Camping tents are made with delicate fabrics. Getting the highest value for your money from the tents demands insightfulness and tender care. At the center of these precautionary guidelines is the importance of maintaining camping tents dry.
So, how long can a tent stay wet?
Generally, whether the tent will stay damp for a long or short time depends on the prevailing environmental conditions. On a windy or sunny day, the fabrics of camping tent take approximately three to four hours to dry up. On the other hand, the misty and moist environment will only add some more water particles to the tent hence prolonging its drying duration. By prolong we mean even more than three weeks.
Additionally, the type of fabric used to design the tent greatly affects is drying period. Light tents with waterproofing layers usually dry faster. This is the same case with the double-layered fabrics. Nylon tents are known to take too long when it comes to drying.
Effect of prolonged storage of a damp tent
Most campers make the mistake of bundling up and even storing the tent when still wet. In reality, a damp tent is the first thing that you will hate to carry. But, still, you cannot leave it behind since you spend some dime on it.
However, before carrying and storing a damp tent, here are some of the risks that you may suffer in the end:
1. Build-up of moisture
Moisture build-up on the surface of the tent’s fabric is a common occurrence. It stems from its routes from the storage of the tent without proper drying. Most tent fabrics take around 24-48 hours to start attracting mold.
Generally, the fabric of the tent is made up of numerous tiny pores. When the fabric is stored when damp, molds create a home on the pores and start to multiply.
In this context, damping creates a conducive environment where the tiny cells of the pores can rapidly multiply. Therefore, you will realize that the surface of the tent becomes moldy with every passing time.
Therefore, whenever you are forced to store a damp tent, make sure that the storage duration does not exceed 24 hours.
2. Ruins the waterproof coating
The waterproof coating is what makes your tent to function efficiently during winter and any other rainy camping day. It gives the tent a full-proof ability against the rains hence rendering it safer to stay it.
It also repels the drops of water from entering the tent to maintain the warmth and avoid makeup of mildew and molds on its floor. In fact, the moment this coating is ruined, you don’t have any other option besides acquiring a new one.
Storing the tent while damp leads to deterioration of the coating. The moment the fabric is bundled up together, this coating is subjected to extreme forces of wear and tear.
You will notice some strange lines drawn on its surface. And, the moment the lines stay, it automatically starts to tear along the lines. Secondly, the overall functionality of the coating is diminished since the quality of its rubrics gets deteriorating.
This logic works just the same when you stay in rain. There are the fibers and the cells that are an integral part of you that normally get affected under such prolonged extreme conditions.
So, the best way to stay safe is to ensure that you don’t keep a damp tent for that prolonged period.
3. Horrible smell
Keeping the tent for log not only results in moisture build-up but also mildews. The two usually go hand in hand in most cases.
The moment you see mold on the surface of anything, then there is no doubt that mildew is on its way. However, unlike the moulds that may not be necessarily smelly, mildew is messy and comes with a horrible smell.
Though determined by the environment, mildew growth can come after three to four days of prolonged dampness. It is rampant in a poorly aerated room with moisture.
So before letting loose and toss your smelly fabrics, have in mind that prevention is a thousand times better. And, since there is no cure for the mildew damage for tents fabrics, the only option here is to keep the tent safe from moisture and wetness before the bizarre struck.
How to dry up a tent faster
Under inclement weather conditions, drying a tent can be an exceedingly daunting task. However, it is worth a try than leaving it to make moisture and mildew; and see it decompose it unusable fabrics.
You can enhance the drying up of the tent through:
1. Bring the tent in a closed room
The best way to dry up the tent in extreme weather conditions such as persistent downpour is by taking it to a closed room.
This can be the garage or a spare room. Such close rooms are not only safe from the rains but also warm enough as compared to the field. Hence, they will give the ten ample time to dry up.
However, when doing this, it is fine to protect the floor of the room from the drips. You can do this by spreading some old papers or clothing to catch up with the drips.
This is mainly to prevent the room from becoming moisturized and growing mold or mildew. However, if at all you lack something to capture the drips, you can spread the fabrics on a shower curtain rail.
2. Closed space
If you reside in the apartment or any other kind of strata architecture, the clothesline is the best place to do with. You can use the lines to spread out the fabrics and give them ample time to drip and dry. Though it takes a lot of time, it is worth it
Conclusion
How you take care of the tent matters a lot. It defines its general efficiency and durability.
The resultant effects alienate to value for money. The knowledge on how long a tent takes to dry should enlighten you to knowing the overall duration that a tent should not exceed when still damp.
Otherwise, it is always good to keep the tent as dry as possible immediately after use.
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