Check in on your tent before you hit the road to arrive at your campsite and find it worse for wear. Photo: Unsplash
The camping season is upon us, and your trusty old tent has been packed away for winter - maybe longer.
Don't be tempted to just throw the tent in the car and head off, drive three hours somewhere; "go to set it up and realise, 'wow, we can't camp in this'," warns Jono Collins of NZ Fun Camping Adventures.
Before you even think about setting off, open up the bag on a fine day and check for any damage, he says.
"The worst-case scenario is a little mouse finds its way into your tent while it's been parked in the garage and turns it into their house."
Check for things like mould and mildew, he says, as the garage is not an entirely dry environment for storage.
"Some people have their laundry in the garage, a dryer pumping away and that pushes out that moisture."
Next, check that all the stuff you need is in the bag, he says.
It's important to set up the tent and air it out if its been in storage for a few months Photo: Jono Collins
"All the poles are there, check the pegs are all present and not bent or rusted out. Check that all the ropes are there that are needed, so the guy ropes are attached to the tent, or you might have something to hold the awning out the front."
If you can, set up the tent pre-camp, Collins recommends.
"Do it in your backyard or take it to a local reserve or DOC site for the day. Just for a morning on a beautiful day.
"Just put it up... it'll remind you how to put the tent up and you'll be able to find if there's anything damaged as you're setting it up."
Check the seals on tents, they can perish but are fixable. Photo: Jono Collins
Check the inside of the fly, the outer layer of the tent, he says.
"Check on the underside of that around all the seams."
Synthetic seam sealer, which looks like Sellotape, runs around and it seals it from moisture getting through at the joints.
"Over a long period of time through storage that seam sealer, or that tape, can perish, it cracks, it goes cloudy, and it can flake off."
That doesn't mean your tent is a goner, he says.
"You do need to apply more seam sealer to it which you can buy from any good outdoor store. That's a repair you can do yourself."
Next, air out the inner and check for anything that might need repairing. Don't panic if you spot holes in the tent walls or the insect mesh on the door or window - you can get special tapes from outdoor camping stores to repair any little cuts in these materials.
Lastly, he says, check the inner pockets of the tent - long-forgotten treasures may lurk there.
"When you're packing up, you're rushing, you're trying to get the kids sorted. You're trying to pack the car for your five-hour drive home, and you forget your sunglasses are sitting in the pocket of the tent.
"The amount of people that find sunglasses buried in the storage pocket after a few years is phenomenal."