Tips for switching to single wall tent
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TIP: The online Bushwalk Inventory System can help bushwalkers with a variety of bushwalk planning tasks, including: Manage which items they take bushwalking so that they do not forget anything they might need, plan meals for their walks, and automatically compile food/fuel shopping lists (lists of consumables) required to make and cook the meals for each walk. It is particularly useful for planning for groups who share food or other items, but is also useful for individual walkers.
TIP: The online Bushwalk Inventory System can help bushwalkers with a variety of bushwalk planning tasks, including: Manage which items they take bushwalking so that they do not forget anything they might need, plan meals for their walks, and automatically compile food/fuel shopping lists (lists of consumables) required to make and cook the meals for each walk. It is particularly useful for planning for groups who share food or other items, but is also useful for individual walkers.
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Tips for switching to single wall tent
by kb46 » Mon 14 Jul, 2025 6:19 am
I have decided that weight is a priority and I’m eyeing off a DCF tent. The obvious trade off will be having to manage condensation. What tips do you have for keeping gear safe from drips and packing up and getting moving quickly in the morning.
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Re: Tips for switching to single wall tent
by headwerkn » Fri 18 Jul, 2025 10:25 am
Have a cloth handy to wipe down the inside as required.
Ensure the tent has a mesh gutter design so that any condensation that rolls down the inside wall lands and drains through it, rather than gathering on the floor. Almost all of the UL single wall tents have some variant of this basic design, but a few don't. The Big Sky Wisp 1 and its 3F UL equivalent being two that spring to mind. Also make sure the tent is pitched so that the gutters are held properly open. This can be a challenge at times with non-freestanding tents, or when on uneven ground or longer grass/vegetation.
If you're tall, have a thick mat, big feet and/or a bulky sleeping bag and contact between your footbox and the foot end of the tent is likely, wrap your WP jacket around the bottom of your sleeping bag to help accidental contact from wetting your sleep system.
Unless you're a late riser/mover, it can be difficult to have a completely dry tent to pack off before packing up camp. Unless I know I'll have a good few hours of open sun at the next camp, I'll set up my tent when when stopping for lunch, or if doing a side trip off the main room up a peak, to air it out properly. DCF tents dry super fast - 5-10 mins with a hint of sun and breeze.
Plus all the usual condensation-avoidance measures - don't park too close to water or on wet ground (hard to avoid in Tassie) or at the bottom of a ditch/valley, keep the tent as open as possible for as long as possible to ventilate, don't cook inside/closed up unless you absolutely have to, etc.
Ensure the tent has a mesh gutter design so that any condensation that rolls down the inside wall lands and drains through it, rather than gathering on the floor. Almost all of the UL single wall tents have some variant of this basic design, but a few don't. The Big Sky Wisp 1 and its 3F UL equivalent being two that spring to mind. Also make sure the tent is pitched so that the gutters are held properly open. This can be a challenge at times with non-freestanding tents, or when on uneven ground or longer grass/vegetation.
If you're tall, have a thick mat, big feet and/or a bulky sleeping bag and contact between your footbox and the foot end of the tent is likely, wrap your WP jacket around the bottom of your sleeping bag to help accidental contact from wetting your sleep system.
Unless you're a late riser/mover, it can be difficult to have a completely dry tent to pack off before packing up camp. Unless I know I'll have a good few hours of open sun at the next camp, I'll set up my tent when when stopping for lunch, or if doing a side trip off the main room up a peak, to air it out properly. DCF tents dry super fast - 5-10 mins with a hint of sun and breeze.
Plus all the usual condensation-avoidance measures - don't park too close to water or on wet ground (hard to avoid in Tassie) or at the bottom of a ditch/valley, keep the tent as open as possible for as long as possible to ventilate, don't cook inside/closed up unless you absolutely have to, etc.
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Re: Tips for switching to single wall tent
by TentPeg » Fri 18 Jul, 2025 2:02 pm
I use a breathable waterproof emergency bag as part of my sleep system in my single layer tent. Put all your gear that you don't need to access overnight in your pack. Then all the condensation and airborne dampness issues disappear until morning.
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