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RumiDude
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus
PostThu Aug 26, 2021 11:32 pm 
Well truthfully, the OP asked her question in 2013 and seemingly got her resolution from Eureka shortly thereafter. The thread was briefly revived in 2016 by Brucester with one post hoping Tenacious Tape fixed his tent. Then it was again revived just three days ago by Chief Joseph wondering if his ten year old Mountain Hardwear tent was worth trying to fix. He like the design but doesn't want to spent much money for the solution. I will reiterate, most of these older tents that used a polyurethane waterproof coating are not worth the effort to fix. Trying to fix them is just throwing good money and hard effort into a sinking ship. Time to give it up to the salvagers. If Chief Joseph wants to try slinging a cheap tarp over it, that may give it a second life. In my opinion that would not be satisfactory. YMMV Alternatively he might contact Mountain Hardware and see if they have a fly they will give him. Or maybe they are willing to give him a discount on a newer tent. FWIW, I had a similar issue with a Big Agnes tent with the polyurethane coating peeling off all over it. I called Big Agnes and they told me to send it in. I did and they csent me an email that the tent was not fixable but would offer me a 30% discount on a new tent of my choice. I declined and asked them to sent the tent back. Instead they sent me a newer updated model of the same tent. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."

Chief Joseph
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Bowregard
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PostFri Aug 27, 2021 7:04 am 
The process used on these poly tents must have changed over the years. I hear a lot about poly tents peeling at 5-15 years old but my Sierra poly that is much older did not do that. The seam sealing peeled of easily but the fabric waterprooof coating just disappeared. I did not have to do anything more than wash it, seal the seams, and re-apply a new poly coating. Maybe it was so old the original waterproofing turned to dust.

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JonnyQuest
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PostFri Aug 27, 2021 8:18 am 
Unfortunately, PU coatings on tents are prone to mildew and degrade over time, especially if left exposed to humidity. For optimum lifespan, it’s very important to completely dry your tent before storage. Dirty? Who cares… Dry? A absolute must! Storage location should be someplace as cool and dry as possible. And best practice is to NOT store your tent in it’s (waterproof) stuff sack. Rather, store it loosely rolled, folded, or flaked, maybe in something like a breathable cotton pillow case if you’re looking for containment. There are coatings – PEPU is one example – that are less prone to mildew and degradation and provide a longer life span for your tent. But they’ll lighten your wallet a bit more.

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Bowregard
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PostFri Aug 27, 2021 9:00 am 
Does modern sil-poly fare better in this respect? I see a some manufacturers starting to go this direction.

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Malachai Constant
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PostFri Aug 27, 2021 10:01 am 
We had a MSR Hubba Hubba that the fly had deteriorated and smelled like cat pea. We took it back and they gave us a new one for free. That was BC. Big Agness has a recycling program that is economical also.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Randito
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PostFri Aug 27, 2021 10:04 am 
Bowregard wrote:
Does modern sil-poly fare better in this respect? I see a some manufacturers starting to go this direction.
I have a 20 year old silnylon tarp/tent that is still waterproof. No signs of deterioration.

Bowregard, Gil
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JonnyQuest
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PostFri Aug 27, 2021 1:28 pm 
Bowregard wrote:
Does modern sil-poly fare better in this respect? I see a some manufacturers starting to go this direction.
I'm pretty sure the sil treatment on sil-nylon and sil-poly lasts longer PU coatings. However, it usually has a lower "hydrostatic head" (measure of waterproofness) than PU coated fabrics. Some feel it's not adequate, but many feel it works great. Brands (Tarptent for example) have had success with sil-nylon fabrics (and I'm quite happy with my silnylon TT Stratospire). But because of the lower hydrostatic head, you usually don't find non PU coated sil fabric used as floor fabric. Just fly fabric, which is not subjected to the same pressures. Also, there are some tents using PU coated fabrics with a sil "kiss coat" on the exterior. These are still termed "sil-nylon" or "sil-poly". But the PU coating on these is still a PU coating...

Bowregard
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Franco
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PostFri Aug 27, 2021 3:12 pm 
If a tent comes factory seam taped , it has a PU coat on the underside, at least. Silicone does not degrade like PU however some sil coating does have a small ammount of PU mixed in. There is no standard water head performance. There is silnylon rated at 800mm as well as there is at 5000mm and much in-between. The current version , from South Korea, used by Tarptent is rated 3000mm plus. ( I think that the factory rating is 3000mm but the tester at TT has measured samples at a higher rating than that) . Many PU coated BA, MSR and Nemo tents are rated at 1200mm or 1500mm.

Bowregard, RumiDude
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