TheGov
Hayden, Alabama
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Joined: 08/01/2008
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What is the best way to rain proof a tent?
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troyh
Bismarck, ND
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they sell cans of water repellant and make sure you get all of the seams very good. i put it on the seams twice to make sure. and 1 time on the tent sides and top a couple times a season.
Troyh
Troy, DW, 2 Sons
'07 F150 5.4ltr 3.73 gears
'08 Couger 292RKS Fifth Wheel
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Fishinghat
Western Washington, USA
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Water repellant sure helps, but a rain fly is a proven method to help keep the water out. A light weight nylon fly that is larger then the tent floor is suspended over the tent with a small air space between the top of the tent and the rain fly. JMHO
Holiday Rambler Navigator DP, Mustang Convertible, and Honda VT1100C Shadow.
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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It will make it heavier and cost like $65 a gallon but you can rubberize it with Liquid Rubber.
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old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
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back in the eight's I had a large dome tent. I used scotch guard on it. I think we put about ten cans of the stuff on it. It was a big tent. We sprayed it inside and out. But we never had any leaks.
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mzappala
Hinckley, Ohio
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Why rainproof a tent? Won't that inhibit the breathability?
I thought that's what a rainfly was for. And seam sealer. And a good quality tent with bathtub floors and factory sealed seams.
Spraying the entire tent with some sealer seems odd to me. But I'm not a seasoned camper...only about 5 years under my belt.
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jtbeck
Kentucky
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It shouldn't affect breathability too much with all the open mesh on top of tents these days, should it? I'm guessing the OP has a rain fly but wants to make sure water doesn't get in any other way. I know that's assuming quite a bit of course.
But, and I know all tents are different, my tents all have copious amounts of mesh that don't close on the roofs. If not for the rain fly water could pour in with no way to stop it. That alone should take care of any breathability issues shouldn't it?
Me (69), DW (69), DD (95), DS (00), DS (01) and 1 camping toy fox terrier (08)
95 Fleetwood Utah, 02 Ford Explorer Limited (V8)
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frank6160
Alabama
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Hang a tarp over it. Make sure to give it plenty of angle to drain and secure it well.
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DocWard
Ohio, when I'm not in Kuwait
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Well, the first question is whether it is leaking now. Tape the seams, use a tarp under the floor that does NOT extend past the edges of the tent so water doesn't gather on it, make sure that it is clean and put up properly so it is taut but not straining. Do this in a backyard and spray water on it to see if there are any leaks. On the non-mesh/breathable portion, spray some teflon based water repellent if necessary.
All I have ever needed to do is use seam tape on a couple of spots though.
On my L.L Bean backpackers dome tent that is twenty years old, I have never even had to do that, and it has seen a lot of use over the years.
"All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song'
-Louis Armstrong
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Chock Full o' Nuts
GA
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frank6160 wrote:Hang a tarp over it. Make sure to give it plenty of angle to drain and secure it well.
That's what we always did. We had one that was about 30ftx 20ft--you could cover a house with it! We called it The Big Top, strung it up with marine rope so it floated high above the tent, no flapping. It kept the entire site dry--I never had to put away a wet tent!
"Those who dwell...among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life."--Rachel Carson, environmentalist, 1956
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