This is one BIG negative about owning a pop-up. It has really only happened to us twice now. My biggest fear was going South in the winter and then having to come back to snow and cold in Canada with a wet pop up trailer. Well this did happen to us this year.

Normally on a long trip to Fort Wilderness or Myrtle beach we will overbook our trip. That way we can leave early or stay late fi there is rain. Sometimes the weather is unpredictable and nothing you can do.
If you HAVE to pack up in the rain - here are some tips.

Tips For Packing Up Your Pop-Up Trailer in the Rain

- Flip the mattresses over- there is a vinyl on the other side of most mattresses- this will help keep mattress dry. You do NOT want any kind of moisture in your pop up for long periods- getting mold will be a disaster.
- Try and shake off or get rid as much water of tenting as you can.
- Close the trailer properly- don’t do “fast” job and then plan on winterizing or emptying drain “later” you may forget.

Open the trailer up to dry as soon as possible. We packed up in torrential rain and I was pretty freaked out. We drove out of Florida and then into Georgia- weather wea gorgeous. We stopped for lucnh and opened up the trailer. In the hot sun and wind the trailer was BONE dry in a hour. So think about driving to nice weather and stopping for a while. It may be worth doing this if you are going home to blizzard and snow.

What If I do Get Home and Trailer Still Wet?
- You trailer will dry if above zero. Open it up in your drive way or street if you are able. You need to do this as soon as possible.

Last Resort-
If your trailer needs minor repairs you need done- take it to dealer. They will open it up and will dry while they are working on it.
Call your dealer and tell them what happened. I did call our dealer and they offered to let us open up and keep over night to dry.
Your dealer may charge a fee to do this.

Go to underground heated parking lot- a friends apartment or shopping mall. Open up there. I would nervous about leaving unattended so bring a book.

I do not recommend doing things like using a hair dryer on tenting. It will wreck finish on the fabric ( which has UV coating and water proofing) . Okay to do on mattresses.

Posted by admin as Pop-Up Trailer Maintenance, Winter Camping at 11:26 AM EST

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Oh the joys of Winter camping! A great way to enjoy winter sports and the quiet of near empty campgrounds. If you will be camping in weather that will go below freezing there a couple of things to keep in mind.
Your biggest problem will be water. You have to choices- fill up water bottles and keep in your trailer to avoid freezing.
OR- You can use your water tank if you follow some guidelines.
Fill up your water tank to about 3/4 full. and remove your hose ( if water hookup), this way if it does freeze up there is some room for expansion. The heat from you pop up will be enough to keep water in the tank from freezing. MAKE SURE YOU DON’T LET TANK GET EMPTY! Or even close to it.

Some people will go so far as to duct tape a heating pad around the tank- this might be good if you are in constant freezing weather.

Before you leave make sure you completely drain your hot water tank- It CAN freeze on drive home and you might wind up with a split/cracked tank.

Tips for Keeping Warm While Winter Camping
I cannot recommend enough- HEATED MATTRESS PADS. You can get them at a good price in Spring. I bought our King Size heated mattress covers for 30.00 reg 125.00. Don’t worry about getting fanciest ones.
I know several people use ceramic heaters if electricity available- I do not. We had an incident where my daughter woke up in the night and crawled into our bed and on the way over draped her sleeping bag over the heater and I woke up with a feeling something wasn’t right. I firmly believe that in another 10 minutes it would have caught fire.

Do you have a winter camping tip or story to share? Please post in comments section!

Posted by admin as General Camping, Winter Camping at 10:30 AM EDT

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