Condensation is caused when warm air is combined with cold surfaces, this effect is most prevalent when the warm air inside a tent is conflicted with the outer outside cooler air.
This condensation causes water to then drip and pool in a tent or bivvy bag. Unfortunately, this condensation is just a process that occurs in all tents and bivy’s when the temperatures inside vs outside the tents are different.
Here are some useful tips to help minimise the likelihood of condensation:
Tent:
- Keep the tent ventilated so that the humid air can breathe and escape.
- Remove wet clothes or shoes from your tent at night. Dry them outside or put them inside a stuff sack to reduce night-time humidity.
- Avoid camping near streams, lakes, ponds, or in wet or marshy areas where the humidity is higher. Yes, it’s nice to camp next to a water source, but you’re asking for tent condensation when you do it.
- Avoid setting up your tent at a low point in the landscape where cold air pools at night. If the walls and fly of your tent are warmer, you’ll have less condensation.
- Invest in a groundsheet to create a barrier to the damp ground.
- Do not cook inside your tent.
Bivy:
- Breathing outside the bivy, rather than inside, will reduce the condensation. If it is too cold for this, unzipping one small hole near your head/face will allow the moisture from your breath to escape rather than collect inside.
- Wear fewer layers as it will decrease your likelihood of sweating and accordingly decrease the collection of condensation in your bivy.
- Set up your bivy on dry ground if possible, especially under trees if there are any around.