[pct-l] Shelter for the rain

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Jan 17, 2009, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> I'm skeptical about claims by some their UL shelters "don't work  
> well in
> Pacific NW rain."
> ...
>
> When they were suggesting "didn't work well", did they mean increased
> condensation? That would make more sense. Maybe I misunderstood  
> your comment
> about their characterization.
>

Actually, I don't know what "didn't work well" actually meant. I read  
it on someone's blog that she had heard many people were becoming  
disappointed with their tents in the Oregon rain. I assumed it meant  
people got wet.

As I sat in my The One, I often wondered if it would keep me dry in  
heavy rain. It seemed to do wonderfully in light rain. Here are the  
worries I had about heavy-duty rain, with or without wind:

1. I rarely was able to get a really taught, perfect set-up. Part of  
the netting on the back wall often peeked out from under the back of  
the tarp. I could envision rain getting in this way and pooling in  
the bathtub floor.
2. The front vestibule-like area was never tight, either. There  
seemed to be nothing I could do to get it tight, unless I was lucky  
to have a small hill in front of me. The front would flap violently  
in the wind. Were it to be raining, with the fabric snapping in the  
wind, I could envision a lot of water flinging into the tent and  
pooling in the bathtub floor.
3. The only way to get a really tight set-up was to stack some rocks  
below my trekking poles to raise the tent extra high. When set up  
that high, the netting would not peek out the back, but now there  
would be a larger amount of exposure in front. I could envision wind- 
blown rain hitting my face all through the night.

I never had a chance to trade my visions for reality.

Someone recommended I try a tarp. It turns out that I already own a  
really good tarp. I set it up in the back yard yesterday. It's 8x10  
feet and so spacious I can't imagine getting wet under that in the  
rain. I can envision myself plopping down the tarp with my stuff  
underneath, setting it up and getting inside with plenty of room to  
stow my wet things far away from my dry things. I don't think a bivy  
sack would even be needed, it is so huge. I may use that outside of  
mosquito country if it is a better way to go for rain protection.

What do you think?