In hot weather you can use them on thier own or use them in manky cheap hotels with dubious cleaning policies!

[karennelson]

Just a general idea i think is brilliant every time. I wear glasses which get visibly lost in a tent...so i keep a glow in the dark pc of plastic anywhere...make sue i put my glasses there and voila! I can see that bit of light in total and partial darkness right away and KNOW my glasses are there! I hope this helps others! Great video here - thanks for your posts!

[tomaszczarnekplasota]

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

[cybermanne]

It's not always a mistake to dry wet clothes inside the tent. It depends on the overall conditions. If there is 24-7 of rain and you have wet socks that you need to get dry it might be a good idea to put them in the sleeping bag at night (or maybe even wear them). In the morning they will be dry, and the added moisture inside the tent might have been able to get ventilated out if the tent is well ventilated.

[lughole]

A seperate tent footprint is great under the tent for saving youre ground sheet in rocky areas but can acrually be better put inside the tent in extreme rain to keep you dry. That same tarp can also be rigged up above the tent as a sun canopy if its super sunny in the mornings- if your in a hot place to stop you getting baked in the morning... Also if pitched slightly offset will give you an external rain cover for cooking outside. For this a coupe carabeaners, two extres pegs and a bit of paracord helps. My only other tip is to have 4 sand pegs in your peg bag, for sand or snow set ups, lots of people dont carry them and they're essential on extended trips.

[jjaylad]

Great pointers! We keep ourselves from sliding when on an incline by placing a compressed jacket or other clothing article under the sleeping bag, just below the butt. That kind of cradles you comfortably and avoids that downhill slide.

[jamesrigby]

Mistake 5: don’t sleep with you head down the slope either. This will compress your lower back and cause a painful, sleepless night…. However, if you can’t avoid sleeping on a slope use tip in mistake 4 and use you empty (or partially filled) rucksack under your mat to level up your sleeping mat. Happy camping!

[pauloost]

Good start, good content...👍🏻

NEVER EVER re-tighten your lines when the tent is wet, to correct for a droopy saggy tent. The fabric swells and droops a little when wet. If you tighten up those lines and the fabric shrinks as it dries, you might very well tear the tent to pieces. Even synthetic ones but especially with canvas.

Never set up your tent with the doors open and then wander why they will not close now that you pulled everything nice and taut...

Never touch the roof of a wet canvas tent with your greasy fingers or hair. Right where you touch it, it wil leak in minutes...

Never packing a wet tent should be obvious... If you cant avoid it, unpack and dry at the earliest opportunity...

If you find a tear in the fabric, seam, loop whatever, repair it NOW... Waiting till tomorrow may very well give it time to widen or worsen. Same goes for damage to a backpack, fix it now!

Clean out sand and dirt that acumulates in the tent or on the bottom. Sand is abrasive and hiking with your tent in your pack, humping and bumping might very well chafe away your waterproof layers or fabric as a whole at a much higher rate then needed, especially on thin nylon non-woven groundsheets.

Wax your tentpegs/stakes!..
They wont corrode as fast if they are ferric, clean off easier after use. And with wooden stakes they clean much easier and you can better retrieve them from the ground because the dont suck up moisture and swell as much. They dry faster as well...

If possible repack your tent in a consistent way, so you can find your stuff and pitch your tent just as easily in the dark as in daylight.

I'm out... Your turn...😉👍🏻

[username-mcjw]

Excellent information - nothing I'm not already doing, but it reinforces my confidence to know I have a grasp on so many mistakes new backpackers make... since I'm a fairly new backpacker myself. Here's a tip if you carry a trekking pole tent: zip-tie a small line level onto one of your trekking poles. This will help immensely in finding level ground to pitch your tent on! The water bottle 'level' trick will only show you what's level over a 9" area. The trekking pole spreads that out to 4 feet or more...

[christopherlucas]

Rather than putting the foot end of your sleeping bag into your empty backpack as suggested, it's far better to fasten up the zip of a waterproof, breathable jacket and pull the jacket over the foot end of your sleeping bag. The end of your bag's then properly protected from your tent inner if it's wet with condensation and your feet are still able to breathe.

[MultiTipsie]

Hi there, I have a few tips.
Tip one; Use a groundsheet in your vestibule! This way, moist from the ground in the vestibule cannot rise up and fill your tent! Also, without it, it is much colder in you vestibule and your inner tent and thus causes more condensation!.

Second tip; Keep you outer tent bottom edge as low as possible! Although is ventilates, when it is moist outside, it only brings in more moist then is ventilate outwards! Also the warmth will escape too! The warmth of your body and optional, your heater, will bring the temperature in your tent up. This higher temperature will help wick moist away! So ventilating too much will make it too cold and moist will still accumulate in your tent! Of course, make sure there is some opening to the outside somewhere at the bottom, opposite from ventilation at the top! This way the air will travel from the bottom, through the tent to the other side and exit there taking along moist! How much you have to ventilate and where is totally depending on the situation and the form and ventilation possibilities of your tent! I also would recommend to keep your backpack as dry as possible! Otherwise it will get moist inside after a few days (or a day in heavy rain) and it will not dry anymore, making everything inside wet too! When travelling for a week or more it will give fungus the opportunity to grow inside or in your clothes and stuff! When it is dry during walking, hang your wet clothes and shoes on the outside of your backpack! So it can dry more easilyy and will leave less moist in your pack!

Third tip; The clothes and shoes which are wet will stay wet in a bag! That's not good! It will get fungus in it. Especially when you are without sunshine a couple of days! And most of the time, people have to use it again! The best way to store them is in a loft or on a line high up in your tent.When ventilation is adequate and can stream from low to high through your tent, it will take along the moist and this way will let things dry at least the best way possible! When walking again in the day, you can store socks and shirts just underneath your outer layer or in your outer insulation layer to let it dry! Of course, only when you not sweating a lot. Then you have to wear less layers!


What is possible too when you have multiple layer in your sleepingbag, is store your clothes just under the outer layer of the sleeping bag! The warmth of your body will dry the clothes then! When it is very cold, you can also store your shoes there, or even water bottles, so you won't have frozen water in the morning!

Learned and used this in the army, but have used it a lot during my outdoor adventures! Worked very well!

[cbergek]

If you have to set the tent up in a slope, try putting some stuff underneath the tent floor. If you create a transverse ridge just beneath/under/distal to where your butt is it will help avoid slipping during the night. I mean the legs can be on top of this ridge, but your butt will not slide over it. If you overdo it it could be uncomfortable but for me it’s definitely possible to find the balance. The stuff you put under the tent could be some branches, twigs, or other stuff you find on the ground, but also some parts from your pack that you don’t need during the night, and that can stand being wet. I’ve used watertight packing sacks filled with spare clothes for example. The same idea works for evening out the surface if you need to put the tent on uneven ground.

[lettersquash]

One mistake I've made is to pile too much clothing/bedding on as I go to bed, knowing it'll be cold later. This makes things worse, because you overheat and sweat, which leads to a much worse chill as the temperature drops. I now try to start out feeling pleasantly cool and add stuff later. The same applies to hot water bottles - even well insulated, if you make one to take to bed, it can make you too hot early and be cold by the time you need it. I now leave that option to times when I wake in the small hours and feel too cold to sleep, having set a pot of water on the stove ready. Moving about to start it and heat the water (and take a leak, which is what usually wakes me in the first place) gets the blood pumping, and then the hot water bottle is perfect (in a thick sock or similar) for getting some more shut-eye.