My tent leaked!!

[[AK]Clay]

Relatively new to tent camping - I recieved a 3-man dome tent and a couple nice sleeping bags from work (safety award, for every year nobody chops off a finger, we get a $100 or so safety award

So this weekend the wife and I did some camping in Theadore Rosevelt National Park (it's in North Dakota - on the Montana boarder). (Pics coming soon)

And sure enough, it rained one night. In the morning, there was a small puddle in each of my tent corners. Not alot, probably ~ half a cup or so. But annoying - how to best fix this?

[[AK]Brorlis]

Man Clay I've tried for 10 years to figure out a solution for that pesky water but no help. It never fails if you get a hard enough rain its gonna soak every time. The material those tents are made of just wont take but so much water before they leak on ya. Just a little but annoying still.

[[AK]Rocks]

Camped all weekend and it rained (heavy) one night,, no water in my tent. Big secert to dry tent camping. I put a big tarp over the tent. Its works great.

[[AK]Choozoo]

nylon tent? if so, create a "gutter'for run off. too much rain, and the tent can't handle it. it permeates through, so don't give it a chance. increase slope to get it off the tent quickly.

personally, I just get a hotel

[[AK]Hylander]

Solution: Hotel Room.

[[AK]Beaker]

You just shush Hylander!

Do you know how many years it took me to get him to camp!

Clay's idea of camping in the past is to get a hotel without room service.

Heck it wasn't that bad a leak even. The water pooled at the seams in the corners of the tent and nothing got wet I was impressed with the dryness of the tent.

Of course I grew up in a pup tent (not dome tent) type thing in south east Texas where on several occasions the wind and rain popped the tent out of the ground and the door to the tent was over my head and every seam leaked particularly the one right over your head and no matter what you got soaked.

[[AK]Ozzred]

Great to hear you got out and enjoyed sleeping outside!

Tarps, Tarps, and more Tarps.

I got a Fever, and the only perscription is more Tarps!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EVbAuMr5eac
You can substitute Tarps for cowbell in this clip.

Good Luck!

[sylvanblade]

Hey Beaker, I'm with Clay. Camping is anything without central air. Oh yeah and I grew up in (north) east Texas too. :-P

[[AK]Hylander]

Clay's idea of camping in the past is to get a hotel without room service.

That's my line!

Why do this:



When you can do this?

[[AK]Abaddon]

I'm with Hylander. I grew up and got a real job so I can afford hotel rooms .

[[AK]Clay]

That's an amazing picture Hylander - and proof that hotels are nice!

From the trip (note no tents in these photos - meaning they could have been done just as effectively while using a hotel as base of operations)

Here's what the countryside looks like:



And here we are in the Petrified forest (the off-color rock looking things are actually petrified tree trunks)

[[AK]Beaker]

True you can see the sights from a hotel room.

But you can't have breakfast with a buffalo wandering around your campsite and you don't wake up to a robin who wants you to remove your tent because you covered up the good worms. You don't scare bunny rabbits on your way to the bathroom and you don't drink beers while watching the sunset over the river.

Heck this wasn't even true camping this was car camping. We had a cooler in the back and flush toilets and running water. To be honest, the next time we go I'd love to back country camp this place, maybe do it on horseback.

[[AK]Bribo]

Here's some things to check when buying a new tent:

Does it have factory sealed seams?
Does it have a full rain fly that extends to the bottom of the tent providing full coverage?
Is the rain fly waterproof?
Does it have a waterproof, washtub-style floor.

Clay - if your new tent is deficient in any of these then you will have some water problems. You can try getting some seam-sealer and sealing the seams yourself and that may help a bit. Otherwise, have a tarp handy.

I went camping with the scouts a few weeks ago and I brought my own tent where I slept for the weekend. We had heavy rain all day Saturday and into Sunday. My tent is about 10 years old and I didn't have a drop of water inside.

[[AK]Rocks]

The other thing you can do is bring a tub for the tent. Sleep in the tub and the water will stay out. Plus if the water gets to deep, you float. All the other folks will be jealous. Trust me!

[[AK]Hylander]

The other thing you can do is bring a tub for the tent. Sleep in the tub and the water will stay out. Plus if the water gets to deep, you float. All the other folks will be jealous. Trust me!

My idea of "tub camping".