Single Skin Tents

[sean_iow]

I have a myog tarp tent which I use with a commercial inner as a 1 person shelter. The dimensions of the tent are such that without the inner it would have just enough floor space for 2. We could just use bivi bags inside but I thought that making a bath-tub floor would be more pleasant and give a more usable space.

When I've used it on my own there was some condensation on the inside of the fly but I can hopefully reduce this with lifting the rear of the tent slightly and venting via the doors.

Will condensation on the inside of the fly drip onto us in the night? Or is it only likely to be an issue if we touch the fly?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Wind may make condensation fall but it'll depend on the levels - brushing against the side of the tent is likely to be the most likely cause of getting wet. If you can get a low vent at one end and a high vent at the other, you shouldn't get too much forming.

[sean_iow]

Cheers, I'll crack on with making the floor and give it a try. I'll aim to maximise the airflow through to try and keep the condensation down.

[Alpinum]

On many trips, some multiple months long I've never had a proper problem due to touching condensation. There's not much to get wet. Just make sure then drops can run off without dripping inside the floor/sleep space.

The few touches eg. in the morning with hat/hood won't be noticed come the next evening.
If you're really picky with condensation give it a wipe with the top you ride in...

[lune ranger]

With synthetic sleeping bags the sort of wet you get from tent condensation is no bother at all.

[benp1]

If you're really picky with condensation give it a wipe with the top you ride in...

Or take a tiny little microfibre cloth, like those used for house cleaning. It’ll wipe the tent down of condensation and then let you wash your face in the morning. It’ll dry pretty quick too

[Alpinum]

With synthetic sleeping bags the sort of wet you get from tent condensation is no bother at all.

Same goes for down. Never had down collapse - not that I could tell. My bags/quilts are as light as they get with 7d fabric. So nothing special there.

[whitestone]

If the relative humidity is very high then you'll get condensation forming on any surface cooler than air temperature. Approach it in a multi-layered way like this:

Location of pitch - somewhere with a bit of breeze (but not a full blown hoolie) will reduce build up.
Pitch the tarp/tent higher off the ground in the way Stu says. If the RH drops during the night the air flow will remove some of the build up.
Ensure that you are inside the edges of the tent/tarp material to reduce drips on to you.
Use a lighter sleeping bag/quilt than you normally would, you want the outer surface of the bag to be higher than the dew point so you don't get condensation on that.

Same as Gian - I've not had a problem with down bags, a bit of damp on the outer surface isn't going to affect the performance - you just need to give things an airing during the day if you can (a good idea anyway). If the bag is pushing up against the tarp then that section can get damp but see point 3 above.