Shiftpod
justjames
Adventurist
Ok you guys using the mesh tarps....... I got one and it works great but my wife noticed that its usually covered with ants and other insects when we're ready to pack it up. She said, "why don't we spray this thing with bug spray and let it dry before the next outing?" I'm thinking that probably makes a lot of sense. Any of you guys tried this?
That’s great. If it’s good enough for the USN/USMC it’s good enough for us right?
:Matt at SOLO strongly recommend we treat the ground cover we were bringing and the clothes we were wearing to the wilderness first aid class with this. 2 days of laying in the dirt for 10 hours in the woods next to a river and not finding a single tick on me. I'm sold.
NIH heath study if anyone is concerned.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231561/
WashingtonTaco
Adventurist
Treating our clothes with Permethrin for our trip to Namibia. I've read a bit about it and its supposed to be very effective.
TACMEDIC
Adventurist
I attended an Austere Medical Course last week in Virginia and one of the guys had an allergic reaction (rash) to Permethrin. Testing your gear is always key before you leave solid resources. Namibia? always have an exit plan. Take care.
WashingtonTaco
Adventurist
Good call on the testing prior! I have a couple resources that I can leverage if need to exit post haste.
smlobx
Adventurist
Went to Namibia earlier this year. It was a great expedition crossing the Namib Desert. Although we treated our clothes with Permethrin I don't remember mosquitoes being an issue. We had a fair amount of wind so that may have contributed to the situation.
justjames
Adventurist
Just finishing up four weeks in the Shiftpod from NC to Cape Breton Island. The tarp soaked in a permethrin solution seemed to greatly reduce the number of bugs. ants and spiders. Compared to camping out west, condensation inside the tent was much worse. We tried doors and windows all open to partial open to completely closed. We also had a Dewalt fan which we ran on its own as well as with a Mr Buddy heater going. On cool damp mornings, we killed about 90 minutes waiting for the tent to dry.
Frustrating.
Any ideas on reducing condensation will be greatly appreciated.
Frustrating.
Any ideas on reducing condensation will be greatly appreciated.
Ventilate your tent. Your body alone increases humidity through sweating and breath exhalations. At 95°F and 75% humidity we lose about 7 ml/h and at 50°F and 25% humidity it's about 20 ml/h through breathing. At 95°F you are also perspiring about 220 ml/h. Exercise can increase these rates. Of course it depends on the person as well.
Remove wet items from your tent. Dry them outside or put them inside a waterproof stuff sack to reduce humidity inside the tent. Cotton can hold up to 27 times its weight in water. An average men's XL cotton t-shirt is about 5.5oz. Most likely it will be a 50/50 cotton/polyester blend and wrung out before it makes it inside the tent. There's still going to be a fair amount of water and it will eventually end up on the inside walls of your tent.
Avoid setting up your tent at a low point in the landscape where cold air pools at night.
https://www.mountwashington.org/res...jects/cold-air-pools-in-mountain-valleys.aspx
Avoid camping near wet areas. Streams, lakes, ponds, etc. The localized humidity is higher in these areas.
Remove wet items from your tent. Dry them outside or put them inside a waterproof stuff sack to reduce humidity inside the tent. Cotton can hold up to 27 times its weight in water. An average men's XL cotton t-shirt is about 5.5oz. Most likely it will be a 50/50 cotton/polyester blend and wrung out before it makes it inside the tent. There's still going to be a fair amount of water and it will eventually end up on the inside walls of your tent.
Avoid setting up your tent at a low point in the landscape where cold air pools at night.
https://www.mountwashington.org/res...jects/cold-air-pools-in-mountain-valleys.aspx
Avoid camping near wet areas. Streams, lakes, ponds, etc. The localized humidity is higher in these areas.
java230
Adventurist
Mr Buddy adds a fair bit of moisture to the air as well.
Well that rules out 75% of my East Coast camping areas.
Setting up on grass is also a bad idea. Maybe not so bad in a ShiftPod but it was literally raining inside my Marmot at my first Appalachian Rendezvous.
Moving the air out before it reaches saturation is the only real solution. Every other suggestion just buys you more leeway before it does. Success depends entirely on how close to saturation the air you are moving in is, how fast you can move it through, and how much water you're adding.
Complete combustion of propane yields carbon dioxide, water vapour, plus some other stuff. If it's incomplete you get carbon monoxide. So if you use a heater to dry things out you have to get that air out before it cools.
Moving the air out before it reaches saturation is the only real solution. Every other suggestion just buys you more leeway before it does. Success depends entirely on how close to saturation the air you are moving in is, how fast you can move it through, and how much water you're adding.
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justjames
Adventurist
Thanks for all the responses. I'm aware of all the points above. As Haggis said, this eliminates most every location in the northeast. I was hoping for a magic bullet I wasn't aware of. One idea I've had when camping in a campground with electricity is to run an electric heater. Anyone tried this?