how good are pu in the rain

[kirksvillecamper]

just like the subject says, how good are popups in rainy weather. wife and i are planning on camping for a week at the county fair this year in july, also how safe are they agaist lighting.

[OC Campers]

The first outing in our popup it poured all weekend.  It worked great.  All you need to remember is it is just like a tent.  You must pull everything away from the sides of the canvas or the water will wick in.  Unfortunately, I can't answer the lightening question.  We don't get a whole lot of thunder and lightening.
 
Jacqui

[MtnCamper]

Probably lots of things much higher than your popup around for the lightning.

On our trip back from Canada, we spent one night in Baraboo WI, where we went thru 5 inches of downpour all night long. Stayed dry. So I think ours is fine in the rain. Not much to do when it's raining that hard. :confused:

[tlhdoc]

If there is lightning get out of the PU and into a building with plumbing and wiring or into your vehicle. The PU will not give you any protection from the lightning.:yikes:  If you would not stand outside in the electrical storm don't stay in the PU.  There is nothing in th PU to protect you.  Your car has a metal cage to protect you, the PU doesn't.

[ForestCreature]

I'd worry more about the lightening striking a nearby tree than the pop up.
 If it's a severe storm like Tracy said you are better off in an out building than the PU, but in an average storm with minor lightening and winds the  PU is usually safe. Most of the danger is from falling trees or limbs,so if you get in the car, go for a drive instead of sitting under the trees.
 
 We watched lightening strike a tree across the road from us during a storm, a huge limb fell landing 3 ft away from a tent across the road from us. The tenters ended up with a case of the willies I guess and moved their tent to another site....right under another tree  :confused:   Moving the tent made no sense at all, we were in a small State Forest camp ground, surrounded by trees.
 

[griffsmom]

Just like Jacqui, we've never had a problem with our PU in the rain, and we've camped in the rain more than we would have wanted to--unintentionally of course! It's actually kind of nice being in the camper with the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof. We have one of the old ABS roofs, so it sounds nice--could be a different story if your roof is metal. Finally, all bets are off if the PU leaks--ours doesn't--but it's something you won't find out until the first time you camp in the rain!
 
 If you do end up camping in the rain and have to pop down while the canvas is still wet, be sure to pop your camper back up at home so that you can let the canvas dry, otherwise you'll have a bad mold problem. We've been forced to wait as much as 2 weeks before we could pop ours back up and dry it out, and fortunately, we didn't have a problem, but sooner is much better than later in this situation.

[4campinfoxes]

We've been camping in various pop-ups for about 5 or 6 years now.  I think we've had one very minor leak in all that time & it never happened again.  We've been in some pretty good downpours  & fairly windy conditions with no problem.  My only advice is to have a weather radio with you, preferably one with SAME technology so you can tune in the correct weather reports.  If nothing else it's been a relief to me not to hear tornado watches/warnings in some of these storms!

Sharon

[CanadianMom]

We've never had a problem in the rain, I do recall the condensation inside when we camped in cooler weather made it seem like it was raining inside, just had to crack a few more ventilation spots to stop that.

[Calstate361]

Before we got the Hybred we camped in our PU with heavy rain and high winds.  It was a bit scarry, but the PU held up much better than the dogs did.   I was over visiting my friends who have a big rig and when I came back, Sal said that the dogs were worried about me!  Such sweeties they are, worried about Mommy.   We were glad that the PU held up to such hard wind and rain and didn't have one leak.   We were camping at NACO/Thousand Trails Resort called Lake Minden, in Nicholas, it doesn't have very many trees and is wide open farm land, so the winds really got going.
 
Joan

[sully349]

When I took my New Pop up on its maiden trip a horrid rain storm rolled in late at night. Not a drop of rain came in. Later that night when the tornado hit  :yikes: I was wishing I was somewhere else but a tree fell in the roadway and we couldnt get out. The PU won out that time but I wont press my luck again!!  The only trouble Ive had since was a suprise hail storm that shredded my canopy and pock marked the PU roof.

[labontefan]

In 2003, we camped at the race track in Charlotte for 10 days for The Winston and Coca-Cola 600. During the last four days we were there (Thursday-Sunday), we got about 8 inches of rain. About five inches of that was on Thursday. We stayed inside all day long, reading and watching TV--only went out to grab a bite to eat and get gas for the generator. We stayed high and dry in the PU--no leaks anywhere. We didn't have any problems with wicking either. I was concerned about the sheets since they were tucked in around the edges of the mattress and right up against the sides of tenting, but they never absorbed any moisture. Of course, my Utah has the Sunbrella tenting material and along the bottom where the sheets were touching is more of a vinyl than a canvas material.

I've been through rain storms in a tent...and I much prefer being in the pop-up!!

[kirksvillecamper]

thanks for all the answers, looks like i dont have to worry about rain then.