[at-l] Post Gathering questions

[askowronek at mindspring.com (Amy Skowronek)]

On Oct 13, 2005, at 11:07 AM, Gary Ticknor wrote:

> If you had 1" of water in the bivvy, it sounds more like a site  
> selection problem than a shelter problem. Few tents will stay dry  
> for long in a lake/puddle. Perhaps more careful site selection with  
> better drainage is the issue? Sometimes moving the tent 6 feet away  
> can solve drainage. Beware nice flat spots filled with soft silt  
> and duff  - they are frequently leveled by past puddling. I saw a  
> number of tents that had shifted uphill in the middle of the night  
> at Storrs Pond last weekend.
>


I think sometimes, you just can't stay dry no matter what.   If it  
rains hard enough flat ground will flood.  If you're on a hummock,  
the rain will still bounce up off the ground under your fly and into  
your tent.  If you have  single wall tent where that can't happen,  
the humidity level will rise until it starts raining inside.   
Sometimes you're just doomed to be wet.

For me, I find the best bet is a hammock.  I hang it high enough that  
the splashes don't soak the bottom, but hopefully low enough that the  
wind doesn't make a kite out of it.  I put an oversized tarp on it,  
which helps.  I hang bags of rocks from the corners which helps with  
the kite phenomenon.  And I use Jacks'R'Better's excellent tyvek-type  
weather shield which keeps the damp and the wind off the body  
section.  It's kept me dryer in sincerely bad weather than tents have.

However, in gusty wind the tarp will slap the body of the hammock,  
which is like getting beaten up all night.

-amy