Originally Posted by
rivers
yes I have spent a lot of time camping, although last year we upgraded from a tent to a converted ford transit because we got a dog. It will be in the UK, mostly in late spring-early fall, which tend to be our drier months.
I'm not adverse to a bit of rain, I get stuck in the rain on occasion. Hell, I think I've had 1 dry commute since mid October. But, if my mates and I have a long weekend trip planned and the forecast says it's going to rain for 3 days straight, we will just reschedule. We are mostly going to be using the trips to explore places a bit further afield than we can get to in a day, and have a good time.
I have no experience with the rain in UK, but I can say in USA that usually a drizzly rain can last quite a while but not get anything too wet too fast. Thus, i try to set up the tent quick in light rain and sprinkes. But heavy rain often is over in less than a half hour, maybe 45 minutes. Or, if it is still raining, it is much lighter. Thus in heavy rain, I would try to find a dry spot indoors to sit it out. But watching the forecast is quite useful to try to time things.
In the first photo below, I knew there would be a heavy downpour from the forecast, so I was VERY careful to pitch my tent on the highest ground in this flat area where there was virtually no high spots.
The forecast:
But this photo is after most of the rain had fallen, my tent stayed dry because I was careful where to site my tent. Much of the green grass was taller than the standing water so much of what looks like dry grassy ground actually had a half inch of standing water.
But, like you say, if it looks like the whole time will be wet, stay indoors instead. On that same trip, later I saw this forecast and decided to stay in a Hostel for three nights. We ended up having five days of rain.
