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Tim's tenting tips
By TIM ROBINSON | July 2025
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Here are a bunch of tips on backcountry tenting that I wish I knew when I first started camping as an adult. If you’re new to canoe camping (or camping in general) this might be useful. If you’re not new to it, there may still be a gem in here for you yet. Maybe.
Stuffing—just jam it in there
Any fabric that is repeatedly rolled the same way will wear at the same places on the material over time. Tents (and sleeping bags too) will get used to the way you roll and the points where the fabric are folded over are worn at a faster rate, like bending a piece of metal over and over again. At first it it may seem barbaric, but just ram it in the sack. Every time you stuff it, all the creases of the tent are in a different place so there’s no roll fatigue. Personally, I hated rolling tents and sleeping bags so much that when an experienced outdoors person told me about stuffing around 20 years ago, I was so happy to switch. I’m a happy stuffer.
Pack your tent poles separately
It’s harder to stuff your tent bag with the poles in there, so just pack them separately. They have their own little bag. They’ll do fine. Just don’t forget to pack them though.
Use a compression sack
Original tent bags are the worst and often designed for when the tent was factory-rolled. Swap out the bag for a compression sack that starts large and then compresses down smaller than the original tent bag. If you’re not familiar with compression sacks, they are bags with four straps down the side that cinch down in a way that squishes all the contents and locks it that way until you release. (Here’s an example of a simple one). Ditch your tent bag and pop it in one of these (sans poles). You’ll be able to compress the size of it to less than half of the original. When you buy one, choose a size that will fit your tent uncompressed. You’ll probably need 15-20L depending on the size of the tent. You'll be surprised at how small it can get.
Get a tent with a full fly
Tents are expensive. If you can, it’s best to pay for a good one, but if you don’t camp a lot and want to keep it on the cheaper side, at least look for cheap tents where the rain fly goes all the way down the bottom (the fly is the second outer rain protection layer that attaches to the tent separately). Tent material will eventually be penetrated by water, especially with touch. Since tent flies wrap around the tent without touching the inner layer, they are very effective at keeping water out. Some cheap tents only provide a partial fly that just covers the screened areas at the top of the tent. These rely on the main tent fabric to keep out the rain everywhere else. Rain will eventually get through that fabric. Don’t waste your money on this type of tent. That fly should go right to the ground or very close all around the tent.
Fix a separating zipper
I was about to throw away an amazing tent because the zipper on both doors would separate after being zipped. (You had one job, zipper!) Through a little bit of poking around on YouTube, I found several suggested solutions including replacing the zipper pull itself with (weirdly expensive) replacements. The thing that worked for me though, was just a little pinch with some needle nose pliers. If the zipper separates after use, it’s just that the metal in your zipper has been stretched open a bit with age. Just very carefully push it closed a bit and you’ll be fine. Check out this video example on how to do it. He also covers upkeep using a zipper cleaner, which is also a good idea.
Reseal seams, sort of
Seams in tents have an extra layer of sealant material painted over them which eventually hardens and flakes off with just time alone. (It’s odd that they haven’t perfected this formula yet). You can extend the life of your tent by dusting off the old stuff and painting on new sealant. It’s this stuff. It comes with a little paint brush to spread it around. I did it on a tent and it worked out pretty good. I don’t have super high expectations for it lasting a long time, but at least I can get a few more seasons out of the tent.
Flip it to clean it
This one might be obvious, I’m not sure, but I see that little brooms for sweeping out tents are for sale. Yeah, skip all that sweeping; just open a door fully and flip that tent upside down and let it all fall out. If it’s a larger tent do this with a second person. No need to sweep.
Make a tent awning
A lot of tents have vestibules that are great for a bit of gear, but not people. If you know it’s going to rain, set up your own awning using a medium sized tarp over the entrance and overlap the tent just a bit. You’ll be able to get in and out of the tent while protected from the rain. Tilt it so that the rain runs off to the side and not on to the tent. It’s just like an awning on a camping trailer.
A tent awning
Look up for deadfall
There’s a lot to consider when finding the best tent location, but you might not think to look up. It’s best to avoid spots that have large dead trees that look like they might fall on your tent. No one wants that. I’ve seen large trees that fell across tent spots on campsites. No one was under it, but still, not worth the risk if there are alternatives. Depending on your skill and the local laws, you may be able to chop down the dead tree, directing it to a safe direction.
Where’s the water going to go?
Another thing to think about when picking a tent spot is where will rainwater go. Is it a lower spot that will become a bowl of water if it rains hard? Does the water have an exit? Can it be slightly modified with a trench? You might not always have a lot of choices, but tent sites that mound slightly or where water would have clear path around the tent are better than low lying areas.
Create your own hanging lines inside
Some tents come with little drying lines inside at the top of the tent, but you can also make your own. Look for tiny fabric loops on the ceiling of your tent. Using thin rope you can string up your own lines, but don’t pull it too tight. It’s nice for a couple of things like a sweater or shirt that you want to dry out. It’s also handy for hanging your glasses without anything rubbing on the lenses.
Head-end up
You don’t have to put your tent on a perfectly flat spot as long as your head is on the higher side. If it’s too much of an angle, your sleeping bag will start to slide down towards the low end of the tent, but there’s a sweet spot where your head is still elevated but you’re not sliding. You'll likely be able to tolerate more of a slope than you think which can open up more tent spot options.
Bear escape
This is a bit of an odd one, but I’ll include it. If you have a large group of tents in a small space close together—let’s say in a U shape, an animal might get spooked and run away into your U of tents. Try to leave just enough of a gap for something the size of a bear to run through without taking out your tents. Likelihood of happening? Probably pretty small, but if it does, the bear will appreciate it.
Peg to the situation
Tents come with a whole bunch of pegs, but should you use them every time? If you're the type A that just has to, sure. But it's actually fine to just peg according to the conditions. If you’re surrounded by tall trees in a forest, the wind is not going to pick up and blow your tent away. In those situations I just peg down the fly, since they often need it to be tight. If you're camping in an area where wind would pick up, common on lake sites and beaches, your exposure to potential storm winds is much higher— peg more here. If you know a storm is coming, you can also batten down the tent using the wind tie-down points half way up the tent (or more). Tents often provide additional ropes of for this. Those lines need to go out to the side quite a bit more to secure the tent from thrashing in the wind.
This exposed spot needed some creative rocky tie downs. They're not in use here, but you can see the blue wind
tie down point halfway up the tent.
Tent pegging in the sand
If you are setting up on a beach, your pegs will be useless. Try tying to large rocks, or if rocks aren’t available, you can tie to a thick stick over 15” long and bury the stick around 8” to secure the tent (dig a trench, lay the stick flat in it, and bury it). You can also drag your canoe up and use it as a tie down point.
So there are my tips for tenting. Anything useful? It's the small quality-of-life innovations that can make camping more enjoyable.
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