Stumbled on a stat about tent waterproofing failure rates that surprised me

I was reading through some lab test results from a gear testing site and found out that over 30% of budget tents lose their waterproof coating after just 2 years of regular use. Has anyone else noticed their tent getting leaky way faster than expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sage9d ago

30% failure rate in just two seasons is way worse than I expected. That basically means any budget tent is a gamble right out of the gate if you use it more than a few times a year. How many of those tested tents actually had factory seam sealing done right, or were they just relying on the coating alone?

craig.parker9d ago

Yeah, "a gamble right out of the gate" is exactly right. I had a budget tent that seemed fine at first, but after about a year and a half of maybe ten trips the coating started peeling off like a bad sunburn. I resealed the seams myself, but the fabric itself was just done. It's not like I was abusing it either, just normal camping in light rain. You get what you pay for I guess, but man it stings when it fails that fast.

evan_grant709d ago

Respectfully, I see it a bit different @the_sage. A 30% failure rate over two seasons actually sounds pretty good for budget tents when you think about how cheaply they're built. Most people treat them like disposable gear anyway. Not saying it doesn't sting when yours goes bad, just that the odds were way better than I'd expect from something at that price point.