It has happened to most everyone that goes camping. You planned and prepared to go camping. You might have even taken off from work early to get started on your camping holiday. The weather for the weekend is supposed to be great but on the day on which you are going to set up it is to shower. Unless you are in a giant RV that doesn’t need much set up or you’re a backpack camper that is expecting to get caught in the rain you risk getting your kit all wet. At about that point folk customarily select one of the following options that go from bad to much worse.
Delay heading out for the campground hoping the weather will be better in the morning. You stay dry but lost part of your time away which is a horrid option. Unless you are staying for longer than the weekend you will have little time to enjoy the camp ground.
Setting up you camper or tent in the rain is a worse option. If you’re a backpack camper you’ll laugh at this statement knowing your gear is safe in your water-resistant backpack. The ones that have pop up campers or a tent know how wet their gear can get in the rain. We once attempted to set up a tent between rain showers only to have the tent half up when a cloud burst came along. Happily we were camping with chums and could stay with them while our tent dried out.
The worst choice is to cancel your camping trip and not have the time away. Sadly many folks select one of these options because they don’t think they have another option. With one or two simple items anyone can have a better option that enables them to set up in the rain without getting all of your things wet.
An easy solution is to erect up a tarp to make an area protected from the rain. Once the tarp is set up you can lay a second tarp on the ground to have a dry surface to set hardware or set up your tent. The tarpaulin can be angled to guard you and your equipment from any gusts of wind driving rain under the tarp. With a little preparation you can set up a tarp as a cover in a few minutes.
Pop up campers have the problem Camping Tarp to pull out the wings Of the camper before it’s possible to finish setting up the camper. The ends contain the sleeping areas with your mattress waiting to absorb water. A straightforward but effective secret’s to place a tarp larger than your camper over the camper before you set up. As you pull the ends out the wings are still covered and covered by the tarpaulin. As the pop up camper is raised the incorporated roof will protect the wings. You may then remove the non permanent tarp and finish setting up. You may need to use the same trick in reverse when taking the camper down in the rain however you must make sure you dry the canvas off as best as feasible before folding the camper up. I would also recommend setting the camper back up once home to permit the camper to properly dry out before storing the camper.
Happy camping!
About the Writer
Bob Langdale has been a camping enthusiast his entire life. On his web site he’s got more articles to give suggestions on camping and camping tarps. His web site is intended to help both beginners at camping and those with more experience wanting to learn new tricks.

