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Bath tub shelters for the rainy season

Old 02-16-20, 12:07 AM
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Mark Hoaglund
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Bath tub shelters for the rainy season

Any favorite recommendations for low lying areas just in case I can't reach high ground which reminds me of times I slept on picnic tables under gazebos in the parks?
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Old 02-16-20, 09:52 AM
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Are you asking for tent recommendations that come with a bathtub styled floor ? If so, most any higher quality tent comes with that feature anymore. But then maybe you're seeking something else ?
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Old 02-16-20, 11:41 AM
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Inflatable sleeping pad. Not for floating, but it gets you up out of 1/2" of water in your tent
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Old 02-16-20, 11:53 AM
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A room at the local motel.

As mentioned above, modern better-quality tents come with a 'bathtub' style floor. Just make sure you seal the seams before using it. Also try camping on any elevated ground that you can find, even if its just a few feet higher than the surrounding area.
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Old 02-16-20, 04:58 PM
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Hammock and tarp?
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Old 02-16-20, 05:20 PM
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We knew that the forecast was for heavy rain, so we were careful to put the tent where there was good drainage towards a wetland. But we had much more than a heavy rain, the wetland flooded and backed up, thus our tent site flooded too. It does not matter if you have a bathtub floor, if the tent is pitched in standing water, the water is going to come into the tent.

Canoe trip, not a bike trip.



A couple mornings later, the fog helped make a great photo.


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Old 02-16-20, 06:05 PM
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I had that situation a few years ago camping at a local state park.

It rained. A lot. Reports were that the nearby town received ~5" of rain - and back in Austin the east side received ~10"+ resulting in flooding out of many homes in Onion Creek.

The ground around my tent was relatively level, but this resulted in ~1/2" of water everywhere. I could feel the water from below my tent (REI Quarterdome) but it really hadn't leaked into the tent much at all. I was one my thermarest which kept me up off things. The worst of the storm and heaviest rain was coming through ~4am - so I waited things out on my island until closer to daylight. At that point, I quickly brought everything out of the tent to nearby covered picnic table. From that point, I could pack everything in and cycle to town for breakfast inside. After that the most intense rains were already past, so except for detours to avoid four places where water was running well over the roads - make my way back to Austin.
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Old 02-16-20, 07:13 PM
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I'm looking at this https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Sleeping-Pad/dp/B07T88F8TK 2.5” inflatable sleeping mattress with pillow, pump and puncture proof. I prefer high ground but take whats available near the parks tabled gazebo.
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Old 02-16-20, 08:08 PM
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You know I don't always have money for motels or B&Bs or in the area or take my 4.8 lb hammock with but there is room in the trailer and its never been flooded out.
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Old 02-17-20, 11:00 AM
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learned all about digging drainage trenches around tents, the hard way. I'm a big fan of tarps as well. can't imagine carrying all that on a bike tho
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Old 02-17-20, 12:59 PM
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Originally Posted by mev
I had that situation a few years ago camping at a local state park.

It rained. A lot. Reports were that the nearby town received ~5" of rain - and back in Austin the east side received ~10"+ resulting in flooding out of many homes in Onion Creek.

The ground around my tent was relatively level, but this resulted in ~1/2" of water everywhere. ....
When I pitched my tent, the forecast was for about 50mm of rain that night and the next day. I spent 10 minutes wandering about looking for the highest ground in the little tent camping area that they had at the RV park. Finally decided my tent site looked like the best option. i think the tree roots had lifted the groundslightly higher near the tree.



Next day my tent site was the only dry ground in the entire tenting area, fortunately no other tent campers were there. Even where you see grass instead of water, there was a half inch of water under the grass that you can't see in the photo, almost the entire area was flooded in shallow water.

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Old 02-19-20, 08:00 PM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
learned all about digging drainage trenches around tents, the hard way. I'm a big fan of tarps as well. can't imagine carrying all that on a bike tho
I'd estimate that about 99.9% of the places I camp at do NOT allow the digging of drainage ditches around tents. I like a good high-wall tub floor that I've heavily seam-sealed before my trip.

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Old 02-19-20, 08:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
I'd estimate that about 99.9% of the places I camp at do NOT allow the digging of drainage ditches around tents.
oh really? Not even little ones you can fill in when you leave?
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Old 02-19-20, 09:27 PM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
oh really? Not even little ones you can fill in when you leave?
Yes really. In many campgrounds or Provincial and/or Federal parks you'd get in BIG trouble if you got caught with a trench dug around your tent.

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Old 02-20-20, 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
Yes really. In many campgrounds or Provincial and/or Federal parks you'd get in BIG trouble if you got caught with a trench dug around your tent.
hmm, OK, they should put that in the rules tho. for example just read some very specific rules & didn't see that specifically mentioned. at the end of page 10 they say this tho



Rules and Regulations | Algonquin Provincial Park | The Friends of Algonquin Park

Leave No Trace | Algonquin Provincial Park | The Friends of Algonquin Park

https://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/pdf/l...ls_booklet.pdf

so maybe instead of scratching a little 2" wide 2" deep trench to lead water away from the tent you can use rocks to form a diversion for the water? don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of leaving no trace!

just found this: "leave no trench" Once upon a time, trenching around your tent to divert rainwater was standard procedure. We all know better now, thanks to the LNT (Leave No Trench...er, Trace) folks. But you can still drain rain away from a less-than-ideal tent site by building a rain dam.

Line up 1- to 2-inch-diameter sticks or stones to create a ridge. Anchor the edge of your ground cloth under this ridge and then pitch the tent with its edge atop the ridge.

A properly built dam will direct runoff away from the tent and prevent water from being trapped between the ground cloth and tent floor. When breaking camp in the morning, scatter the building materials, and remember, leave no trace.

https://www.backpacker.com/gear/tent...ing-a-rain-dam

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Old 02-21-20, 10:30 AM
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When I was a kid in boy scouts in the 60s and 70s, they were already teaching against ditching, pine boughs to make the ground softer under the tent, against jumping in the lake with a bar of soap in hand, etc. So much of what was commonplace in the middle of the last century has been frowned upon now for so many decades, that they probably do not bother to list it in the rules.

But you still occasionally see the remnants of a mess that someone left.
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