Rooftop Camping

[Oddman]

So I'm going to be heading out onto the road for the first real time starting about September. I can hold my own at climbing up buildings, so I've been planning on doing a lot of my camping on top of roofs. But I haven't actually done that yet, so I keep wondering a couple things about it. Maybe someone around here with some experience on roofs can shed some light on these things.

• When it rains, how do you keep the water from soaking you from beneath? Clever setup of a groundcloth? A tent with a good waterproof bottom? Strategic placement on dryish parts of the roof?
• What do you do if you have a shelter that needs staking in order to stay up? Just avoid having that kind of shelter in the first place? Or tie it off to stuff that's on the roof?

 

[hshh]

the most simple solution, dont sleep on a roof if its raining

 

[Agni Riniari]

the most simple solution, dont sleep on a roof if its raining

Agreed. Simplest.

Though, if you are going to, and this is probably fairly obvious, raising yourself, or your shelter in this case, any height off the surface will provide as much safety from water as you will need. Now, accomplishing this would be on a situation by situation basis. Though, an idea to start from would be a few planks spaced out and a piece a plywood on top of those. Again, you may not have this available at all times, so, get creative.

Also, the tying of your tent down onto things on the roof may bring you up to a few or more problems down the line as you might not always have adequately spaced 'roof items' to properly secure your tent. Though, tying it down might not be necessary, depending on where you are at the time, seeing as how, while it is setup, you will mostly likely be occupying it, which will take away the issue of it blowing away. So, if it can be setup without stakes, you're still okay, pretty much, hence, aim for such a shelter if that is what you are 'planning' for.

Hopefully that helps a bit.

- Agni

 

[Oddman]

Sounds pretty reasonable. I'm hoping soon to invent a way to fold a tarp that turns it into a tent and doesn't need any staking. But if it turns out too difficult I'll just start looking for a no-stake tent, just in case.

I'm in a place where there's a monsoon season, and I have access to a roof. I'll test out some strategies.

 

[Kim Chee]

How to keep from getting soaked:
Go to your local convenience store and look around back where you can find those plastic coke/pepsi trays all stacked up. Grab some when nobody is looking. Lay them out in the shape of a bed, put cardboard over that. Get a good tarp, don't be a cheap bastard now, none of this has cost you any money so far. While at the hardware store, get some hooks and masonry glue which you can use to secure your tarp to the structure you're dwelling on. Slip the grommets of your tarp over the hooks. Get under there and you should be dry in most conditions. If the building isn't occupied and there is no alarm, look for a "roof access" hatch and get inside the damn thing.

 

[daveycrockett]

jump, problem solved