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  1. #1
    Member blackmagic's Avatar
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    Question Problems dealing with multiple consecutive days of nonstop rain

    Aborted an AT thru hike this year, but I was able to get enough time on the trail Georgia to experience the full might of early Spring conditions down there (Wet, wet, and more wet).

    This quickly exposed some problems that I haven't had to deal with before, and now I'm looking on the brightside of being forced off the trail: maybe I can solve these issues before going back out.

    I can set up and take down my hammock in pouring rain without too much struggle; one night of rain is not a problem. The problems arose when wet conditions persisted for days on end, without any opportunity for a reset dry in the field.

    The first issue I had was after it rained, when a dense, wet fog came in and lingered for upwards of twelve hours. When I woke up in the morning, everything underneath my tarp was wet, including my top quilt and the hammock itself. I wiped down my sleeping bag as best I could, but there was nothing I could do about my hammock, which was just damp. I had to pack up my hammock and quilt, and the next night was miserable because everything was still wet.

    The next issue was my tarp itself. The first night of rain, it does its job; the top of the tarp gets wet, and the underside stays dry. The problem is, I have to pack up the tarp in the morning, and all that wetness seeps around when it gets packed up, completely covering the tarp. At the end of the second day when I pitch it, it's wet underneath as well as on top. I tried wiping down the underside, but it's impossible to get it completely dry. Consequently, the second night, because it was still raining, my hammock and top quilt (and my face) were getting misted on all night long, when rain hit the tarp and knocked off some of the wetness on the underside of the tarp. And I woke up the second day with a damp hammock and top quilt.

    Third issue: Underquilt protector. Same general issue as the tarp: it works perfectly for the first night of rain. After the first night, it is wet on the outside, dry on the inside. But trying to dry off the outside "in the field," while it is still raining is futile, and in the process of packing it and carrying it to the next site, the inside gets wet, too. Then, the next night, I'm putting a wet underquilt protector on a dry underquilt, which defeats the point of the underquilt protector.

    These are obviously general problems with managing the rain, but in my case I'm specifically looking for advice on managing consecutive days of nonstop rain, with no opportunities to dry out gear. I'm guessing there is not much to be done about being stuck in fog for twelve hours, but I was hoping for some advice on mitigating the problems I had with the tarp and the underquilt protector getting too wet and and spreading that wetness to things that must stay dry.
    Last edited by blackmagic; 03-31-2020 at 19:44.

  2. #2

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    That's a very good question and I'll be following to see what others say. I've never been out on extended trips with bad weather so I have never thought of some of the issues you raise. I live in GA and it rained way more than normal Jan-early March so I was thinking about you guys trying to start your throughs a lot. I don't mind a little rain, but I would've hated to be at the beginning of a thru hike going through what you did.

  3. #3
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    Not much you can do about wet tarp and wet insulation in those conditions. Personally, though, I'd lose the UQP because it is just added weight. I've never been sold on the efficacy of a UQP.

    You don't mention having an underquilt. Are you using only a TQ?
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  4. #4
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    The tarp is just going to get wet and in fog things will get soggy. Day after day you kinda just have to hope your body heat keeps the inside of gear dry a bit while sleeping. Really not too much you can do 'cept kinda just sally forth and hope the rain ends.
    We go into nature and nature is going to throw what it wants at us.
    Wish I had a better answer but I've been there. So nice when the rain stops and the sun comes out and you can dry things!
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  5. #5
    Senior Member MikekiM's Avatar
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    I'm following this as well..

    I have never avoided rain. Longest trip was four days on the Laurel Highlands Trail with a few hour one afternoon when it wasn't raining. I remember wiping down the inside of the tarp before packing it, but only vaguely. Also recall my quilts getting damp, but not wet enough to be problematic. Hammock never got wet. And while I have thought about an UQP a million times.. I still don't carry one.
    Yes, my pack weighs 70lbs, but it's all light weight gear....
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  6. #6
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    To the OP: Could you expand a bit on your gear list that your using, since you might want to revise your profile where you're just using links.

    Being wet on a trip is miserable. I had one a couple years ago where 4 out of 5 days I dealt with rain after about day 2, nothing ever really seemed to dry out. Only on the 5th day, where I was meeting up with some HF buddies to basecamp, did I have sun and could finally dry out all my gear. I guess I'm the oddball using an UQP, even though my tarps give me plenty of coverage....the pros and cons of using a UQP have been discussed in many HF threads, so I won't dwell on that.

    Wiping down the tarp or shaking it out always helps a bit, but there always seems to be residual water that can pool up in the snakeskins and I got rid of my CF for that reason. Now, I'll just fold it up and stuff it in an outside pocket or mesh on my backpack. Hammock, quilts etc when damp, stay damp, unless you get the opportunity of some sun and wind to help take the edge off.

    My biggest issue on rainy trips is my feet. Once my shoes and socks get wet, my feet start to prune up and get nasty. I won't post pics of that, but this trip report fom 2017 gives some insight into my rainiest experience. But, it still was an awesome way to spend a birthday: https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...6-6-miles-Solo

    Embrace the suck!

  7. #7
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    Everything is just dirty and wet...miserable. It's bad enough emptying a wet pack in my basement; I can't imagine going for 3+ days.

    I don't care what anyone says....silpoly holds a sheet ton of water as well. I used a small piece of Absorber towel once and wrung out 20x the amount of water I was expecting. Worth its weight on wet trips.

  8. #8
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Backpacking in non-stop wetness is darned unpleasant but as long as you avoid hypothermia it won't kill you.

    Cold and can't get warm? Be very worried. Hypothermia is extremely insidious and the first thing to go is good judgement, and before you know it you don't have the motor skills to do anything about it. Put up shelter and get into a dry base layer while you still can.

    Packing up wet stuff is not a problem as long as quilts retain loft. Hydrophobic down works surprisingly well — much better than I ever thought it would when it first came out — but IMHO it still doesn't beat synthetics in prolonged, super-saturated conditions. I was in a similar situation a few years back at Seneca Creek WV where it rained pretty much non-stop for 4 days. I was using an EE quilt with Apex and was getting constantly misted by raindrops knocking off condensation, and yet the quilt remained warm. I am convinced that if I had been using a down quilt — hydrophobic or otherwise — that packing up and hightailing it back to the car would have been the only option.

    Seneca Creek before (right after a minor drought) and after 4 days of rain: seneca_creek_rain_compare.jpg
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  9. #9

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    My longest section hike was 45 days from Springer to Grayson Highlands (with 5 zeros). Ran into the same issue after 3 days of straight cold rain and we just had to take a couple zeros to dry out our gear (one night wasn't enough). There wasn't much else that we could do about it. Even with a bag liner, everything was damp. I'm still not sure if I would take my synthetic quilts if I was doing it again, though. I do like the new UP insulation, but it still is a little heavier and bulkier. I just tried to think about the summer days when I would be wishing that it was cold again, but like michigandave said, you just have to embrace the suck.

  10. #10
    Member blackmagic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr View Post
    Not much you can do about wet tarp and wet insulation in those conditions. Personally, though, I'd lose the UQP because it is just added weight. I've never been sold on the efficacy of a UQP.

    You don't mention having an underquilt. Are you using only a TQ?
    We had one night at an established campsite at elevation a few miles past Neels Gap when the wind was gusting to 50 mph and the temperature dropped into the 30s. It proved its worth that night -- my underquilt was briefly exposed on my left shoulder, and I could feel the warmth loss when the wind blew through.

    It also did a remarkable job protecting the underquilt from relentless hours of fog; while everything else was damp in the morning, the underquilt had stayed dry.

    The problem is just that once the protector gets wet, it stays wet, and I don't want to put a wet protector around the underquilt.

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