The task of keeping sand and dirt out of your tent seems like a simple “common sense” job at first glance. After extensive experience camping at the beach, it’s never as simple as we hope it will be. I have tried countless tricks and hacks to keep it out, very few were successful. I have found the tricks in this article to be the most useful in keeping a tent free of sand when camping on the beach.
Why It’s Important to Keep a Sand Free Tent
If you are asking this question, you likely have never had the opportunity to sleep in a grit-filled sleeping bag. Sleeping in sand typically isn’t very fun, setting a duffle bag or even worse, a food container, in a tent with sand covering everything is never fun. Sand in your sleeping areas whether it’s a sleeping bag, cots or blankets can cause significant skin irritation and inflammation. Rolling around on sharp grains of sand all night long is not fun, I know from experience. Sand has a certain property that can work its way into all the tiny nooks and crannies, seems, and creases of every aspect of your camping gear, food, body, and clothing. Most of the reason behind this is the shape of the sand grains themselves. Some sand will adhere to materials better than others based on material make-up, grain structure, and various other properties all of which can cause you issues when camping. There is a lot of research concerning sand to read, but for our purposes just know that all sands are not created equal.
Types of Sands:
There are seemingly endless types of sands and they all can have advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately, we don’t get to choose what type of sand is on the beach when we go camping, whatever is there is what we have to prepare for when camping at any specific location or beach. According to CivilJungle.Com, sand is a granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. So be prepared when beach camping and see the links for different types and properties of sand.
Dust Broom
A dust broom kept at the tent door is very useful when needing to remove the sand from items and even feet. A small dust broom could be hung near the tent door keeping it handy when entering the tent with items that may have sand on them. I like this type of broom for dusting off the sand because you can use it for other things as well, but smaller brooms are nice to have as well. Normally this is very effective for items you may need to bring into the tent and less effective for feet. While it will work for your feet there is typically a very light sandy residue left on your feet and possibly sand in the tiny crevices and between your toes that a broom or brush may not be able to remove.
Water
Of course, rinsing with water seems the most obvious when trying to ensure sand doesn’t get into your tent. Water can be the most useful at times, depending on the water supply and the distance to that supply. Keeping a water bucket next to the tent can help keep you sand-free inside the tent. One way is to dip your feet into the bucket prior to stepping into the tent. Another option is to just pour the water over your feet while wearing sandals and then take the sandals off prior to climbing into the tent. I have also used a plant watering pail or can to rinse off my feet. This option works fairly well but is a bit slower and more cumbersome when compared to just dipping your feet into the water.
Landing Mat
A plastic or rubber mat outside the tent to stand on while sprinkling water over your feet is my favorite option to clean sandy objects and feet before entering my tent. As long as the mat is non-permeable the sand easily washes away leaving a clean surface. If you have read many of my articles you are aware that I’m a big fan of lightweight camping gear. I have had my fill of heavy pack-outs to campsites in remote locations. If you are able to drive near your campsite, weight is a much smaller issue. Keep weight in mind when looking for a landing mat for the rinsing sand away, some mats can a lot of weight to your pack out. The larger the mat the harder it is to keep clean and more water it will require to remove the sand from the mat completely, of course. On the other hand, the larger the mat the better it serves as a landing mat to help keep more objects sand-free such as shoes, bags, and other camping gear. I like the 6ft option of this mat, I can just rinse it off and roll it up when packing up the campsite.
Being Particular
Finding all the hacks and tricks that are super useful in combatting sand accumulation inside your tent is useless if you don’t take care in using them. Having kids on a camping trip at the beach can cause sand to accumulate much more quickly in the tents. Kids don’t have the same concerns as adults, especially when it comes to sand. Using care and being particular about what enters the tents can make a huge difference when camping at the beach.