Stuffing vs. Rolling of a single-wall tent

[Colin]

Obviously, when it is blowing snow you will opt to stuff the tent, but when you have the time to pack it carefully which option is better for the tent?

 

I have heard that stuffing is better, because it puts less stress on the seams.

 

I have also heard that rolling is better, because crinkling up the fabric is worse for it.

 

Not exactly a life-or-death issue, but anyone have other reasons to think that one is better than the other?

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

Figure that if any four-season tent is going to have the seams damaged from folding is a piece of crap. Likewise one that suffers from stuffing. That's DFA's gut feeling, anyway. Can't imagine something like that really getting all that damaged by a storage method.

[Thinker]

Though I do both stuff and fold/roll my Bibler, I prefer to fold and roll it. I try to minimize stress to any of the seams and keep the little 'visors' over the doors from getting mangled too badly....seems they're never the same once they get torqued.

[JoshK]

I generally roll mine up. Then, as soon as I get home I fully open it up and hang it to air dry. I think as long as you are doing that, how it is for the little while in the pack probably doesn't make a big difference.

[mattp]

I have heard it postulated that if you fold it, and particularly if you fold it the same way every time, you will cause more damage than stuffing because you will develope creases and/or stress the same places every time. However, it seems apparent that there are more "folds" or more "crunching," if you stuff it. I bet this debate could be one of those unaswerable chicken-and-egg things. I think the answer is really dependent on your personality type. Do you, or how do you, fold your tee shirts before you throw them into your bureau? When you pull one out, do you try to leave the others undisturbed?

[Lambone]

I have also heard the crease theory, but don't know if I believe it, and have never seen any evedince of it. To be safe you could fold it just a bit differently each time. I'd think that stuffing it would just create more creases in the Todd-tex. Seam grip should help protect any wear on the seams. Perhaps keeping it in a loose stuff sac would help more than anything. Bibler stuffsacs are generaly oversized.

[fleblebleb]

Folding in different ways each time is really the safest way to go. I remember there was a site with directions for something like a couple of hundred different ways to fold an i-tent, I just can't remember where it was.

[Dru]

i dont think stuffing is good for your tent. it might make it greasy

[Montana_Climber]

The big problems only come with long-term storage. Sort of along the same lines as a sleeping bag but for different reasons (i.e. you don't have to worry about losing loft). Leaving a tent rolled up or tightly stuffed for a long time does create stress areas in the fabric. The best scenario is to hang the tent without any creases or folds if you have the ceiling height and the room. For most people this isn't practical so loosely storing it in a milk crate is the next best thing.