How waterproof should I expect my tent to be?

[MuddyWaters]

Cuben has condensation for sure. It tends to be a wet film. It runs down canopy to edge readily and doesnt seeem to form big drops like some fabric flys do. It still mists in hard rain too.

I had a minor leak above face once where an attachment point was sewn and the seal patch over inside had a tiny wrinkle. During severral hours of heavy rain one afternoon, i watched a steady rivulet of water run down canopy inches from my face. Never dripped.

[Jim Adams]

I have a Kelty Votex / Gunnison 2 that weighs in at 5lbs. and it is totally dry in ANY storm or situation. It does have condensation but none that drips or enters the tent body. I had it in a 4 day rain in Canada and not a drop. A little heavy for backpacking but not bad if you split the weight...worth every bit of dryness. A light tent does you no good I you are carrying 2 pounds of water in your sleeping bag.

[Lyle]

Few, if any, tents are 100% dry, 100% of the time, or even a majority of the time. I say that from going on 40 years of backpacking experience with many types of tents.

All decent tents will keep the vast majority of precipitation off of you the vast majority of the time.

You do need to incorporate a few other tricks along the way:
- seam sealing as already discussed
- Make your camp in an appropriate area to reduce moisture.
- I find a ground cloth under the tent extremely beneficial - if used properly.
- Make sure you stay on your sleeping pad for the reason you have already learned.
- Electronics go into plastic bags - even inside the tent.
- Keep away from the walls of the tent as much as possible.
- Try to lay so that your mouth is near a ventilation point. If you breath right onto a solid tent wall, you will increase condensation tremendously.
- Most modern sleeping bags have water resistant shells, so this helps tremendously - look for that when buying a new bag.
- Sleeping bags will still accumulate moisture from both inside and outside during a trip - incorporate drying time for your bag during every trip. Laundry or hanging on a sunny, breezy day.
- Contrary to what you often hear, do not sleep with or place wet clothing under your bag at night - think about it, where does that moisture go as it dries the clothes? Best to dry clothing by hanging or wearing them dry the next day.
- Keep clothing you do not want to get damp off the floor and covered by something less crucial while in the tent.

Any thing listed above need more clarification, just ask.

Camping is a series of compromises, you find what works "best" for you, not necessarily perfect - that is a VERY elusive standard that will most likely drive you nuts.

[Deacon]

** Use cuben as it's 100% dry. What, cuben never has condensation?

Many good points made here. Specifically speaking about condensation, I have never experienced condensation in my ZPacks Duplex tent, a single wall cuben. Absolutely waterproof. Granted it is not a 4 season tent, but I attribute this to the open mesh at the bottom all the way around.

[MtDoraDave]

I realize this is an old thread, but what the heck. People, like me, can scroll through old threads and learn from what has already been discussed.

I bought a TarpTent Squall 2 because a) I like to spread stuff out next to me inside a tent and b) I may have a a g/f join me on a hike.

It does get condensation inside - which wipes out pretty easily or dries out quickly in good afternoon sunny weather. It has mesh all the way around... but still gets condensation with the beak / vestibule velcro'd shut.

Once, during a rain, I noticed the rain ran down the mesh on one side of the tent and made its way inside to the floor. Not a disaster, I just soaked it up with my bandana. After that trip, I emailed TarpTent, and asked if it would be a better idea to attach the screen a half inch back from the edge of the tent so the silnylon can act as a drip edge.
Henry personally responded to my email and said that if I lower the trekking poles down to 115, or perhaps lower, that it wouldn't do that. (he was more tactful and polite) ... how did he know I stretch my poles out to make the entrance taller??? Perhaps not his first day on the job

Since then, I have been lowering my trekking poles to the suggested height, and the screen/mesh is usually tucked under like it's supposed to be. There are still some times when I have to pitch on an uneven surface that some of the mesh sticks out one of the sides - but I imagine I could tweak the pitch of the tent if rain was expected to fix it.

I did order the seam sealing kit from them when I ordered the tent, and only seam sealed the inside. No leaky seams.

A ground cover probably extends the life of the floor - but it's also great for keeping mud off the bottom of the tent - which is difficult/ messy to try to clean off in the morning when getting ready to hit the trail.

[Franco]

Sometime the difference between a tent working well or not has to do with small details that tend to be very obvious to some but not others.
Generally I suggest to try to match as close as possible the official set up so that your tent does look pretty much exactly the same as the one on the official photos.
Still there have been several occasions when customers or users of other brands were convinced they were doing it right only to have their photos proving otherwise.
(BTW, for some reasons we only had 3 photos of the Squall 2 and not all that clear about how the floor should sit. The new version , Mo Trail, has now 11 photos, plus 2 3D videos and a set up video. Maybe we learned something too)
franco@tarptent

[jaxonjesse]

In case of leakage on the fabric, you can apply waterproofing spray for sealing leakages. Spray the entire surface of leakage. Allow it to adhere to the fabric material. Silicon spray is considered as the best water proof spray due to its water-resistant characteristics. It also has a moisturizing property. Silicone spray waterproofing provides the ideal way of coating fabrics. It helps the rainwater to roll off the material without soaking. You can use tent seam sealant like this to fix leaking seams. Most of the modern tents come with tent seam tape. If you have one of such tents for camping, it decreases the effort of sealing to a great extent.

[rocketsocks]

I’ll go with “water tight as a frogs sphincter”