Prepping for rain

[CampMilley 0]

Hello! Last year we had a blast with exception to one thing. We brought a new larger family tent and it was defective. It collapsed multiple times at night and through the day thanks to the rain. We took the tent back before we even hot home! I don't mind rain, it's going to happen, but I don't want to have those miserable memories of holding our tent up at 3 am with a broom handle to keep the kids dry! What tips do you have for preparing your site for inclement weather. Bonus points for creative tent camp site set ups! TIA

[slices 16]

Was at the fort last month and it was a rather wet 4th. No problems with my two tents as long as we made sure everything was zipped.  I had sprayed the smaller tent with water proof spray before hand, not sure how much difference it made.  My EZ up canopy leaked a lot, ended up tying guy lines to the corners of a large tarp and pulling it over the EZ up.   It worked quite well.

[TajMaTent 0]

Have an entrenching tool or shovel. The pads at Ft Wilderness are great but low spots can occur camping anywhere. Look for the low spots and be sure they can drain off instead of becoming little lakes. Carving small moats at place water may flow and have it flow away from your tent helps. 

Make sure you have a footprint or tarp under your tent and that it does not peak out anywhere. With a new tent your fly should be fine. Older tents need to have a tarp above. Have a place you can take of shoes before getting in the tent. If your tent is dry then rain is all part of the fun.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

54 minutes ago, TajMaTent said:

Have an entrenching tool or shovel. The pads at Ft Wilderness are great but low spots can occur camping anywhere. Look for the low spots and be sure they can drain off instead of becoming little lakes.

They just re-worked the pads, removed the coquina and added fine gravel.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Depending on the size of your tent, I've seen folks set up under an EZ up for extra protection. And even if the whole tent doesn't fit under, having the EZ up over the entrance can help some. Also gives you a dry spot to leave your shoes and anything wet you'd rather not have inside.  

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Yes, soak the rain fly thoroughly with the Camp Dry or whatever spray on stuff there is. Stake out the tent thoroughly using every guy line they provide. Keeping it tight allows water to drain off instead of pooling and collapsing. As Mo said I put a 10x20 EZ-Up over my tent perpendicular to the tent. It gives me approximately 10x10 outside the tent entrance dry. Great place for a chair, place to put your shoes, etc.

[Breezy2 18]

On 8/12/2018 at 5:39 PM, Grumpy and Grandma said:

They just re-worked the pads, removed the coquina and added fine gravel.

Hopefully they will finish this replacement project soon. Loop 2000 tent/camper van loop still has coquina. Just got back from there and changes haven't appeared in that loop yet. 

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

We have been known to cover the tent with a tarp. We had a 12 person tent and had a huge trap, never leaked. The EZ/Gazebo is an absolute must.

[AuburnJen 777]

On 8/12/2018 at 4:39 PM, Grumpy and Grandma said:

They just re-worked the pads, removed the coquina and added fine gravel.

I still have coquina in my tent, lol