Keeping out the damp

[ColinR]

Hi, I just wondered of anyone can tell me how to keep your sleeping bag or top quilt from absorbing the damp in the air during lot of rain or heavy mist? Thanks guys

[possum daddy]

Not always possible, but you can maximize your chances with good site selection: orientation and tarp set up for ventilation, away from bodies of water, under trees


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[Clown Pusher]

Im starting to always assume that some moisture has gotten into the insulation now so I give 48 hrs + to dry out before packing away when I get home if I'm at all worried.

[iceman857]

Check out Shug's frost bib. Not for rain, but for snow. Frost Bib Keeping Condensation Off Top Quilt - YouTube

[WV]

It's likely that your top quilt will absorb more moisture from your body than the air around your hammock (but not always true - I remember one winter hang when the temperature went up to 32° F. and the humidity went through the roof; the condensation didn't go through the "roof", of course - it clung to the underside of my tarp in big drops, waiting to rain on me if I moved.) Despite that exception, most of the time, the air will absorb your perspired moisture and let it dissipate away from your hammock. Just don't over-insulate so you sweat a lot. Now, for rain coming in, which is probably what you're worried about, there are a lot of factors you can control. Shug covers them better than I would. (Digression: I don't use an UQ protector. It's true that heavy rain can bounce off the ground, but that's rare, too. Avoid perfection.)

[cougarmeat]

Some things just can't be done (easily) - like asking gravity not to exist. If you are out "in it" for a long time, and don't have a sunny day to let your down air out, it will become heavier and wetter; that's just the way it is. And that's why, when people know they are going to be in that kind of environment, they may choose to use a synthetic fill rather than down. And that's why some people use ... so hard to type this ... vapor barriers.

If you are going to be in damp air, the only way to keep something dry is to shield it from that moist air, i.e. a barrier, or have it non-moisture absorbing - a synthetic.

If you have to use down, then when/if the sun comes out, that would be a time - whatever time that is - to stop and let it air out; giving the moisture a chance to escape.

I was on the north side of Vargas Island one summer and this mist rolled in during the night. EVERYTHING outside the tent was wet. If I had been in a hammock, I'm not sure I would have faired very well. A UQP might have kept the UQ dry, but without a zipped enclosure, I'm pretty sure anything directly exposed to the air would have been wet.

The day before
TheDayBefore.jpg


Here it comes
HereItComes.jpg

Everything outside the enclosed tent was wet
EverytingWet.jpg

[Fishbite]

I usually camp by water, so my equipment is always getting damp and wet. I spent a few years trying to minimize the dampness with a sheet over my top quilt, or my raincoat, or a second synthetic top quilt. They all worked somewhat and absorbed the water, or frost grew on my topquilt. When the rain stopped or the sun came out, these items would quickly dry.
In my opinion those solutions are too much work. Instead, now I choose quilts that are rated 20 to 30 degrees below the weather forecast. Low of 40, bring 10 degree quilts, low of 30, which it will be here soon, I bring 0 degree quilts. I have only seen the very outer layer of my TQ become wet, and they dry fairly quickly. 25 degrees is where I draw the line these days, unless I can run a cord for a heated blanket. Simple is my new motto. I can set up a GE in 10 min, and take it down in 10 min. I got other things to do while hammocking, like daydreaming.

[thunder12]

I just came back from overnight. Wind was blowing and it rained overnight. There was condensation on my bug netting and top quilt, but only on side facing wind. I thought tarp was leaking, but I checked and bone dry underneath. Temp down to 45F and mist rolling in in morning. I think I was too exposed in my site selection? Open space with high elevation (relatively speaking for local terrain)
Any helpful hints to minimize this? Did I do something wrong?

Thanks

[cmoulder]

I just came back from overnight. Wind was blowing and it rained overnight. There was condensation on my bug netting and top quilt, but only on side facing wind. I thought tarp was leaking, but I checked and bone dry underneath. Temp down to 45F and mist rolling in in morning. I think I was too exposed in my site selection? Open space with high elevation (relatively speaking for local terrain)
Any helpful hints to minimize this? Did I do something wrong?

Thanks

A less exposed location would help but with rain and high relative humidity — and especially mist — stuff is going to get damp and, eventually, just plain wet.

Not a drop of rain and zero wind, yet everything got very, very damp....

hammock_harriman_fog_01.jpg

[BillyBob58]

Well, it feels like it has been a while since I posted about my odd ball ways which keep me so warm and dry. So maybe I will do so now.

I suspect that there are not many here who have been bone dry inside what is effectively a sock, at 6F or even other, higher temps. But I have done that with a waterproof, windproof shell of sil-nylon below me, the hammock and ALL under insulation. Plus, a wind and water resistant nylon layer over my ridgeline coming down to meet my waterproof under cover(aka Uunder "quilt" protector/UQP). There was no tarp since the chance of rain or snow was about zero, and I was close to my house for a bail out if needed.

I had seen enough complaints regarding condensation- even using breathable shells- inside of hammock socks that I was a bit paranoid about problems. But I had none. I attribute those results to: A Shug style frost bib, a 6" diameter breathing vent close to my face, and vapor barrier(VB) clothing. Bone dry, at least as far as all of my insulation. My feet, which were very much over heating(too many layers overthe VB socks!), and were sweating. Once settled in and warm and what with it being single digits outside the sock, I decided I was just to lazy to remove some foot layers like I knew I should. But, my VB socks fulfilled their function admirably and kept any sweat or condensation next to my skin and out of my insulation.

I have been on trips where I was using some different types of VBs(not clothing), and at the end of the week my buddy was very concerned about loss of loft in his down quilts, luckily it was the last day of the trip. I had no such concerns.

As WV said: "It's likely that your top quilt will absorb more moisture from your body than the air around your hammock (but not always true -".

And as
cougarmeat said: "And that's why some people use ... so hard to type this ... vapor barriers. ............If you are going to be in damp air, the only way to keep something dry is to shield it from that moist air, i.e. a barrier, or have it non-moisture absorbing - a synthetic.".

They are correct. But, going to VBs is an entirely knew paradigm for those of us who got our training in the "breathable is the only way to go" way of doing things. (this includes me, BTW). For many of us, the thought of trying to sleep with a layer that does not breath next to our skin is anathema. Or just seems ridiculously unpleasant, even compared to being cold. Or, they fear they are going to be swamped in condensation and soak their gear.

More importantly, since it is essentially the opposite of how most of us have learned to do it, there is a slight learning curve. It is not rocket science. In fact, once you accept a couple of seemingly improbable laws of physics(like: condensation occurs on cold surfaces, but not warm), it is really quite simple. But, do it wrong and you will make things worse and end up with wet skin AND insulation. And, you will freeze and curse VBs.

But, do it right and not only will you gain about 23ºF of warmth due to stopping evaporative cooling in it's tracks, but you will gain, under many conditions that normally = damp, some amazingly dry insulation. Day after day, night after night, for however long you are out there. Whereas the other result is so often: damper and damper, night after night. Plus, yet another bonus: once you no longer have to worry about your body vapor condensing inside your insulation, or your sweat being absorbed by the same, you are free to use whatever truly waterproof and windproof outer layer you please. There will be no condensation of body vapor on these cold outer layers, because body moisture can not get much past your skin.

If you are like most, you will never consider this. But, maybe it makes good food for thought? If nothing else, it might save your life in an emergency some day, or save a ruined trip.