Biketouringhobo

I wake up in the morning and the walls of my Tent are wet. and I get condensation after it Rains and in the Winter and High Humidity!
in Southern California

???What causes this and how can I reduse it and how can I prevent condensation inside my tent???


My Catoma Combat 1 man Tent has no Vents

gauvins

Insufficient ventilation.

Open your door (downwind) and there should not be any.

Carbonfiberboy 

Double wall tent. The sides of the tub floor will still get damp, so use a tent that your bag fits without touching the tub walls. It's partly from your breath or can come from increasing temperatures and high humidity. Water vapor condenses on surfaces which are cooler than said vapor. Dew settles on surfaces exposed to the sky because such surfaces cool by radiation and then vapor condenses on them. Again, a double wall tent fixes that because the vapor condenses on the fly where you can just shake it off in the morning before packing.

Caretaker

I've never known it otherwise. It's the moisture from your body and breath condensing on the inner side of the tent because the temperature is colder outside at night.

If you've got an inner mesh and erect properly with a gap between the two layers it shouldn't be a problem with the condensation running down the outer to the ground.

Opening vents will also help reduce condensation by increasing air flow.

Miele Man

You exhale about one pint of water vapour overnight. That's a fair bit of water to have in a small tent.

if the tent is single wall (especially nylon) and waterproof then that vapour can't get out. Another thing that can cause condensation is if the tent fly is located too close to the tent itself. I had that problem years ago with a cheap A-shaped pup tent with a 3 section pole at the center of each end of the tent. I ended up giving it a couple of washings with strong detergent to remove the waterproofing. I also made extenders for the tent poles. The extenders went on the top of the poles over the tent loop and were used to raise the tent fly higher from the tent. Doing that helped a lot.

Also, whenever possible leave your window and door flaps up to allow air circulation. When I bought my tent fly I got another one, cut it down in length and then sewed it to the original fly so that it extended well over the doorway so I didn't have to close the door flaps in the rain.

What kind of tent are you using?

Cheers

andrewclaus

Site location makes a difference too. If you can stay away from water or low-lying areas, and get up on a breezy ridge, you'll do much better. Sometimes 50 or 100 vertical feet helps. Ever see fog in the valley from a ridge? Don't camp down there or you'll be soaked, no matter how well you ventilate your tent.

gregjones

Is this your tent??

I can see why you would buy it....it looks to be perfect for your needs.

The fly has no vents?? That's your problem. It's just a matter of getting around that. As has been suggested, set up oriented to the breeze so you can leave the door unzipped. If the weather is nice that should do it. If it's nasty you might have to get a tarp that will go a bit down one side, over the ridge and be set to provide that ventilation while providing protection.

My tent, a Cabela's GXP, wasn't first choice but my wallet said buy it or I'll bite your ass when I get back in your pocket. It has a vestibule and door on each side----that makes it easy to open somehow for airflow.

Biketouringhobo

yes my Tent and Tent fly was open and Humitiy was 85%

gregjones

OK

Wind, breeze or dead still. Combine that with avg. SoCA temps.........it could be that's just the way it is. Like GoreStuff on warm December afternoons.......and osmosis. Nothing that anyone can do about that. Hi humidity, warm temps----miracle fabric failure. If the little H20 thingies have to work to pass through a fabric---they won't and just pool up inside. Unfortunately, in this case, it happens to be inside your tent.

Sorry that I didn't have an actual solution.

mtnbud

I often sleep without a tent. Just a ground cloth and a sleeping pad. If it rains, I throw up a free standing rain fly - something like this:

Condensation is tough to deal with. I agree with prior posters - maximize ventilation.

staehpj1

First as has been said maximize ventilation. Wiping down the inside of the tent with a small microfiber cloth when you wake up is the best way to manage whatever condensation you can't avoid.

andrewclaus

Ditto this. And sometimes there's enough distilled water for a sponge bath in the morning! When handed lemons....

travelinhobo

Perfect timing for my question! I have a Eureka Solitaire which I recently bought and have used only a dozen times on this tour. I've had other brand name tents before and never had condensation (tho I also haven't camped in temps as low as I am now). It doesn't bother me that the front section is wet when I get up, but I don't like wrapping up a wet or semi-wet tent (which I have to do as I'm free camping and need to disappear before others see me). The tent is mostly mesh ventilation, so it's not a case of all walls. However, I will take the advice to make sure the rain fly walls are as far away as possible, which may be a cause.

Here's my question however... I was just in a county (Imperial) in which I had to sleep out under the stars because the tent stakes wouldn't go into the ground. Every time I sleep with the tarp and sleeping bag only and I cover the tarp around me (due to rain or cold temps), the sleeping bag gets seriously wet from the condensation. Yesterday I had to stick it in a dryer at a laundromat it was so wet. Is there any way to prevent or decrease this wetness when covering your bag with a tarp?? I've been lucky as the wetness hasn't gotten past the top layers and into the bag itself, so I've stayed dry. Also, just out of curiosity, does wrapping the tarp around you keep you any warmer? I'm also in southern CA now, and with the cold fronts, it really isn't conducive to leaving the tent door or rain fly open.

timdow

Well... wrapping the tarp might help a bit if it is windy, and obviously would help a lot if it rains.. other than that I don't think it offers much. Assuming the wetness comes from your breath, you can not cover your face with the tarp. You have a hat that covers your ears to wear while you sleep? If not, you might consider getting one it makes a big difference.

For the tent, no rocks to use? Nothing at all to tie to? For ease of use I personally wouldn't use anything but a free-standing tent.

fietsbob

The purpose of a tent + rain fly is condensation inside the fly wont be something you touch from your Inner Tent.


Bags of rocks works for a Tent where there is nothing tent stakes will go into..

bmike

Yes, you can also not touch the tent if you have a single wall.
If you shake a typical double wall tent (with mesh) that is covered with condensation you will get a light misting shower.
The no seeum will stop some of it from hitting you and your gear, for sure. But in general you still get water on the inside when conditions are ripe for it.

imi

Free standing? Do you have a link? Really interesting!

TheLibrarian

People fold all kinds of canvas or tarp tents into a variety of origami like configurations. Think old ww2 canvas tent or boyscout tent with two poles or sticks in the middle. There is a world championship for it. Then you're either sleeping on the ground or a cot which is too big for most of our recreational camping/ traveling we do today unless you've got a covered wagon with you or a supply line.

fietsbob

The Stevenson tents use an aluminized coating on an inner wall & heat reflection

+ adequate ventilation flowing through the tent take care of condensation.

no vents? you're Boned.. replace the tent.

what causes condensation? https://www.weatherquestions.com/What...ndensation.htm

your exhaled breath is moist & warm the air outside of the tent is colder..

Biketouringhobo

my Catoma Combat 1 man Tent was $289.99 and I had the REI Passage 1 man Tent $129.99 it had roof vent I still got Condensation after it Rains and High % Humidity in Oceanside, CA in San Diego County in Southern California

Catoma Combat 1 man Tent in pics

fietsbob

Then Live with your decision .. you saved money .. and the details are what they are.

there is inadequate ventilation so ,you have condensation.

my Stevenson was hand made in New Hampshire ,

those Imports, come from the Other side of the Pacific.

Biketouringhobo

I also have is Big Agnes Lynx Pass 2 men Tent with 4 vents

I also have the new Marmot Tungsten 2 men Tent not used yet 1 vent on fly

fietsbob

Im done ... figure it out for yourself.

stevepusser

There is very little you can do when the night time temperatures fall below the dew point and the vegetation plus your tent ends up dripping wet, as they have the past few nights in SoCal.

Maybe a couple candle lanterns would generate enough heat to discourage the moisture. There are also heavy propane catalytic tent heaters that could be used to dry the tent in the morning if you can hide the heater in the brush each morning near your camp. It would be a bit unwieldy to take one of those with you.

RedandBlack

How to Prevent Internal Condensation | Section Hikers Backpacking Blog