richard_dixon•1mo agoProlific Poster

The way folks judge tent waterproofing has gone completely sideways

I was at a campground last summer near Lake Tahoe and this guy was spraying water on his brand new tent to see if it would bead up. He got all worried because after 10 minutes the inside of the fly felt a little damp to the touch. That's not a leak, that's just condensation from the humidity! I've been camping for 15 years and I learned the hard way that you need to actually set up the tent and wait for a real rainstorm, not just spray it with a hose for 5 minutes. Has anyone else noticed people returning perfectly good tents because they don't understand how breathable fabric works?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_allen1mo ago

Wait, did this guy seriously drench a brand new tent and then blame the fabric? lol. My buddy did the exact same thing with his new REI tent last spring, sprayed it with a garden hose for 15 minutes and then got mad there was condensation inside the fly. He actually drove an hour back to the store to return it, and the guy at the counter just pointed to the tag that said "breathable single-wall design" and he felt like a total idiot. You can't treat a tent like a rain jacket and expect it to stay bone dry on the inside in 90% humidity.

miles_sanchez1mo ago

Sounds like that dude needed a snorkel, not a tent, @olivia_allen.

riley_west15d ago

Nah I gotta disagree a little bit here. Breathable fabrics are great and all but a lot of those single wall tents still have a DWR coating that's supposed to bead water off, and when it's brand new you kinda expect it to work at least a little. If the thing was pooling up inside after a light test that's honestly more of a design issue than user error. Some of these brands cut corners on the inner coating and just blame the customer when it wets out. A tent should keep you dry in normal conditions, period.