Found out my tent's waterproof rating was a total lie from a YouTube teardown video

I watched a guy cut open my brand of tent and the inner coating was half the thickness they advertised. It was 1500mm rated but the actual material only held up to 800mm in his test. Anyone else find a gear stat that didn't match reality?

3 comments

3 Comments

lilya761mo agoMost Upvoted

Hang on a minute, let me play the other side. That YouTube guy's test might not match real-world conditions at all. He probably cut a random spot from one tent batch, and factories can have bad runs that don't mean the whole brand is lying. I've seen his other videos where he uses a homemade pressure rig that could easily give wrong readings if he didn't calibrate it. Plus, a 1500mm rating usually means the fabric can handle a static water column that high, not that it's even across every inch. Your tent might be totally fine in a light rain or even a downpour if the seams are taped right and you pitch it correctly.

murphy.aaron1mo ago

but that's exactly the problem, the advertised spec is supposed to be the worst case not the best case. if they say 1500mm and the actual coating can't even hold 800mm in a simple test then the whole rating system is garbage. you can't just wave it off as a bad batch when the teardown showed a consistent thin layer across the whole panel. i've seen dozens of those tests and the brands that are honest about their specs don't have this issue, they're consistent batch to batch. it's like buying a car that says it gets 30 mpg but actually gets 18 and someone tells you "well maybe you just drove it wrong." the whole point of a rating is so you know what you're actually getting, not what you might get if everything goes perfect.

ryan_shah381mo ago

You said it with the car example (and @lilya76 might disagree, but)... that's exactly how I look at it too. I've had a few tents over the years, and the honest ones with lower ratings always outperformed the fancy numbers. Like, a reputable brand that rates 800mm will keep you dry in a steady rain no problem, but I've seen a "1500mm" cheapo wet out after an hour because the coating was just there for the sales tag. My go-to move is to just ignore the spec sheet altogether and look for independent reviews from people who actually set the tent up in the backyard and sprayed it with a hose for 10 minutes. If that doesn't hold up, the number on the box is pointless.