The night my $400 tent turned into a puddle in Vermont

Camped up near Stowe last weekend and the forecast said scattered showers, so I figured my 4-season tent could handle it. Woke up at 3am with my sleeping bag soaking wet, water pooled under the bathtub floor like a kiddie pool. Turns out the seam tape on the fly had peeled off after about 60 uses, and I never re-sealed it. I've had cheap Coleman tents hold up in worse weather, so this hurts extra. Does anyone else re-seal their tent seams every spring or am I just the dummy who learned the hard way? Also, any recommendations for a seam sealer that actually lasts more than one season?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliot_gibson271mo ago

Figured out something that might sting a bit. That Coleman you mentioned probably has taped seams too but the tape is way thicker and sloppier, so it holds up better. The fancy ultralight brands use thin tape to save weight and it just crumbles after a year or two of UV exposure. So it's not that you skipped maintenance, it's that the tent was built to be light, not to last. I stopped re-sealing entirely and just carry a small tube of seam grip in my repair kit now. If the tape lifts mid-trip, I slap that on and it fixes it right there, no need to do it every spring ahead of time.

wade87129d ago

Three seasons in a Coleman proved that exact point.