Realized I was folding my tent wrong for 2 years after a ranger in Yosemite showed me

I used to just shove my tent back into the stuff sack and it took forever to set up until this ranger at the campground pointed out I was crushing the poles every time. He showed me this snake coil method that takes 30 seconds tops. Anyone else have a gear habit they only fixed after a stranger said something?

2 comments

2 Comments

lewis.troy13d ago

Had a buddy who used to just wad his sleeping bag into a ball and stuff it in the sack. Took him like 20 minutes to get it back in until some old timer at a campsite showed him the long roll method. Changed his whole camping life.

the_parker13d ago

Man, that wad method is a classic rookie mistake, huh? But here's the thing nobody talks about, @lewis.troy: that old timer's long roll trick probably saved his bag's insulation too. Stuffing it in a ball smashes the loft down over time, and then your bag doesn't keep you warm no matter how you fold it. I've seen people ruin a 200 dollar bag in just a few seasons that way. Makes you wonder how many "broken" sleeping bags are really just packed wrong.