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DIYSteve
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DIYSteve
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PostTue May 23, 2017 9:37 pm 
Brian Curtis wrote:
DIYSteve, what are your Stephenson's made out of?
silnylon
Brian Curtis wrote:
The 70s era Stephenson's didn't last long at all.
My bud had a c. 1980 3R with a polyurethane coated ripstop and it too did not last very long. The PU coating became brittle and eventually led to fabric failures.
Brian Curtis wrote:
These days I have a newer silnylon version of an unknown now that I recently inherited. I assume that will be more long lived.
It should last much longer than the old PU coated ones

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cdestroyer
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PostWed May 24, 2017 5:13 pm 
I usually bought the cheapest tent I could find and after a couple seasons in the outback I just tossed it and bought another. Lot more economical than a $300 tent and trying to keep it fresh. You can buy a lot of tents for that kind of money.

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Randito
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PostThu May 25, 2017 5:02 am 
FWIW: I have an Integral Designs SilShelter that I bought in 2001 that is still in fine shape. SilNylon seems more durable than PU coated nylon. I recently tossed a circa 1980 Eureka Timberline. It had been unused for a decade, but when I pulled it out during a move , I inspected it and found the PU coating was starting to delaminate.

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InFlight
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InFlight
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PostWed Jun 07, 2017 9:40 am 
Most Nylon tent fabrics will degrade (tensile strength) with UV exposure. How often the tent is left out in full sunlight versus just evening /morning use would make a big difference. There are accelerated UV light tests on Nylon that show greatly reduced the material strength (1/3) in as little as 28 hours. There's no direct conversion of the accelerated test hours to real world days; but it is definitely correlated. Obviously the heavier the denier of the fabric, the longer it will last. I'm very guilty of drying my tent in the sunshine when I have the chance. I guess if you can get 150+ nights of use out of a $300 light weight tent it's a good bargain

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...” ― Henry David Thoreau
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uww
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PostWed Jun 07, 2017 2:47 pm 
If I camp on the beach, will my tent be sandy forever? Never done it, but I'd rather spare my good tent if that's the case.

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Ski
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PostWed Jun 07, 2017 4:54 pm 
I've set both my tents up on sand many times - fine river silt, not beach sand - never had any problems shaking it out. If you set up your tent at Burning Man, it will be coated with playa dust forever.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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DIYSteve
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DIYSteve
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PostThu Jun 08, 2017 1:57 pm 
InFlight wrote:
Most Nylon tent fabrics will degrade (tensile strength) with UV exposure. How often the tent is left out in full sunlight versus just evening /morning use would make a big difference.
ditto.gif Stephenson tent instructions urge collapsing the tent and covering with a ground cloth when tent is not in use on sunny days, e.g., doing a day climb from camp. My bud is religious about it with his 3R and it's going strong after est. 15 years.

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fairweather friend
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PostFri Jun 09, 2017 8:56 pm 
Brian Curtis wrote:
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.
I bought a Sierra West tent in 1987 and used it extensively until 2004 when the rain fly became so brittle from UV exposure I thought it would rip in a storm. Never once had a pole or zipper fail. That tent saw many nights in the Cascades, the Sierra Nevadas, the Swiss Alps, the Southern Alps, and along the Pacific Coast from Baja to Alaska. I loved that tent! Lots of great memories. I replaced that tent with a Sierra Designs Meteor Light. Same basic floor size, but way heavier due to large vestibule and two doors. The poles started snapping after one year of use. I got them replaced on warranty, but I still had one break every couple years. I got about ten years out of that tent before buying a standard REI Half Dome for car camping and a couple BA tents for backpacking (solo & 2-person.)

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