Rolling it all together?

[TomCastellani]

Hey All,

I've searched around and haven't found anyone anywhere who recommends rolling a tent up with the pad / sleeping bag still inside. I have a small one man tent, a very lightweight sleeping bag and a thin inflatable thermarest. So is there some major disadvantage I haven't thought of or would it be a stroke of genius to roll everything together, using the tent to waterproof whilst also saving on pitching and packing time?

Cheers,
Tom

[Val Garou]

All well and good, unless your tent/fly are already soaking wet from a long night of rain. Then you'd have to fold everything exceedingly carefully. 

[scottruff]

I have been doing exactly that for the last few years with a bivy sack, and this summer with a Big Agnes 1 man tent. It makes for a very quick setup at the end of a long day. I'm using a sweet roll, and it can be hard to get everything in before the sleeping bag expands everything, so I roll everything wide, and then stuff/compress it once everything is inside.

[joeydurango]

Does work in some climates for sure - have done just that in Arizona, for example.  But I've also had condensation and/or precipitation make that impossible, for practical reasons.

[Lentamentalisk]

My sleeping bag isn't small enough to fit it in with all that, but during the summer when I use just a bivy, I leave it inside my hammock when I stuff it in my sweet roll. The rain fly I fold up separate and strap to the underside of the sweet roll since it is usually wet.

Getting a pad in there is going to be a bit more difficult. You will probably have to pre-deflate it and close the valve so that it doesn't hold on to its air. I do have grand plans for a nice little bed roll made up of a ground cloth, bivy (or sleeping bag in a bivy) and pad that get all rolled up together. It would make camp setup SO fast.