You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life.
Does that sound familiar? It is the opening line to the theme song of the bad 80s sitcom “The Facts of Life”. In camping terms, “the good” is a whole lot (campfires, s’mores, the fresh air, etc.), but the bad is almost universally accepted as the chance it would rain.
Camping in the rain does limit what you can do and the fear of it causes a whole lot of people to never camp. I’m not the most experienced camper in the world, but I know that when it comes to the rain a little preparation goes a long way.
Here are some quick rain preparation tips I’ve learned from a few other blogs as well as some of my own that I’ve learned along the way.
1. Bring rain ponchos – These are a necessity. Make sure you bring enough for everyone. They come in both adult and children sizes plus children look amazingly cute in them.
2. Bring extra clothes – It is inevitable that someone will get wet from the rain during a storm and sitting in wet clothes will make everyone miserable. The kids should bring an extra pair of shoes, flip flops or crocs since wet shoes take a while to dry.
3. Tarp it up – Tarps are an investment that go a long way and I suggest bringing at least two. One to put underneath your tent and another to put over your picnic table if your camping site can accommodate it. Some folks put up another tent as an added layer of protection. With a tarp over your picnic table, your family can play board/card games and have quite fun time.
4. Get a decent tent – My last camping trip was almost ruined by a cheap tent. Learn a bit more on this from Roy Scribner’s post “Anatomy of a Bad Tent” post on Campingblogger.net
5. Bring games – These should be in your camping list already, but they become increasingly important when it rains out. Whether you play them in the tent or under your tarp, a good game with the children can save a rain-soaked day.
Thanks again for reading and I hope you have some good rain-free camping trips this summer.
Eric
Spending a little more on the tent you decide to purchase will more than pay off on a good rain-filled camping trip. The tarp underneath the tent is another great idea, as well as making sure that nothing inside the tent touches the outside walls; that is sure to cause a leak.
We survived a camping trip from you no where. If you want to check out pictures, and read the post feel free to do so here
Thanks for you valuable advice. Raining while camping can be disastrous without a durable watertight tent. Although it might be best to invest more on a good tent, the things that you have mentioned is definitely necessary to carry along in your camping trips – Tarps, games, rain ponchos, extra clothes, shoes, hold absolute significance when it comes to camping in rain infested areas.
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Tarp it up! Tarp are sure useful. When my tent got broke, we used tarps as a substitute. If only there’s a tailor shop for tent, I’ll but a tarp cloth. lol but yea seriously!
Hi I have a quick question. How do I plan a successful camping trip without overstressing so I can enjoy it too?
Joe,
This depends on your camping scenario but first thing I’d do is to make sure that you prepare a camping checklist and get everything on it. This way you can be sure you don’t forget anything. If you’re bringing kids make sure that you plan plenty of activities for the kids such as board games, fishing, and hiking trips. If you’re close to the ocean I strongly suggest bringing them to the ocean as it is a great relaxing day for everyone.
The rain just makes me miserable. I don’t see why I should have to put up with it if I’m going camping and it’s one of the reasons why I tend to stay away from camping in general. It would be awful to be lying in a sleeping bed on a wet ground, freezing your butt off.