You’ve just returned from a great camping trip. You were active, enjoyed nature, saw stars, ate s’mores….life is good. When it comes to tent camping, the trip isn’t over when you get home. Now it’s time to set out your gear to dry and prepare it for storage.
TIPS FOR PACKING YOUR TENT
1. Clean your tent
While most of the time drying the tent is all you need, when you set it up, determine if it also needs cleaned. I was on a recent trip where my tent was taken down in the rain and then sat in my cartop box for 2 hot days. When I set up the tent to dry, I was concerned some mildew might be forming. So I created a cleaning solution and washed down the entire tent.
2. Air out & dry tent
Set up the tent and allow it to air dry – this can be done by hanging it up or setting it up in a dry space. If you hang the tent, make sure that the layers of the tent are not stuck together. You need air to get to all parts of the tent.
3. Sweep the floor
It’s amazing how much dirt, sand, leaves, etc will collect on the floor of your tent. Before taking it down, sweep the floor and remove any debris out of the tent. Not only is it much nicer the next time you use it, but you eliminate the opportunity to puncture the bottom while it’s in storage.
4. Take down additional storage garage
If you have a tent that has an extra room space, take it down, roll/fold it and put it in the storage bag.
5. Remove the rainfly
It’s time to remove the rainfly. I leave the stakes in the mid-way point to allow additional support (kind of like extra hands) when I fold the fly in half. Basically, I fold the rainfly when it’s on the top of the tent. When I figured out how to do this, it prevented additional dirt from getting on the fly.
6. Fold the main tent
Take out the tent poles. Use the footprint of the tent floor to fold your tent. I fold the bulky walls within the footprint and then fold the floor into quarters. If you have “windows” that are plastic, try not to put too many folds in that material.
7. Fold tent footprint
Whether you have a footprint that you bought with your tent or made one on your own, the footprint is important to keep the rain and cold out of the tent floor. I typically hand the footprint to dry and use a broom to sweep off any dirt and debris before I put it away.
