My tent became a swimming pool at 2am in Shenandoah

Camped near a creek last weekend and woke up to 3 inches of water inside because I forgot to seal a seam. Anyone else have a gear failure that turned into a total disaster story?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana_black2211h ago

Set up a tarp over my tent after that first disaster, and now I never skip it even if the sky looks clear. That night in Shenandoah, I had to sleep sitting up in my car with the heater on because everything inside was soaked. After that, I started carrying a small repair kit with extra seam sealer and patch tape in a waterproof bag. A dry pair of socks and a change of clothes stored in a dry bag saved me more than once when everything else got wet. Do you keep any emergency gear like that stashed away just in case?

diana_king11h ago

Last summer in the Adirondacks, my tent pole snapped at 3am during a crazy thunderstorm. I had to huddle under a tarp for the rest of the night with all my gear getting soaked. In my experience, that's when you really learn the value of a backup plan, even for a simple weekend trip.