Setting up in a downpour. How do you stay dry?

[Grease]

I'm curious to see if anyone has any suggestions on avoiding getting soggy when unpacking during a downpour.

I'm usually fine once I get a tarp strung up, but getting to that point dry is where I'm struggling. I find a spot to camp and I'm covered head to toe in rain gear with the waterproof fly over my bag. I'm dry. Then I take the bag off and dig into it to find my tarp, and the bag gets wet. Then I'm holding my arms up in the air as I try to hang my tarp from something, and rain is running down the arms of my coat. By the time I can stay dry, my hands are cold, my arms and sides are wet, my bag is damp, and I'm annoyed.

 

[mewolf1]

Being in canoe country, this a big factor to think about. What I mean by that is all gear is in bags inside the packs and packs are treated with silicone for wet days, not to mention in an upset, packs are now floating and gear is kept dry. All being said, I keep my Sylnylon tarp at the top of my pack and can get to it without entering more critical dry gear.

 

[leghog]

Place your tarp where you don't have to dig to get to it. Plus everything in the pack that needs to be waterproof should be packet in waterproof containers. Gallon and quart sized ziplocks are your friends. Also your fart sack MUST be in a waterproof bag.

 

[22-rimfire]

The world changed with the creation of zip lock bags. The jumbo (2 gallon) size are handy too.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Keep tarp outside of the rain cover, might need to get creative in how you do this, but if you want to keep your pack dry, as well as the contents, its going to be the only way. I don't have a pack cover, everything goes into roll top dry bags inside, tarp and strings are outside the dry bags, right at the top.

If your coat won't gather tight enough to stop water running down your arms, what about wearing those rubber gloves sold for doing washing up? Long wrists that could be pulled over the coat cuffs, and enough dexterity that they should allow knots or hardware manipulation? Never tried, so its just an idea. If not that, maybe some other sort of glove that would help plug the path of water running down the sleeve? Fleece or polypro without fingers?

 

[pinnah]

Livin and hiking in wet New England, I no longer aspire to stay dry in the rain. If I'm hiking and it's raining, I'm wet. Period. As you've noted, my jackets leak at the collar and cuffs and short f a dry suit, there is nothing you can do about it. Add to this the problem of sweating when hiking hard.

I focus on staying wasrm and comfortable, not dry. Sleeping bag and sleep clothes are in a compactor bag inside a stuff sack, nice and dry. They are the last thing to get unpacked, after the shelter is packed.

Note, I treat all my trail clothes as wet clothes and sleep clothes as dry clothes. This means that morning after a cold rain, I change into wet trail clothes on the assumption that I will hike myself into being warm. It's the wet bathing suit thing.

I keep my tarp on the outside of my pack, usually in a side pocket. Or on some packs, under the lid. The tarp gets packed wet and used wet and I just assume it is wet all the time. Packed on the outside, it's easier to use at lunch breaks.

Hope this helps

 

[neeman]

My pack has a rain cover over the pack
My tent or tarp is tied or lashed to the top of my pack
I reach in and free the tarp or tent and recover the pack
The pack stays dry

Tent or tarp gets put up
I use an British tent that has the fly first method, so the fly gets set up and the inner after, so the inner stays dry.
I keep the dry inner in a separate stuff sack

Pinnah's method of two sets of clothing, one wet and one dry
Never mix the two
Cold wet clothes are put on after breakfast when you get out your sleeping bag
Then you start moving, packing camp and walking
Most often the clothes dry as you walk, or just get wet again
I learnt this as a kid in the 60s walking and backpacking in the British Hills

Breaking camp
Pack everything under the tarp or tent
Dry inner tent gets packed too
All in the dry pack
The wet tarp or fly last and lashed to the top of the pack

I carry an umbrella, either a very large gold windproof golfing umbrella and use it as a walking staff
Or a small folding umbrella that I use when it rains a bit and I don't want to struggle with a rain jacket that will sweat as much as protect
Umbrellas are great in camp!

 

[TheMadIndian]

Hanging the tarp there isn't much you can do other than become efficient at your knots or hardware if you use hardware. What you can do to stop the water running down your sleeves in rubber bands or something to cinch your cuffs. If I don't have a rubber band or hair tie I make two canadian jam knots out of paracord to cinch my cuffs

 

[hlee]

Something to think about....

As you say, you are dry in your rain gear.
Your pack is dry within the pack cover.
While in this state you do not have a problem.
It is only when setting up your shelter that you are getting wet.

Packing your tarp so it can be retrieved without getting the rest of the contents of your pack wet is a good start. However, perhaps there is a timing component to this as well. If you get wet when pitching a tarp in the rain...

 

[unimogbert]

In the backpacking I've done I've only setup in rain once and that wasn't downpour though I'd been hiking in rain for hours. My main learning there was that any dampness I got on my clothes didn't turn into cold because the effort of horsing around getting sleeping mat and bag deployed in my 1 man tent caused enough heat to keep the damp clothes from causing a problem before I could swap into dry longjohns.
Had large trash bags to put the wet raingear and boots in so they weren't in the tent.

Mostly what's worked in Colorado is to wait for the rain to abate since it's likely to be thunderstorm rain.

On one trip I had the misfortune to slip and fall into the creek while fishing at 9,000' just at dusk. I scurried back to camp and switched into dry clothes without consequence but boy-o-boy were those pants difficult to put on the next morning! (they'd been hung out all night so were probably 35 degrees)

 

[Herlock]

Hi. I always wear 3 layers of tech clothing when “seriously” hiking; an inner layer is a short/long sleeved polyester shirt in contact with the skin, second layer is a polyester fleece/pile with a wind stopper membrane and the outer layer is a Gore-Tex shell with thermo-sealed stitching. I remove or add the layers based on the conditions. I also wear tech hiking trousers and trail running shoes with Gore-Tex membrane. With this clothing set-up I am basically... water-proof . Sure I can get a bit dump either from rain, snow or sweat but the good thing is this clothing really dries up fast. I don’t remember I have really shivered in cold for being totally wet. By the time I get into my bivy-tent (not so often lately ), not too close to the fire, my clothes are basically dry.

I also use a water-proof back-pack cover and keep the tarp easily accessible (generally rolled up and strapped outside, using the bottom back-pack straps), so the camp set up doesn’t take a very long time. The “unpacking” literally (i.e.: taking the tarp off the back-back) takes me seconds; the tarp setting up, today, for me, it’s around 5 minutes. Since it’s done, most of the times for me, under the tree canopy, I don’t really get pouring rain during the operations. In this way I always carry an extra pair of socks but not really an extra set of clothing.

Sometimes it is worse for me when I’m a bit more “casual” , e.g. going out with the kids for a “walk in the woods”. If rain comes we take out our ponchos, K-Way, etc. but we get wet for real, also because most of the times, in these cases, we just wear non tech cotton clothing (e.g. cargo pants, a polo and a fleece for me). Anyway I make a point, in these cases, that we are always on marked trails and close to the “base camp” (a mountain hut, a hotel, etc.), so getting wet isn’t really a big issue as it would be, if forced to spend the night in the fields .

 

[Mikel_24]

Herlock,

I am going to quote your post in order to make some comments but don't take me wrong, they are not directed to you strictly!

Hi. I always wear 3 layers of tech clothing when “seriously” hiking; an inner layer is a short/long sleeved polyester shirt in contact with the skin, second layer is a polyester fleece/pile with a wind stopper membrane and the outer layer is a Gore-Tex shell with thermo-sealed stitching. I remove or add the layers based on the conditions

Layering is still THE choice for dressing outdoors but you have to be very careful choosing them and deciding what to wear. Even in subzero temps, if you are heavy loaded, moving fast/over difficult terrain or both... if it is NOT windy... a long sleeve base layer could suffice. If it is windy, put on a windrpoof shell, but forget about a third layer between the two, because you will be sweating like a pig and overheating

I have to say that I usually avoid going out in the rain. It is not funny or enjoyable (for me) to be wet the whole day. If it just happens, I try to keep warm (and sweaty) and keep as many layering clothes absolutly dry inside plastic bags in order to have something to change into when I am back to a dry place.

That's why I love winter... snow seeds easily and provided it is cold enough, you don't get wet and don't need watherproof clothes (stretchy softshells are all you need, the colder, the better).

....and trail running shoes with Gore-Tex membrane.

If you are wearing low shoes (not boots), chances are you will drown your feet once you step in the wrong muddy puddle. You could choose to wear gaiters, but wearing them in the rain requires to put them UNDER the pants, so the wather running down the pants don't go inside your gaiters and then your shoes (for snow is the other way arround, you wear the gaiter OUTSIDE the pants). Usuallly if getting wet is unavoidable, shoes without membrane are ligther and dry faster!

Again in winter you don't have those issues! LOL

I also use a water-proof back-pack cover..

I don't like pack covers because they add weight. Unnecesary weight if the backpack is made of a waterproof fabric! It doesn't need to have a watertight submersible closure on top (rolled), as long as the top closes well enough, you are set.
I also dislike ponchos. If it is slightly windy, they end up flapping all over the place. And they don't let you see your feet! It gets interesting when scrambling through rocks...

Keep in mind that I don't do much recreative hiking camping... but mostly climbing (either rock, ice or alpine) and my "hiking" consists on approach hikes to the huts or to the climbs themselves!

 

[Herlock]

Hi Mikel_24!

Don’t worry, I always appreciate comments and criticism, I have “broad shoulders” and that’s the way I continue to learn and develop . Your comments, even if not directed to me, are interesting!

Keep in mind that I don't do much recreative hiking camping... but mostly climbing (either rock, ice or alpine) and my "hiking" consists on approach hikes to the huts or to the climbs themselves!

Yes, also from your past and present comments this became clear for me and you are very right when it comes to climbing. I don’t do much climbing today and most of my hikes are easy “walks in the woods” with family, on marked trails . Rarely today I even do overnight improvised camping. A tarp is always with me, just in case of sudden rain, but it’s much more a funny distraction than a survival item for us. We set it up and take our lunch, tell a story to the kids and play some cards or funny family games, waiting for the rain to stop . I guess my posts really deliver this picture. For what I do, I feel comfortable with my actual gear and set-up.

Sometimes I venture alone on some mountain peaks but still, as maximum level of difficulty, these are entry level via ferrata. Climbing it’s a different ball game, gear and training needed are very different. Did a lot in the past, specially during my military service, I like it, but I’m somehow getting old, in this respect . I somehow don’t enjoy any longer those such strong “adrenaline injections” and those types of emotions leaving me “breathless”.

I also like winter hiking a lot and love skiing. If you feel like posting some pics/reports from your climbs, I’ll really read them with much pleasure !

Thanks! Take care!