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mbtigger
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mbtigger
Sherpa Da
PostSat Aug 13, 2016 1:23 pm 
About 6 years ago I bought a 3 person Mountain Hardware Lightyear tent. Most years it sees about 10 nights of use. recently some of the tent fabric has started to pull away from the zipper and the door netting has developed a few small holes i know I can repair these things, but I wonder how long those repairs will last and if they are worth the effort. The only way to know for SURE is to do them, but it had me wonder how long do people tend to use their tent for? when do they buy a new one? How long is the lifespan of a tent in your eyes? When do repairs become more problematic than buying a new one? Just looking for opinions.. MB

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Ski
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Ski
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PostSat Aug 13, 2016 1:39 pm 
my 1964 White Stag still works just fine. I've had the zipper repaired and had to fix one of the pole pieces, but other than that it's in great shape. only reason I stopped using it and went to a simpler design was because it was a pain in the ass - it uses 24 tent pegs and requires an area about 10' x 16' to set up.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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the1mitch
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PostSat Aug 13, 2016 2:33 pm 
In 1978 my wife and I sewed up a Frostline Kits Mountain tent. It has over 170 nights on it and other than the bottom fabric having lost it's waterproofing, it still has lots of life in it. I have been in 75 mile and hour wind in it and it rolled over with 3 people and a golden retriever named Ollie in it. No damage other than to my pride. Last year I finally said good by to my Eureka Timberline. That fella had over 100 nights on it and would still be ok if I hadn't loaned it to a friend who left it set up incorrectly in the California sun for a month. Clean your gear by not letting it get dirty, dry them religiously when wet, always use a footprint and roll instead of fold! Now my go to tent due to weight concerns for my creaky knees, is an 8 x 10 Equinox Sylnylon tarp.

illegitimi non carborundum!
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coldrain108
Thundering Herd



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coldrain108
Thundering Herd
PostSun Aug 14, 2016 9:15 am 
I have a 25 year old Northface westwind. I would still trust it extreme conditions, but maybe not so much for 7 days of continuous rain. I never folded or rolled it, I stuffed it randomly so as to never create any type of crease at all. I'm no boyscout, that's for sure, as neatness counts for less than zero. I have a new silnylon tent now, I can't imagine it lasting 25 years of continuous use.

Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
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Brucester
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PostMon Aug 15, 2016 6:46 pm 
My thruhiking buddy Yogi hiked something like 1,400 miles with her Tarp Tent Virga before passing it along to me. Another 3,100 some odd miles and I still use it on occasion. It's so light and simple to set up I just can't part with it. Good for mosquitoes and light rain. It has a slight smell to it is the only thing. Tried a bunch of things including replacing the floor but the odor is from the sil nylon. It's a primary reason I don't use it as often. The zipper and the floor have been replaced. The sil nylon works ok after all these years. 16+ years. I might pass it along if you promise to use it and show it more miles. Then pass it along for free once you're done with it.

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InFlight
coated in DEET



Joined: 20 May 2015
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InFlight
coated in DEET
PostWed Aug 17, 2016 8:49 am 
Brucester wrote:
It has a slight smell to it is the only thing. Tried a bunch of things including replacing the floor but the odor is from the sil nylon. It's a primary reason I don't use it as often
The tent likely has some mildew on the Silnylon. There are enzymic cleaners that kill any active mildew and eliminate the odor. REI and others carry McNett MiraZyme. I always dry my tents in the sun (on top a hedge) when I return from an outing, or alternately have some small hooks in the garage ceiling to hang them to dry before storing. Turn the tent inside out to make sure it is good and dry everywhere.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...” ― Henry David Thoreau
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pcg
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PostMon Oct 03, 2016 4:02 pm 
the1mitch wrote:
In 1978 my wife and I sewed up a Frostline Kits Mountain tent. It has over 170 nights on it and other than the bottom fabric having lost it's waterproofing, it still has lots of life in it. I have been in 75 mile and hour wind in it
Awesome! I sewed mine up in 1973 and we crammed two adults and two children in it. After all these years it is still in great shape except the waterproofing has peeled off the fly. It also survived a night of high winds on Long's Peak with three adults inside. To this day that is still the scariest night of my life. Extremely strong tents, but heavy. At over 9#, ours never gets used anymore. We are now happy with a Stephenson Warmlite, which is holding up well, but I'm very careful with it as the materials are thin. Easy to set up, a little over 4#, and very stable in high winds. Condensation is a problem though. We've had it four years and by the end of the year we'll have over 40 nights in it. Because of the cost I'll be unhappy if we don't get well over 100 nights out of it. OTOH, I'll be surprised if we get ten years of heavy use out of it because the material is so thin. Can't wait for the price of Dyneema to come down... Nothing kills a tent like sunlight. I try to pitch in shade or strike the tent and cover it with a space blanket and rocks during the day if I can.

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Jaberwock
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PostMon Oct 03, 2016 7:52 pm 
The sil-nylon is worlds better than the old PU coated fabrics when it comes to longevity. One of my tarp-tents has hundreds of nights on it and I've only had to replace the zipper pulls. Crazy fabric.

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BlueMountainMan
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PostThu Oct 13, 2016 1:38 pm 
Just threw out my 31 year old Sierra West lightweight tent. Bought it at REI on Capitol Hill back in '85; have slept in it about 200 times. Kept me dry every time. Started to smell lightly a few years ago, not so much of a problem when you're outdoors; now it's downright bad. In spite of the sentimentality, I said my thank yous and goodbyes and tossed it. I kept the two poles and they now reside decoratively in my garden(I don't know why. They're part of a display of cool looking curved cedar branches- art in unusual places!) I remember paying like $200+ for this thing in '85, so I figured I was getting a good product. Only weighed 4.5 pounds and could be set up in about 3 minutes! I've never seen any other products from this company Sierra West, but they made a good tent. . . . Still have my equally old MSR Whisperlite International stove. Works fine, have only replaced the O rings and kept it clean.

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slugsworth
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PostSat Nov 12, 2016 3:04 pm 
I had a moss that lasted over ten years and got sold to an excited fanboy of that brand. I had one tent failure in the field - that really sucked - due to age. It was a 10 year old kelty and the tape on the taped seams failed 3 days into a 7 day trip on the first rain storm. Prior to said trip, I set it up and rewaterproofed it. . . In hind sight I wish I had seam sealed it- which isn't something I've traditionally done on taped seam tents.

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cdestroyer
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PostSun Nov 13, 2016 9:01 am 
I may not have read the original post correctly but I saw nothing that mentioned what season yall use your tents. So...I used to pack a tent/poles/stakes. It hung off the bottom of my pack and was very good for keeping the pack upright whenever I set it on the ground..When I began staying outback for more than a day or two I dropped the pack in favor of a tube tent I found at YardBirds in oly. After that wore out I found you could buy tube type material in a hardware store and just cut the length you needed. Run a rope thru it and tie to trees in the summer...Weight was negligible, cost was low and you could stuff it just about anyplace in your pack...I did not hike in the winter so did not need a tent....

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Brian Curtis
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Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker
PostSun Nov 13, 2016 10:33 am 
BlueMountainMan, I used to have a Sierra West tent from 1984. I believe they were bought by another company at some point. That tent saw heavy use for at least 20 years with only the zippers and one grommet in the rain fly ever needing repair. cdestroyer, I still have dreadful memories of uncomfortable, sleepless nights in a tube tent. I have absolutely no fond memories of them at all.

that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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ranger rock
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ranger rock
One of the boys
PostThu May 18, 2017 4:43 pm 
My tarp tent is 12 years old and it is very near the end of it's life according to Henry Shires. The fabric is worn out. No through hiking, just a couple of section hikes and a lot of 1-3 nighters over the years. Don't know if camping on the beach shortened it's life. My Eureka Guide series tent needed a new rainfly after just 6 years. My Coleman backpacking tent was toast after about 8 years.

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DIYSteve
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
PostTue May 23, 2017 7:08 pm 
pcg wrote:
Nothing kills a tent like sunlight.
Jaberwock wrote:
sil-nylon is worlds better than the old PU coated fabrics when it comes to longevity.
QFT. Packing a dusty tent can also contribute to accelerated wear. I replaced zippers in my 20 y.o. Stephenson 3R and my 18 y.o. BD MegaLight. Each have >200 nights of use and are still serviceable but a bit more mist gets through in a hard rain compared to their first 5 years of use. Time will tell how well my MLD DuoMid XL will hold up. So far est. 30 nights and it's holding up well.

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Brian Curtis
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Brian Curtis
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PostTue May 23, 2017 8:37 pm 
DIYSteve, what are your Stephenson's made out of? The 70s era Stephenson's didn't last long at all. We went through a couple and my dad even replaced the floor on one of those. These days I have a newer silnylon version of an unknown now that I recently inherited. I assume that will be more long lived. I had given up on Stephenson by the 80s.

that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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