Staying dry is a noble aim, however in practice it is a challenging and sometimes impossible goal to achieve. Modern clothing and equipment has made great advances in this area, but a salesperson who swears that a garment will always keep you dry has not spent enough time on the west coast. Sometimes the best you can achieve in the New Zealand mountains (and obviously Patagonia) is to be 'Patagonia comfortable', or warm and wet! Still, it is important to stay as dry as possible and this requires a bit of craft and effort.

Lazyness, leaks and lakes are the Alliance of Adversity (a bit like the Axis of Evil, but wetter)...

Banish lazyness, be organised and dilligent!

• Pitch your tent well, use all of the guy lines, retension the tent when being wet causes it to sag and if you need to get up in the middle of the night to adjust it, then do so
• Don't allow the inner tent fabric to brush against the fly (outer tent) fabric. If there is any condensation inside the fly it will then wick through into the inner tent. If there is also consensation on the inside of the tent inner fabric then it means that your tent is lacking ventilation or you are camped in a saturated air mass (ie a cloud). Again maximise ventilation and avoid touching the tent inner at all
• Maintain lots of ventilation. I cannot emphasise this enough, most moisture in tents comes from condensation, not leaks! Create a through-flow of air by pitching he tent end on to the wind (his is also the most stable orientation) and open vents. Cooking in your tent vestibule is also a huge source of steam that can cause condensation problems
• Look after your sleeping bag! Wrap it in plastic or a dry bag when it is in your pack. When in a tent, keep it centered on your ground pad and ensure your feet do not push against the end of the tent where your sleeping bag will get wet from condensation on the tent wall)
• Get changed in the tent vestibule or hut porch! Be pedantic about keeping the inner hut/tent dry, even if it means getting changed one person at a time in a crowded tent vestibule. The reward is a dry home where you can kick back and relax without having to avoid sock drenching puddles!
• Dress properly for toilet trips! Don't get your nice dry 'sacred'camp clothing wet in the rain during the 100 yard dash to the outhouse, put on the wet gear again if needed
• Keep clothing and gear organised! Keep wet rain gear tidily in the porch or vestibule and keep dry clothing well inside and where other folks' horrible stinking and dripping socks won't ruin your day
• Dry what you can, learn to live with what you can't! You can sometimes dry damp next to skin clothing items likes gloves, socks and lightweight thermal tops/pants by putting them between or over dry layers of clothing around your belly, over your shoulders or on the front of your thighs, or by wearing them over the top of a dry layer. Only try these techniques when you are warm, and with damp clothing (not wet). On a wet rainy day, in a warm foggy hut or tent, the humidiy is usually 100% and hanging out sodden outer clothing will only make the atmosphere wetter and ruin any chance you had of drying important next to skin clothing. Trying to dry outer clothing in such conditions is counter productive
• Store your pack upside down, in a sheltered spot, with the pack liner bag twisted and tucked If you have a good pack liner then gear should stay dry in your pack even when it is left outside in the rain. Leaving the pack upside down prevents water pooling in the bottom. Pack covers can work well too but not all covers are truly waterproof
• Am I sounding pedantic yet?
• Put on your wet clothing again each day before setting off and keep your 'sacred' camp clothing dry