When I'm off cycle touring, my least favourite job is putting my tent back into its bag.
It's bearable on a dry, windless day when I can take as long as I want folding and unfolding and refolding and swearing and refolding again. But when it's minging and windy, I tend to just stuff the tent into its bag, much like I would a sleeping bag.
Is this a big no no? Will this knacker the tent? Will I die?
I use a Luxe Mini Peak II fwiw. Inner is folded and rolled into a drybag every time, the fly is the problem.
Tents - To fold or to stuff?
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bikepacker
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Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
I always roll up and put a tie around my tents before packing them in the sack. A few years ago I went to a Hilleberg tent display and their then Technical Director just stuffed tents into the sacks. So I suppose it is take you choice.
There is your way. There is my way. But there is no "the way".
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VanDeRooster
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Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
At work we roll them up, my own personal tent is stuffed into its sack. Never noticed any ill effects ...
The most important is that it's not stored long term damp. I've lost count of the tents ruined by mildew.
The most important is that it's not stored long term damp. I've lost count of the tents ruined by mildew.
Taller than you think ...
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
Previous comments about mildew and damp are quite correct. It's amazing how quickly mold can set in.
I have taken out tents at midday to dry them in the sun at midday lunch break. They are lighter and easier to handle afterwards.And so much more welcoming come camping time.
A folded tent takes up so much less room than a stuffed one.
I like to see how small and neat I can make the package, it's sort of a challenge and doesn't take any longer when you get to know the best folding sequence.
I have taken out tents at midday to dry them in the sun at midday lunch break. They are lighter and easier to handle afterwards.And so much more welcoming come camping time.
A folded tent takes up so much less room than a stuffed one.
I like to see how small and neat I can make the package, it's sort of a challenge and doesn't take any longer when you get to know the best folding sequence.
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
PDQ wrote:Previous comments about mildew and damp are quite correct. It's amazing how quickly mold can set in.
I have taken out tents at midday to dry them in the sun at midday lunch break. They are lighter and easier to handle afterwards.And so much more welcoming come camping time.
A folded tent takes up so much less room than a stuffed one.
I like to see how small and neat I can make the package, it's sort of a challenge and doesn't take any longer when you get to know the best folding sequence.
Same size for me, it fits in the same bag.
A comment on another forum
on the theory that folding it repeatedly the same way will wear the fabric and waterproofing at the folds. That and the fact that I'm too lazy to fold it properly, I suppose.
Tip #10 on this page is worth a read for all you tent folders: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/caring-tent.html
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
Then your not folding it right 
If I fold my old Ultimate Tramp neatly, it fits in the bag with room to spare for pegs' poles 'and my emergency bag which acts as a ground sheet and a couple of odds and sods.It all goes in quite easily.
If I were to stuff it in only the tent would fit. As to folding damage;the tent is folded but mostly on it's seams . When it is a neat flat package then it is rolled up tight. It is the neat folding which allows the tight roll.
Goes without saying that as "Tramps" have not been made for some years(anybody know?) that I have not damaged it too much. It's a great tent. I love it and I have looked after it. Bought it around 1986.
After been carted about on backpacks and bikes plus some car based camping I estimate we have lived in it in total for at least a year perhaps quite abit more. Not quite what it was when new but I will keep using it as long as it holds together. And it shows no sign of falling apart.
I still have the Force Ten Mk 5 (bought 1978)that it replaced and that saw lots of prolonged hard use too. Only replaced it becase of it's wieght. I folded it and looked after it generally. And it's still ok too I think.
Perhaps modern dome tents are different?
If I fold my old Ultimate Tramp neatly, it fits in the bag with room to spare for pegs' poles 'and my emergency bag which acts as a ground sheet and a couple of odds and sods.It all goes in quite easily.
If I were to stuff it in only the tent would fit. As to folding damage;the tent is folded but mostly on it's seams . When it is a neat flat package then it is rolled up tight. It is the neat folding which allows the tight roll.
Goes without saying that as "Tramps" have not been made for some years(anybody know?) that I have not damaged it too much. It's a great tent. I love it and I have looked after it. Bought it around 1986.
After been carted about on backpacks and bikes plus some car based camping I estimate we have lived in it in total for at least a year perhaps quite abit more. Not quite what it was when new but I will keep using it as long as it holds together. And it shows no sign of falling apart.
I still have the Force Ten Mk 5 (bought 1978)that it replaced and that saw lots of prolonged hard use too. Only replaced it becase of it's wieght. I folded it and looked after it generally. And it's still ok too I think.
Perhaps modern dome tents are different?
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
I roughly fold then roll.
a) It allows me to keep the underside of the groundsheet from getting the rest of the tent muddy.
b) Should it be windy when I come to pitch it next, it's easier to keep the tent from blowing away if you start from a compact roll with the end pegging points available for use before starting to unroll the rest of the tent. If stuffed,you've got to get the whole tent out and flapping in the wind before you can find any pegging points.
c) Rolling allows me to add extras like the thermarest chair kit to the same package.
a) It allows me to keep the underside of the groundsheet from getting the rest of the tent muddy.
b) Should it be windy when I come to pitch it next, it's easier to keep the tent from blowing away if you start from a compact roll with the end pegging points available for use before starting to unroll the rest of the tent. If stuffed,you've got to get the whole tent out and flapping in the wind before you can find any pegging points.
c) Rolling allows me to add extras like the thermarest chair kit to the same package.
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
My tent is folded to fit the length of the bag then rolled with the poles and pegs in the middle. When I bought my sleeping bag I was told that when camping it was OK to stuff it into the bag but long term storage it should be out of the bag.
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
Pyramid tent? Maybe you're doing too much careful folding? Just lay it on the ground as a rectangle of fabric with the top of the pyramid at one end, make it narrow enough to fit the stuffsack, then roll away.DaleFTW wrote:I use a Luxe Mini Peak II... the fly is the problem.
Or get a new slightly bigger stuffsack? Very little weight penalty, much easier to use.
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
Depends on the tent. On my TN Solar where the fly and inner separate, I stuff the fly into one bag, this can be done without it touching the ground, then fold the inner so that the groundsheet is on the outside and roll, it then goes into another bag. On a previous tent that stayed as one, I treated it much the same as I do the inner on the TN. What I'm trying to achieve is to keep the wet away from the dry and the dirty away from the clean, whilst also maintaining a manageable pack size.
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
Inner tents or all-in-ones I generally fold, because that way you can keep grounsheet-to-groundsheet and upper-to-upper so any gunk on the bottom doesn't transfer itself to the walls.
Outer, it doesn't seem to matter. I haven't found any obvious space difference using one or the other.
One thing to note is that just because it came in one bag when you bought it doesn't mean it has to stay in one bag to travel. Especially with separate inners and outers it's often possible to find cranny-space for one or the other but not both together, so the overall pack is much more efficient broken down in to components in many cases. If you're filling cranny space then stuffing generally works better than folding. Pegs and poles can also go their separate ways, but if breaking a tent up double (or more) check that you've got all the individual bits!
It can also be worth splitting things if the fly is soaking and the inner is pretty much dry.
Pete.
Outer, it doesn't seem to matter. I haven't found any obvious space difference using one or the other.
One thing to note is that just because it came in one bag when you bought it doesn't mean it has to stay in one bag to travel. Especially with separate inners and outers it's often possible to find cranny-space for one or the other but not both together, so the overall pack is much more efficient broken down in to components in many cases. If you're filling cranny space then stuffing generally works better than folding. Pegs and poles can also go their separate ways, but if breaking a tent up double (or more) check that you've got all the individual bits!
It can also be worth splitting things if the fly is soaking and the inner is pretty much dry.
Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
I always used to fold but I just can not get my shaped siliconised flysheet to stay in any type of fold, it is too slippery and irregular, so that gets stuffed.
The inner tent gets folded to keep things clean and dry and so that it is easy to peg out in the dark.
The inner tent gets folded to keep things clean and dry and so that it is easy to peg out in the dark.
Yma o Hyd
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ArMoRothair
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Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
PDQ wrote:If I fold my old Ultimate Tramp neatly.....
Gosh that's a blast from the past. I used to sell Ultimate Equipment tents in the early '80s. I'm amazed it is still going strong.
I never thought about stuffing a tent before. I guess it makes sense because continual folding on the, or near the same, place will cause extra wear on the coating over time but stuffing will randomly spread that wear. However it must be harder work than folding and rolling.
The last time I stuffed a tent was when a pole collapsed in a rainstorm in Wales. I stuffed it in the car's boot in disgust and slept in the car.
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andymiller
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Re: Tents - To fold or to stuff?
Surely you just need to fold the fly until it's roughly the right size? Not sure why you'd need to keep folding and unfolding.
Well maybe if you folded it with a crease, but a loose fold? I suspect the tent will be knackered through UV damage long before folding it had any major effect.
ArMoRothair wrote:I never thought about stuffing a tent before. I guess it makes sense because continual folding on the, or near the same, place will cause extra wear on the coating over time but stuffing will randomly spread that wear.
Well maybe if you folded it with a crease, but a loose fold? I suspect the tent will be knackered through UV damage long before folding it had any major effect.