I keep it just in the skin, but separate from everything else. Unfortunately (?) I haven’t had to deal with much rain. In my early “go to the summit” years, I dealt with all kinds of weather because I was working and didn’t have the luxury of picking my days and/or postponing a trip to allow a front to pass over. Now retired, the only consideration is, “Not on Weekends” to avoid crowds and give the young, working Mon-Fir, whippersnappers a chance at campsites and such. So I can avoid most “bad” weather.
I used nylon snakeskins once and found some rain. When I got home, I took the tarp out to dry and saw I should make sure the skins were dry too. That was more difficult as I wanted to turn them inside out. So I now use the nylon skin for a day hike sun shield tarp and use mesh skins for overnight tarps.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
In the skin, in the same sack as the hammock as long as it is dry. If wet, it goes into an outside pocket, no sack.
I can't choose my days so easily. Seems every trip I planned this year got upset by something. Can't blame COVID for everything. Busted knee, college applications, leaky skylight...
In any event I go when time allows not weather. Can't get good at backpacking and camping in the rain, if you never backpack or camp in the rain.
When I bought my Palace from a member here, he said he delayed delivery for a day or two because he had it set up on his porch and it got wet. It arrived in a cuben snake skin. I promptly hung it in my garage to check it out and as I pulled off the skin, a puddle of water spilled out. Make of that what you will...
Yes, my pack weighs 70lbs, but it's all light weight gear....
Bob's brother-in-law
>I promptly hung it in my garage to check it out and as I pulled off the skin, a puddle of water spilled out
That’s why I moved to mesh.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
Mesh here also, and store outside of pack unless raining. And dry or rehang it as soon as convenient. If using Lazy Slug Tube to cover the whole rig in one skin, tarp, quilts and hammock, then I wipe the outside and any wet parts first, with a microfiber towel to dry. And then Slug Skin into pack in thin big trash bag.
Stored in HH snakeskin, DIY bag. Virtually all moisture shakes off, no problem. Never packed up in rain, but it's going to happen some day.
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Since I retired, some times I stay awake all day, some times all night.
one of the reasons i like snakeskins is to do away with the absolute pita of using a stuff sack.
<ramble about cheap material>
i made snakskins out of the most unlikely material, for a test, but i think i'm going to keep using it for a while, i like it more than i thought: it is very cheap, very breathable and water permeable (which is perfect for the purpose, so whatever water can escape will, if the tarp is wet), it's the material they sell in home improvement or gardening stores to cover the ground for weed control. great to experiment with as well, for your sewing prototypes, before finalizing with the nice expensive ripstop or what have you.
</ramble>
to keep things tidy, i pre-rigged a short length of line with a friction hitch, so that i can use it as a compression strap: i just roll the snakeskinned tarp, then wrap it in the cord a few times, and i pull on one end to tighten it, done. when i want it out, i just pull on the other end to release it.
(another option which is a bit simpler, but not as secure, is to use some version of the so called "canadian jam knot", you will easily find videos about it. i tie it a bit differently than what you find around, but basically: it will sort of work, unless you snag it on something or pull a bit harder, it's very easy to do and remember, so can be useful, but i would only use it for stuff which is inside the pack, not for rigging stuff on the outside of the pack, otherwise i think it would be really easy to lose stuff)
this, for me so far, solves all problems regarding tarp storage: reduced frustration, speed of deployment and take down, ability to store it in or outside the pack, breathability to allow some water to escape if needed, ability to keep it tidy if needed, and, of course, there's more knots involved so that can't be bad, right? . i haven't measured, but i think the rope i use instead of the stuff sack is probably about as heavy, if not heavier, than the tiny stuff sack the tarp came with, it is however a piece of rope that can be used for other things too, and i don't count grams (yet) anyway, so that's fine by me.
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