I finally learned why my tent kept flooding on rainy trips

Last summer I was camping near Lake Tahoe and a big storm rolled in around midnight. I woke up to a puddle forming inside my tent near the foot of my sleeping bag. I thought my rainfly was fine but it was pitched way too tight and water was seeping through the seams. After that night I spent the next morning drying everything on a picnic table feeling pretty dumb. I loosened the fly and added some seam sealer I picked up at a local outfitter in Truckee. The next night it poured again and not a drop came in. I guess the whole "tighter is better" thing is totally wrong for rain protection. Has anyone else had a similar "aha" moment about their tent setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_wells871mo ago

Yeah, that's a classic mistake everyone makes once. The whole "tighter is better" thing works fine for a dry day but falls apart the second it rains. I learned the same lesson camping in the Adirondacks a few years back. Had my rainfly pulled so tight it was basically touching the tent body, and water just wicked right through the fabric where the poles pressed against it. Now I always pitch it loose enough to get good airflow between the fly and the tent walls. Seam sealer is a lifesaver too. I do a fresh coat on all the critical seams at the start of every season now. Also, check your groundsheet. Sometimes the flooding isn't coming from above, it's coming up through the floor if your footprint isn't big enough.

laura_wright1mo ago

That reminds me of a time I was camped out near Lake George and a buddy of mine spent a whole hour fussing with his tent stakes, hammering them in at these weird angles because he'd read some survival blog about anchoring in loose soil. He was so proud of himself until a raccoon came through around 2 AM, tripped over one of his guy lines, and pulled half the tent sideways. The rainfly ended up sagging into a puddle and next thing you know he's sleeping in a wet sleeping bag for the rest of the trip. Sometimes you can overthink this stuff and it just makes things worse. A good old fashioned pitch with a little slack and decent stakes has never let me down.