I do both, depends on the situation. If I am just stuffing the tent (assuming I am not Hanging, which is always my first choice and then this topic becomes N/A) I will put the poles in the side pocket and strap them tight, then stuff the tent in stuff sack. If time or weather is not an issue, I will roll it. But I must admit, I am becoming more of a stuffer when tenting, it just saves time and effort, especially if you have tent that gives you a factory stuffed bag and no extra room, like they think we can all pack it up as tight as the assembly line.

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Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit. ~ Edward Abbey

Had some second thoughts about this subject. I think maybe that stuffing creates sharper and more creases, esp when I stuff it down small. When I was packing up this Wed I asked myself why I was putting it in a small dia tent bag anyway. I use a 110L Eureka dry bag so I just threw the tent and fly into the bottom of the bag and put the other stuff on top of it. Seems to work well---fewer creases because of the bigger bag and I'm prob not pressing on the creases quite so hard. Comments?

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

My packing routine involves both rolling and stuffing.

I use a MEC Wanderer 2 with a fitted footprint (yes, I'm an "outie"), to pack I first take off the fly and give it a few good shakes and snaps in the air to remove most of any rain or dew.

I stuff the fly into the tent bag, and then pick up the tent body with it and the footprint still attached to the poles and the door open and facing down, and shake it to jettison any duff that has found its way inside.

I dismantle the poles, drop the tent body onto the footprint, arrange it as neat and flat as I can and then fold the body into the middle of the footprint. Then I fold the 4 edges of the footprint over the folded tent body, and roll it up like a cabbage roll.

As I roll it, I use my hand to sweep any duff/dirt off of the bottom of the footprint. Then the tent body wrapped in the waterproof footprint goes into the tent bag on top of the stuffed fly and peg bag.

That way even if it had been raining all night, the body of the tent stays dry, even though the fly and bottom of the footprint may have been wet. The poles go into my main pack, and the tent bag gets strapped to the top of my pack, and it doesn't matter if it rains all day; the tent body will remain dry.

Stuffing a tent body into a bag with a wet/dirty footprint and fly will wet the body and make setting up again suck. I find it far better to take the time to roll the body in the footprint to ensure a dry home in my next location. But, to each their own for sure.

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Ubique

I always roll my tent. Last trip I tried stuffing my new solo Marmot into a compression sack and by the end of the trip the waterproof coating was starting to flake off and the seam sealer tape on half the seams was lifting off. Luckily it was still under warranty and they replace it free of charge I’m not sure if it was defective or the compression sack that caused it but that was the one and only time I will ever stuff a tent.

I would say defective, given the number of marmot tents we have had, that we have always stuffed.

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"I've never met a river I didn't like. The challenges are what we remember, and the experiences will make great memories for when I can pick up my paddle no more". Me

That’s good to know because I really like the tent and company. Great customer service, the whole warranty process was easy and they were great to deal with. A few pictures, couple emails back and forward sent them my address and in 4 days I had a new tent. Everything! Poles, stakes, tent body, fly and bag.

I would avoid a compression sack. IMO it would make any creases a bit too sharp.

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

Yes that would probably prevent any creases. I’ll just continue to roll it with the poles.

Wotrock, has an interesting change of thinking on this that is compatible with the science of nylon. Nerd Warning. Years ago, yes the 1970s and 1980s a discussion that I became involved with on nylon was its “shear” strength. That is its ability to survive a repeated hairpin motion as in folding. Lab tests confirmed that nylon threads break after repeated folding, and no I don’t remember the folding counts. Fast forward to 1995, and I am sitting in a oral defense on a polymer fiber research paper and the discussion resurrects itself. Repeated folding shortens the life of useable long nylon fibers. The key is the files must take place at or near the same point to have a negative impact on the fiber. Does that resolve this discussion? No. My solution is stuffage. And poles, Lil Red, outside the bag and often on the outside of the pack. Not perfect and not for everyone but my approach.

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Dam our politicians, not our rivers.

I stuff it sometimes, but I like my tent rolled around the poles, just seems like everything is more protected that way. The poles are protected by the tent, having been folded only the bottom of the tent contacts the poles so there is no chance of abrasion, so mostly I do roll my tent. Not saying its a legitimate concern, just how I like it.

These days I use a tarp about as much as I use a tent though, tarp gets folded to a suitable size and then wrapped around something I want to keep dry. Mosquito net gets stuffed.

Here's a hint. They are called stuff sacks.

Never roll!!

Stuff it - it fills all the random gaps between all the other stuff in your bag.

Canoeing I generally have a small dry bag for the tent though so it can be stuffed wet without getting anything else wet.

I find folding a tent akin to folding a fitted sheet. Lol
I always end up with a roll / stuff end product.

Both, I always fold it in half or thirds so it's the same length as the bag it came with. Then I roll it up with the fly wrapped around it and the poles in the middle. After that it slides right in.

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Have canoe, will travel.

I've tried both ways but always end up returning to rolling. If I roll the tent inside the ground cloth it can rain all day and the tent body is dry. I hate sleeping in a wet tent. If the fly is wet I roll it outside of the ground cloth. But number one reason I roll a tent is for speedy set up. The tent is rolled around the poles and stakes and waterproofed by the ground cloth. I fold everything in fourths so the tent is completely encased in ground cloth. If I will be running rapids or the weather looks wet I fold the tent first inside the ground cloth. If it looks dry I fold the whole package in fourths. When I am ready for set up take the rolled package hold onto the door end and give it a throw. Tent rolls out perfectly. Unfold and everything is right there ready to go. I tried folding once, way to slow. I've tried stuffing and I find it takes significantly longer to set up. I also leave the bottom of the door cracked a bit to let out all the air as I roll.

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