Bed condensation

[bconley]

I am set to pick up a new hybrid in just over a week and am very concerned about all the comments I’m reading on bunk end condensation. Everything from inside rain to wet mattresses! I am coming from a pop up and never had this problem when cold weather camping as long as I dropped the screen on the door a couple inches.
Is this something that always happens? Is there something I can do to protect the mattress? I have read a lot about the pop up gizmos and reflectex - but wanted to avoid extra set up if possible (which is why I am moving from a pop up) as we are mostly weekend warriors and are trying to keep it simple. Any insight and suggestions would be appreciated!!

[bikendan]

If you're not going to get PUGs, you can try running a roof fan and opening a tent window some, to allow for air movement.

Personally I wouldn't have camped without my PUGs.

As far as the mattresses, you'll need to put something under them.

[Velosprout]

I use a dehumidifier, the smallest model Lowe’s sells. Problem solved.

[Maman325]

We haven't had any problems yet, knock on wood. Have owned ours for about a year and a half. But...it was a bit of a learning curve for us to remember to keep at least one of the fans going on low (even when it's cold out - as we're always tempted to leave them closed to keep the heat in), so there were a few times where we didn't have a fan going and woke up to a bit of condensation on the insides of the windows and the top canvas of the tent beds. Turning the fans on resolved the issue pretty quickly those times. And remembering to keep one fan on low seems to be enough to avoid that in the first place. We have NOT camped in consistent or longer term rains...

[Flybob]

There are several causes for a wet mattress the one that most people overlook is the condensation of moisture that penetrates the mattress and condenses on the cold surface that the mattress is sitting on. This can happen in PUPs, hybrids and larger units that have unheated storage areas under the bed. If you camp in cold weather and the platform your mattress is on is unheated it can happen. The solution is to put an insulating barrier between the mattress and the cold bed platform. A simple inexpensive solution is a sheet of home wall insulation foam. They can easily be cut to size. If it has a reflective foil surface, put that against the cold bed deck. You can also get some condensation where the mattress touches the cold camper walls. An easy way to prevent this is to place a pool noodle between the mattress and the wall. This condensation is more common than most people think, and many times goes unnoticed as few people check under their mattress after each outing.

[ScottGillingham]

I hear your concern and we suffered the same fate initially (airing out our mattresses and mopping up the moisture each morning). If you simply invest in a couple of 80-100% wool blankets and put them under your mattresses ... or even the walls. It is an excellent insulator- a purchase I guarantee you will not regret.... and is easily transported.

[karrun]

We've had out Roo for three years now, and the only time I remember having some condensation issues was on a very cold night and the windows were shut tight. Now we always crack the windows, plus leave the roof vent on low, and don't have any issues at all.

[ebemis]

all comments so far support a "don't worry about it" outlook! I went to Home Depot for the foam insulation board and cutting it to go under our mattress ON THE DOOR ONLY made sense...because PART of the mattress would otherwise ride higher where it rested on your internal cabinet edges. Adding the foam board brought our mattress nice and flat all the way across AND as a beny....ended any worries of condensation under out mattress.

We simply always keep our ceiling vents open a crack regardless of hot or cold camping and then we slightly crack tent canvas zippers if we feel the cold outside will condense on the inside of our tent ends. The worst thing we ever had to do was run the little plastic fan that has the light in the bunk to "stir" the air around until any condensation on the inside of the fabric was dried back off.

These small steps are from my guess and experience "just part of a HTT" experience, you basically DO have a "Luxury Tent" (kitchen, bath, AC, heat!!) that you are sleeping in! That is the key phrase...USE IT and relax because that is what your camping is supposed to be! ;-)