Plastic tube tent

The tensioned line forms the ridge, the topmost edge. The tube hangs over it and falls at an angle on both sides to where the plastic closes into a floor. Only the weight of you and your gear turns it into a stable triangle: without a load, the floor would be pulled up with the line.

Plastic sheeting is waterproof but also vapour-proof. A person gives off moisture all night through breathing and the skin. In a tent made of breathable fabric or with a second layer, some of it can escape; on plastic, by contrast, it settles as water droplets. So the open ends are not a weakness – they are the ventilation.

The plastic does not insulate. It stops rain soaking you and wind blowing away your warm air layer, but it does not hold in heat. You keep losing heat to the ground if nothing lies in between.

The spot must be level and not a hollow that water runs into in rain – otherwise it collects in the floor of the tube. Look up for dead branches. Lay the tube across the wind or with one end into it so it does not balloon out like a sail.

Stretch the line tight at about hip to chest height. If it is too low, the plastic lies on your face and everything gets wet. If it is too high, the floor becomes too narrow. A tensioning hitch you can tighten again is helpful, because plastic and line give a little.

Weigh down the corners with pad, backpack and gear so the floor lies flat and the wind cannot get under the plastic. Leave both ends at least partly open. Without a tube, a long flat sheet works in a similar way: lay it over the line and fold both edges inward under the pad.

Plastic never goes over the head and face and must not sag down there either – risk of suffocation. That is why the right height of the line is not only a question of comfort. Children should never play with or sleep in plastic sheeting unsupervised.

No fire is lit and no stove is run under or next to the plastic. Plastic melts and burns easily, and carbon monoxide can build up in a confined space. Cooking happens – where permitted – outdoors at a distance. Also check the local rules on open fires.

A tube tent protects from rain, but not from cold. If you lie in it on a cold night, you need dry clothing and insulation underneath you. With signs of hypothermia – heavy shivering, confusion, listlessness – get help via the local emergency number (112 in the EU).

A tube tent is a good reserve for an emergency kit or day pack: for a break in the rain or a single unplanned night, when two trees stand at a suitable distance. It weighs little and costs little.

It is unsuitable for several nights, strong wind or terrain without anchor points. Thin plastic tears easily, flaps loudly in the wind and is often hardly reusable after one use. Anyone who regularly spends nights outdoors is better served by a tarp, bivy bag or tent.

Pitch the tube tent once in the garden or a park before you rely on it in an emergency. You will notice how long the cord needs to be, which hitch is easy to re-tension and how much room there really is inside.

Lie down in it as a test and notice where the plastic comes close to your face. Adjust the line height so there is enough clearance. Afterwards, pack the tent in a small bag together with enough cord so everything is together in an emergency.