I'm trying to decide the best way to keep my tent for a ~3 month bike tour around Western Europe this summer. My thoughts so far are to keep it in a dry bag, or a mesh bag on top of the front rack. I figure the dry bag will ideally keep the tent dry and keep it from mildewing, but I'm sure we'll have rain on the trip. Then I'd be packing up a wet tent. Same for morning dew since we'll be leaving early in the mornings. I was thinking maybe keeping it in a mesh bag might let it dry out every day that it's not raining. I figure I could cover the tent with a piece of plastic if it rains while we're riding, and keep a piece of cloth or something over it during times of high sun exposure to reduce sun damage. Am I off on my theory about the mesh bag?

We also might only be camping half of the time we're on the trip, and staying with people or in hostels the other half. I'm not sure just how much of a difference that makes.

A dry bag can keep it dry after it's already dry....put away dry into a dry bag and it's safe from rain, but put it into the dry bag when wet and you're asking for mildew. The key is to dry the tent out completely whenever you have the chance. You're OK to pack the wet tent in the AM if you have no other choice but if you break camp in the rain then you need to pull the tent out whenever you have the chance and let it air out and dry out. Putting something wet into a dry bag is asking for trouble; it's the downside to dry bag panniers. They can be very useful but need to be used correctly. Rope and a tarp over your tent can go a very long way to keeping it dry. In rain forest areas a lightweight tarp to go over the tent is key.

You will be taking a break from riding within 10 or 20 miles each morning.
Roll out the tent and let it air our for 15 minutes a couple times a day.
I've had problems when camping along rivers or lakes night after night. The dew each morning is a given.

Surely having it set up each night will be enough to dry it out, no?

I doubt you'll have a problem if you use the tent regularly; it just needs a chance to dry out periodically which it will the next time you set it up. If you pack it wet and don't expect to use it for a few days, then I'd try and unpack it and dry it out when you get a chance.

- Mark

1. Don't pack it away wet. If it does rain or dew collects, you'll have a towel to wipe it down. If it is still raining when you want to pack up, you have a couple choices ... wait or drag the tent into a sheltered area, and then wipe it down with your towel.

2. If you do pack it away a little damp, fold it loosely and strap it to the top of your rack. Don't roll it tightly into its bag.

3. If you do pack it away a little damp, open it out as soon as possible and let it dry. You can do that in your hostel or other indoor areas.

My take is that there is never any real advantage to putting a tent in a dry bag when bike touring. If it is wet or even damp the dry bag can only make matters worse if it makes any difference at all.

A tent rolled up with the the coated floor on the outside can be on top of the rack in the rain all day and will not get wet other than the little bit of the outside of the floor that is exposed. Unfortunately that also means that it won't dry out either so you will need to unroll it to let it dry out later. If you are using it every night that is usually just a matter of pitching it when you get to camp. If it is especially wet and you get some sun later in the day you might dry it during a break, but I have seldom bothered with that. If you get a room or stay with a host you might want to unroll it and dry it out.

Never putting it away wet would be good advice if that were possible, but if you get on the road early it will be damp more often than not and if it is raining it will always be wet. Never the less I have spent hundreds of nights in tents and never had one mildew.

Always be sure a tent is dried out before any longer term storage though or you can kiss it good bye.

First of all, it's more common for a tent to be wet on the inside from the moisture of breathing. The issue is greater when the outside temps are cool overnight.

It therefore means that in cooler weather, you will need to either let the tent air with all the doors and flaps open before you pack it away. Waiting until the sun comes out helps here.

What I normally would do in sunny conditions is take the fly off, because it is likely to have more moisture, and lay it out, inside out. The inner then can be left to dry itself.

Another area that gets wet in certain conditions, and particularly on grass and damp ground is... the floor. This also should be dry, so picking up the inner while it is erected and turning it on its side can be helpful.

If there has been a dew, I will get a sponge, bandana or paper towel and wipe down the fly or outside of the tent to help it dry.

Rain obviously is problematic. It means packing up everything wet. Usually, I will ride until I find a picnic shelter or something similar where I can lay it all out to let it get at least a little bit dry. But the simplest solution if rain persists is to have a little set aside in my ride budget to take a room somewhere, so I can lay out the tent and any other damp stuff (maybe sleeping bag) so it can be thoroughly dried.

The only issue I have had with mildew affecting the quality of a tent was with one that got a huge amount of use, and rotted a corner section of the inner around the zipper. The tent would still be serviceable, but it's really only for one person, and we need a two-person one these days.

+1. I don't get the people that say "don't put it up wet" or "roll it out at a rest stop and let it dry".

Although, I usually keep the tent mildew free by leaving it in my closet and packing my hammock instead. The only thing that gets wet is my rain-fly. It dries when I setup camp that night.

I've never had a tent or tarp develop mildew, either. I don't like carrying the weight of water, so I religiously dry my gear after every wet or damp night as soon as it warms up and the relative humidity (RH) drops. Understanding RH is pretty important--gear will not dry on a damp morning, no matter how long you linger in camp. (It's like a watched pot never boiling.) I typically pack up wet and wait for sun and wind around mid-day to dry things out. It's a good excuse for a break and a meal. On those days with no break from rain, well that's OK--apparently it takes more than a day of being packed wet for mildew to grow.

Another tip is to look at silnylon (silicone-impregnated nylon) shelters. Silnylon does not mildew, and dries out very fast. I suppose cuben fiber is the same though it's out of my price range.

In the morning if it is not raining and if the dew is not too heavy, take the fly off it and let the tent body dry a bit. Shake off the excess moisture before packing up the fly. In the morning the relative humidity is pretty high since the air temperature is usually pretty close to the dew point, so you can't get it really dry unless you delay your start. So, just live with taking down a damp tent.

The relative humidity is usually lowest in the heat of the day. So, pitch your tent as soon as you make camp. But delay putting the tent fly on for a quarter to half hour to give the tent body more time to dry out.

I frequently leave the waterproof portion of the fly that serves as the door open to let my tent breath out better.

The newest tents that have a lot more mosquito netting seem to dry out faster than the older ones that had minimal netting. Also, the more you can stake out the fly away from the tent body, the more air flow you can get thru the tent.

You are not going to be hauling a dry tent around, so just live with it and try to dry it out the best you can each afternoon. If you stay at a hostel for a few days, take a bit of time in the afternoon to set up your tent in the back to dry it out.

I'm a veteran owner of a popup camper, with canvas walls, which are more prone to mildew than newer fabrics.

As others have mentioned, you have to do what you have to do, which is sometimes pack it wet, but even if it is raining, you can still take a towel and remove as much moisture as possible before you pack it. Then at the earliest opportunity set it up and dry it out. Our camper was up in our driveway many times for that reason.

put it up the next day .. that it doesn't rain .. to dry ..

I've done lots of week long bike tours and I've never had an issue with mold. As long as you can get it setup and aired out within a day, it'll be fine. Like JamesRL, I also camp with a Popup camper and have never had an issue as long as I have set it up to dry out. On a few occasions when touring self contained, I will haul the tent out to dry it off during a break in the days travel.

MHO, don't ever touch a wet tent if you don't have to. Not even to dry it! Roll it up inside a plastic ground cloth for protection, and roll it out to dry whenever you can. Yes, it's OK to roll it up wet if you have to...... If you can afford the weight, a lightweight plastic sheet for inside the tent will protect the floor too, and be insurance for a dry tent inside.

the mesh bag idea really isnt practical as it is never going to properly dry rolled or bunched up inside it, even under a sunny dry days riding.
If there is sun in the morning, Ive just tilted the empty tent up against something (again, a plus for free standing tents) to dry the floor, and thrown the fly over a fence or whatever for it to dry out with the sun and or wind.

Ive never had to camp day after day with rain too much, but its fairly easy when taking a meal break or whatever if there is sun, to just unroll and throw both parts over something in the sun to dry out, should fairly quickly, especially if you wipe them down first to get a lot of the water off (I have an old car washing chamois in my tent bag that works great for absorbing dew etc, wring it out, wipe, wring out--by getting most of the beaded water off, tent nylon will dry fairly fast if in a dry area or with sun.
I do like getting into a dry tent, so taking the time to dry out a damp tent is worth the few minutes of unrolling and hanging, then rolling up again while I eat my lunch or have a break sometime during the day.

If the weather is wet all day, oh well, dems da breaks, not much you can do about it. I too have never had mould problems but have never had my tent stay wet for days and days and days, and especially never put away wet for a long period of time without it being put up again.

using a plastic ground sheet is traditionally used under the tent floor, outside the tent, to protect the tent floor from sharp objects, abrasion etc that wears out a floor and makes holes that water under a tent will come through into the dry tent inside.

Putting a plastic sheet inside your tent will do nothing to protect your tent floor from sharp sticks, rocks or whatever, and holes from these things will insure that water gets inside your tent.

This pretty much covers all the bases. If possible, I hang the fly up in the morning to try to get some of the water to roll off, then I do the old flap it over the head to get rid of as much water as is left. At the end of the riding day, I erect the tent without the fly on. I will again try to hang the fly in the sun or spread it out on the ground in the sun. Both will usually dry pretty quickly, especially if there is a breeze.

+1
In my experience packing a wet tent has never been a problem. On a three month tour a couple of years ago we encountered over 35 days of rain. It was almost impossible to dry the tent. I do pack my tent in a rack pack. Not to keep it dry, but because I don't like a lot of stuff piled on my rear rack. I pack the tent, sleeping bag, pad and pillow, plus some misc. items in it, making a nice compact, easily handled bundle. I carry a couple of plastic garbage bags to put the wet tent in, and keep the other contents dry. I dry it out when I have chance.

No Matter what you pack a wet tent in or where you carry it, including a mesh bag, the tent will not dry out without spreading it out. Just the act of rolling it up , regardless of how loose, will trap moisture. I don't roll my tents. I just stuff them into compression sacks.

I've used this method for years, and never have had any problems.

I don't keep my tent in a dry bag to keep it dry. I keep it there so I don't have a bunch of stuff strapped to my rack.


My tent and rainfly, wet or dry, go into the blue sil-nylon compression sack. I know there are the roll it vs. stuff it factions; but I have been stuffing for decades with no ill effects. It also result in a small compact package.



Dry it out when you can

I agree with the above comments that you're very unlikely to have problems as long as you take advantage of opportunities along the way to let the tent dry out. I've frequently had to pack up a tent still rather wet in the morning and it's never resulted in a mildew problem since I don't leave it packed that way for more than a day. The OP mentions plans to stay in homes or hostels some nights and that should provide opportunities to hang the tent in a dry storage area even if there have been a series of wet days.

Silnylon tents won't mildew...Just saying.

Your going to pack up a wet tent alot of days.I've never had one mildew in a day or two.Setting up at night is enough to dry it out in most cases.

Just don't store it away when wet and you should be OK.

Having already stated to use a plastic sheet under the tent, I didn't feel it would be necessary to repeat it. However, a plastic sheet inside the tent, bathtubbed up the walls slightly, has saved many tent floors(the first thing to go bad in a tent) and kept many a sleeping bag dry in severely wet conditions.

I've been doing this for over 50 years, and have learned a few things about camping in a tent, and sleeping on the ground. Just trying to pass some along.

A light sil-nylon footprint under the tent allows water to run underneath it during rainstorms, protects the tent floor from ground moisture, and keeps the tent floor drier. It also helps keep the tent clean, and can be used a a tarp if needed.




The ground cloth has to be tucked under the tent, away from the rainfly's drip line to be effective.

Wanderer, I see what you are saying, in my family we've always used the plastic under the tent to stop little holes getting in the actual tent floor, so that when huge storms have all kinds of water running under a tent, at least we (hopefully) keep the integrity of the tent floor pretty good. I can see how the plastic inside would keep stuff dry, but I'm in the camp of trying to keep the tent floor unholey, and has worked pretty well for me so far.

Oddly enough, the worst surface I've put a tent on was last summer, on a supported trip we did. One night the small village we were set up in had us camping in a farmers field, and the stubble of whatever crop it was, was way worse than stoney or "sticky" sites I've camped on. It seemed no matter how you tried to lay the stuff down, there were hard pokey stubble bits trying to put holes in both the plastic under sheet and the tent floor. Ended up having to kind of coax them all down sideways as much as possible before laying down the campmats and panniers inside.
I've always just used a section of bed mattress bag plastic or whatever, tough and cheap.

cheers

My slowness in the morning is probably the reason I generally end up putting my tent away dry

Every morning, regardless if I'm packing up to leave or hanging out in camp for the day, I take my rain fly off and hang it somewhere to dry, flip my tent over to expose the tent floor and hang up my sleeping to air out. Then I make coffee, breakfast, pack etc, which is usually enough time (2 hours) to dry all but the wettest equipment. If something is still wet or its raining in morning, I'll find a sheltered area during the daytime (park, cafe, mall…) and hang my stuff out dry.

Never had a problem with mildew, and my trips tend to be multi month affairs predominately camping.