RE: Packing Up in the rain

[CampChief]

 
I guess I ve been luckey. I ve had a PU for 4 years now and yesterday was the first day I had to pop-down in the rain. All went ok except when I poped-up when I got home the mattresses did get wet on the outside corners. I mentioned this to a co-worker that has a PU. She said she bought some cheap plastic mattres covers and in the event its raining when they pop-down all she does is slip them on and that elminates the wet mattress s. She s gonna try and find the catolog she got them from.  Anyone else have any insight into this problem? Thx in advance...

[JonesFamilyJayco]

 CampChief
The mattress cover sounds like a good idea.  We have had a lot of rain here in NC and I have had some pretty wet pop-downs.  I just try my best to make the last step of closing in the beds & folding the canvas as fast as I can.  It still gets wet, but as soon as I get home, I pop it up (in the garage if raining when I arrive), pull out the mattresses, and let them dry.  Once sunny outside, I let them get lots of full sun.  So far I have avoided mildew.
 

[don]

 CampChief
You can flip your mattress over so the plastic side is up before you pop down and another good trick I learned from the board is to push bunkend in like a foot or so on both ends before swinging the bar down that hold the tenting up on the bunkends. That loosens up the canvas and you can have a nice steep slide to send the water over the ends of the beds. It works great with two people to make sure no water slips inside the PU and on the mattress.

[tlhdoc]

 CampChief
I just use very light weight plastic sheeting (painter drop clothes) to cover the bunkends if it is raining.  When I pop back up I just pull the plastic off the bunk before I attach the tenting.[]

[Joe Buskirk]

 CampChief
I purchased the plastic bed covers from Walmart, they have elastic and fit over the mattress.  These are also good to keep the dirt from the bunk ends from getting on the mattress.

[angelsmom10]

 CampChief
Never thought about putting plastic, although we ve been lucky -- it has only rained when we are popping up or during the trip.  Our take downs have been dry[][]

[slowpez]

 CampChief
We bought plastic cover for our bunk ends from Target.  They had the kind that cover the entire mattress - top and bottom.  We leave these on all the time.  When popping down in the rain, make sure the canvas is pulled down over the front and back of the PU.  You can push the mattress in all the way, leaving the canvas outside the PU.  This way, you will be able to fold the wet canvas in on itself prior to cranking down.  This is not a cure-all; things will still get wet but it will minimize it.  
 Hope this helps.

[BaysideBruce]

 CampChief
We bought the cheap plastic sheets for covering while painting and they work great.  This year along we have pop-down in the rain five times and the mattresses have stayed dry.  Plus they are easier to put on then a entire mattress cover and/or I hate sleeping on something that you hear when you roll on over at night.  The other thing that I have heard people using are these " Neatsheets"  which are a little more durable then thin plastic sheets and can be used for other things too.

[JonesFamilyJayco]

 CampChief
The " Neatsheets"  sounds like a great idea.  They are waterproof, cheap, & compact.  I think I will try that.

[angelsmom10]

 JonesFamilyJayco

 

ORIGINAL:  JonesFamilyJayco
 
 The " Neatsheets"  sounds like a great idea.  They are waterproof, cheap, & compact.  I think I will try that.
 

Our grocery store had these over with the summer clearance items -- I didn t go over the check the price, but maybe I ll do that on my next trip.

[jstaddwtr]

 CampChief
What a great idea.  We have been lucky not to have to po down in the rain, but I am sure there will be a time.  Thanks for sharing all the great information!!!!!

[Campinfools]

 CampChief
Having popped down in the rain more often than not, we found the mattress covers to be absolutely necessary and we leave them on all the time (except when we re actually camping/ sleeping on them!)  We got ours at a UHaul store - I think they were under $10 a set.

[CampChief]

 CampChief
Thank You all for the great comments and advice. I still don t have anything to cover my mattress s yet but you can bet I will before I go camping again.