[pct-l] Condensation Happens

[rmoak@fallingwater.com (Ronald Moak)]

Needless to say I've thought a great deal about tents, tarps, condensation
and all the myriad aspects that connect them together. All I can say is that
the more I think I have an idea about what's going on, the more I learn
later how self delusional I can really be.

However, I try to never let stupidity or self-delusion deter me from my
quest. Somewhere deep inside each of us, lies a bit of Don Quixote. Often
dormant for years, only to arise on occasion to drive us off on to some mad
adventure. Perhaps those of us who've had a taste of the long trails are a
bit more mad by nature than our brethren.

I realize that some people have a deep fascination with studying the life of
a water molecule. Following it's path as leaves the warm comfort of our skin
to travel through long canyons of down or synthetic fibers in it quest for
freedom. Sometimes coming to rest for a spell here or there as it runs out
of steam. Eventually getting the power to make that final push through the
thin layer of material into that vast cavern of the tent.

Freed, it meets a host of other molecules and they join together and dance
round and round in circles. Higher, ever higher, they fly, dancing,
laughing, making merry the night away. Only to crash into a cold, cold roof
that sucks the very life out of them. Holding them there like bugs on fly
paper. By morning, so many have been trapped together that they hang like
stalactites from the roof of caves.

But you see, I'm not really all that interested in the life of a water
molecule. At least not until I wake up in the morning, brush the walls of my
tent and have a few billion of their cold lifeless corpuses come crashing
down on me.

Just for the record, my limited testing seems to demonstrate that
condensation build up between tarps and tents of equal size under similar
conditions to be about the same. I had condensation form when didn't expect
it. I've awoken with the expectation of seeing lots of condensation only to
have none. I had significant condensation form when I wasn't sleeping
anywhere near the tent or tarp.

Bottom line, like many things we hate in life, "Condensation Happens". So
while I still spend the occasional sleepless night wondering how to prevent
condensation from happening, I'm devoting more time designing tents that
will allow us to deal with so it doesn't damp our outdoor adventures.

-Fallingwater