# My One Great Suggestion to Tent Campers



## whitworth (Oct 15, 2008)

Got to spend a great deal of time one summer, during the week and some on weekends, camping in a tent.
Saw all kinds of weather.  Saw how unprepared some campers were with their old tents.  

First, they're not $1000 tents, so the waterproofing doesn't last forever.  

I didn't wait the year out to waterproof my new tent.  Bought some silicone spray cans from an auto parts store.  Cheaper than the spray cans that have pictures of tents and outdoor gear.

Remembered one night I heard a lot of commotion in a drive-in camp.  One fella had three inches of water in his tent.  "How wet did you get, he asked?"  I'm dry.  He couldn't believe it.  

I'm sure there are thousands and thousands of tents sitting in houses unused.  Last used the night the cloud bursts opened up on a unprepared tent.


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## crackerdave (Oct 15, 2008)

Great tip - thanks! That stuff with the tent picture IS expensive.


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## Randy (Oct 15, 2008)

A tarp works better.  I don't trust any tent in a real rain.  They make keep a little shower out but I have camped in tornados and 100 year rains and a tarp is the only thing that will keep that kind of rain out.


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## cardfan (Oct 17, 2008)

all i know is this...If it's raining...don't touch the sides...it'll keep that water out until you make contact with it...then it's gonna pour in...

Went to survival school in FL...we used old parachutes for tents in the pouring rain...key was to stretch it tight and don't touch it...


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## jonkayak (Oct 19, 2008)

Buy a good tent and never worry about it. I logged over 100 nights three years in a row. Never had a problem with rain, snow, or wind. I only buy Sierra Designs, Mountain Hardware, MSR, REI, Eureka, and North Face. You can get a good REI or Eureka tent for $100 and it'll last years and years.


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## Mako22 (Nov 2, 2008)

jonkayak said:


> Buy a good tent and never worry about it. I logged over 100 nights three years in a row. Never had a problem with rain, snow, or wind. I only buy Sierra Designs, Mountain Hardware, MSR, REI, Eureka, and North Face. You can get a good REI or Eureka tent for $100 and it'll last years and years.



I have a 15 year old Eureka timberline and it works great.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Nov 6, 2008)

Good subject right now....Reminds me to get a tent ready
for Hard Labor Creek in Dec...Not gonna pull the camper....
Got 2 bottles of seam sealer, and 2 cans of silicone I will use
after I set it up at the park...

Thanks for startin this thread !!!


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## crackerdave (Nov 7, 2008)

I gotta tell y'all this - 

When I was tent camping at St.Andrews park in Panama City,I had site # 36.I pitched my tent pretty close to the water,and didn't think much about it.The high water mark was well below my tent.
It had been raining hard for two days,and my cheap,leaky tent was taking on water,but not too much.I went to sleep after taking a sleeping pill so the constant noise of the tent flapping in the 30+ mph wind wouldn't keep me awake.
Well - I slept like a baby log,but when I woke up,I was FLOATING on my air mattress in about 10 inches of water IN the tent,and another foot or so UNDER the tent!
The combination of heavy rains and wind caused a much higher than normal high - and I mean HIGH - tide,and the site flooded all the way to the road!

I don't think seam sealer would've saved me that time


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## MisterClean (Jan 4, 2009)

I have been using three little $30 backpacker Coleman tents I snatched up at Target three years ago.  Since we've been under drought conditions the whole time, I haven't seen rain during camping.  Now that it's raining every week, I'll get them set up and hose 'em down with silicone - thanks!


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## ccbiggz (Jan 20, 2009)

Me and a buddy stayed there one night when a storm blew in. Worst storm I've ever camped in, but it was fun anyway!







rangerdave said:


> I gotta tell y'all this -
> 
> When I was tent camping at St.Andrews park in Panama City,I had site # 36.I pitched my tent pretty close to the water,and didn't think much about it.The high water mark was well below my tent.
> It had been raining hard for two days,and my cheap,leaky tent was taking on water,but not too much.I went to sleep after taking a sleeping pill so the constant noise of the tent flapping in the 30+ mph wind wouldn't keep me awake.
> ...


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## Bill Mc (Jan 20, 2009)

I bought a tent in 1965 (Fulton Tent Co) which was made of some tight mesh light weight material. 

That tent never leaked during my years of family camping. Touch the sides all you want, no leaks. This was really impotant having three young'uns. 

I also used in hunting. No problems. 

Now it sits in my basement unused.  What do you do with old tents?


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## contender* (Jan 25, 2009)

Bill Mc said:


> Now it sits in my basement unused.  What do you do with old tents?



Sell them to people that have never tent camped... I've got two in the basement, both dome tents, that I'll probably never use again. Got soaked one night on an Allatoona hunt. It came a flood and soaked up through the bottom.


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## OnAWing (Feb 5, 2009)

*Old tents*

Set those old tents up in the back yard when the grandkids come. They make awesome playhouses! Throw in some harmless accessories and they will be safe in there for hours!
JR


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## Nugefan (Feb 5, 2009)

be careful putting silicone on thets that are canvas , it is not good for them ....


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## Indy (Feb 6, 2009)

A tents only as good as the sealer at the seams and the ground cloth you have under it.  I've worked with Boy Scouts for 30+ years and the ones that suffer on the rainey trips are the ones with tarps that extend outside the bottom of the tent.  Definite no-no.  Make sure the tent has a tub style bottom (most do now adays) so there's not a seam at the ground.

Nugefans's right about canvas.  Don't spray anything on them, don't spray anything in them either.  Seen many a leak develop on tents sprayed inside with bug spray.


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## dawgfan25 (Feb 11, 2009)

i would trust my eureka backcountry 1 man tent in any weather snow, rain, and heavy wind


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## papasmurff (Feb 12, 2009)

scout troop i was leader in have Eureka for years and when i used a tent that is what bought tough tough tents


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## Miguel Cervantes (Feb 12, 2009)

Spray em inside and out and they will float before they will leak. Don't forget to apply the roll on seam sealer either.


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## coreyb2 (Mar 9, 2009)

water in a tent does suck


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