My #1 Best Tent Camping Hack

Choosing the best tent for camping is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in terms of curating your gear in general and, assuming you come to own a few tents, choosing the right tent for a specific outing. But for our purposes here today, we’re going to assume you’ve already picked the best tent for the camping trip in question, you have your tent camping accessories and other gear all dialed in, and you’re all but packed and ready to head for the woods. (Or beach or mountains or whatnot.)

And I hope you have a great time out there! But why am I talking about you enjoying your trip before sharing this tent camping tip? Because this, my absolute favorite original tent camping hack, is one you won’t need until the very end of your trip. I’ll cut to the chase and share the camping tent hack now, and then offer a bit of context later.

At the end of your campout, when you break down your tent, don’t bother carefully folding and packing it away in its proper storage bag. Just jam the tent wholesale into a large trash bag you brought along expressly for this purpose and then properly clean, dry, and pack away the tent once you are home.

If you have done much camping, you know that any tent camping ideas that make things easier, cleaner, and more comfortable are welcome. From a campsite rug spread out in front of the tent where muddy boots can rest, to a tarp under the tent to reduce the risk of punctures or leaks, to a little fan that tucks up against the mesh window to draw in cool air, these and other tent camping 101 ideas are all well and good.

But your past trips camping in a tent have also likely left a lingering distaste for that tent takedown process. The trip is over, most of your gear is stashed, the kids (or friends) are getting cranky and just want to get on the road home, yet you still have that last and largest piece of gear to deal with. In perfect conditions, your tent may only be a bit dusty or soil-caked on the bottom, and breaking it down and folding it up may only be a mildly frustrating affair – though it’s always a wonder how tents really do fit back into their packs, isn’t it?

If there was rain or snow or even just damp soil, folding up and packing away that tent becomes a misery of muddied hands, damp knees, sweaty brows, and that’s not to mention a tent that’s harder than ever to fold down small and stow away.

I’ve had many great camping trips end under a proverbial dark cloud – and under actual storm clouds while tent camping in the rain – as I struggle to get a wet, muddy tent folded up and jammed into its sack. Then on one moist and miserable morning, it occurred to me: I don’t have to do this right now, I don’t have to perfectly pack down this tent that I’m only going to get back out and clean at home anyway, I can just jam it into a trash bag and get on the road!

Ever since that revelatory moment, whenever we go car camping I have always, without fail, brought along a large trash bag expressly reserved for the quick stowing of our tent, rainfly, footprint tarp, and at times even other pieces of soiled gear, like a campsite carpet or hammock. We stuff everything in, toss that bag in the trunk, and we’re on our way home.

And then, once we are home, I can take the time to lay out and properly clean the tent, rainfly, and other accessories (how to clean a tent is a whole topic unto itself, and one we’ll cover elsewhere, for the record) and then let them fully dry before taking the time to carefully fold up and pack the tent away. Saving the proper tent stowing for home means less frustration at the end of one camping trip and it also means a tent I know is cleaned, in good repair, and ready for use at the start of the next adventure.