Old Tent Maintenance Requirement/Required?

Specifically for cycle touring subjects & questions
Post Reply
Psamathe
Posts: 17616
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Old Tent Maintenance Requirement/Required?

Post by Psamathe »

Turned out my old Saunders JetPacker today expecting something of a "disaster". Put it up, all good (even rubber loops look ok but they are cheap/easy to replace just as a precaution). No must smells or anything (I'd have been fine sleeping it it straight away). Sprayed it with hose (moderately forcefully) and water all beaded off and inside stayed completely dry.

It's over 35 years old and had moderate use back then but has probably spent 30'ish years packed away folded/packed in it's bag in a cupboard. Have I been lucky and it's all good or am I likely to have imminent failure.

(After spraying with hose, I'm leaving it set-up in garden for a few days just in case).

It's not my ideal tent these days because it has a bright orange fly (not great if you decide to wild camp!) but for a test run - good.

Thanks
Ian
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5457
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Old Tent Maintenance Requirement/Required?

Post by pjclinch »

Psamathe wrote:Turned out my old Saunders JetPacker today expecting something of a "disaster". Put it up, all good (even rubber loops look ok but they are cheap/easy to replace just as a precaution). No must smells or anything (I'd have been fine sleeping it it straight away). Sprayed it with hose (moderately forcefully) and water all beaded off and inside stayed completely dry.

It's over 35 years old and had moderate use back then but has probably spent 30'ish years packed away folded/packed in it's bag in a cupboard. Have I been lucky and it's all good or am I likely to have imminent failure.

(After spraying with hose, I'm leaving it set-up in garden for a few days just in case).


The Jetpacker was one of the first silicone elastomer coated tents, and that's probably a help as they don't seem to turn to goo like PU can.

Might be worth giving the groundsheet a separate test. Suspend it across the top of a bucket or similar and make a pool of water in it, if it's become porus it'll drip. You might get fine droplets and damp on the outside but that would very probably be condensation: you'd get constant dripping after a while if it's leaking.

My dad's Spacepacker Plus is still going strong, but that's "only" about 30...

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
colin54
Posts: 2517
Joined: 24 Sep 2013, 4:34pm

Re: Old Tent Maintenance Requirement/Required?

Post by colin54 »

A recent thread on the same subject,I later realised that the Saunders tent I mentioned there is 40, not 30

years old, time flies.

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=121883
Nu-Fogey
Psamathe
Posts: 17616
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Old Tent Maintenance Requirement/Required?

Post by Psamathe »

pjclinch wrote:.....
Might be worth giving the groundsheet a separate test. Suspend it across the top of a bucket or similar and make a pool of water in it, if it's become porus it'll drip. You might get fine droplets and damp on the outside but that would very probably be condensation: you'd get constant dripping after a while if it's leaking......

Carried out test as you suggested and ... unsure. Over bucket with moderately deep pool of water and after half an hour emptied and underside was wet and there were a few drips in the bottom of the bucket.

I'm hoping you/somebody could confirm that this should be ok for a couple of nights "trial run" as I'll be using a sleeping mat (hoping because the tent I'm favouring is the MSR Hubba NX 1 person @£330 or even the MSR Carbon Reflex as I could not justify the cost of the Hiileberg Enan @£600!). Hate to spend all that money to find my legs are really made of jelly!

Ian
mercalia
Posts: 14630
Joined: 22 Sep 2013, 10:03pm
Location: london South

Re: Old Tent Maintenance Requirement/Required?

Post by mercalia »

You could always get some plastic sheeting from B&Q designed for covering up furniture to make a base WHen I got mine last Xmas they had some cheap useless stuff and some decent thickness stuff quite cheap and you get loads so could use for other purposes - I used mine to cover up a large French window over the cold weather, and still had too much
Psamathe
Posts: 17616
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Old Tent Maintenance Requirement/Required?

Post by Psamathe »

Following he test where the inner ground things leaked a little, I was not pouring through and the puddle left 30'ish mins only let through a few drips and was wet on underside. Somebody (shop) suggested a product called Thundershield https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mcnett-Unisex-Thundershield-Repellent-Multicoloured/dp/B002YU6K8A.

Does anybody have any experience of this? or would it just make a mess of it (thinking I might save a bit if money and just buy a footprint and live with the orange fly (not planning on wild-camping a lot, just for "emergencies").

Ian
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5457
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Old Tent Maintenance Requirement/Required?

Post by pjclinch »

First up, exec. summary here is "I don't know", but...

I wouldn't worry about damp on the underside from your tests, that could very easily be condensation (think of filling a waterproof carrier bag with cold water, and it's not long before you'll get condensation on the outside). But some drips is more of a worry, though it's difficult to gauge how much.
I've not come across Thundershield before, but McNett's stuff (e.g., SeamGrip for mat repairs) I have used has worked well so I'd trust the name.

In practice a not-perfect groundsheet is usually okay unless you've got a really wet campsite, and if you do a footprint isn't necessarily the end of the story. Because they don't have bathtub sides it's easy for water to get between the footprint and the groundsheet and then you've just got an impermeable barrier to help push the water through where there's weight on it.

Exec. summary 2, you'll need to test it in some degree of anger to be really sure. When it's wet pitch the tent outside and make sure there's some weight on the groundsheet to simulate someone lying on it. Use your usual sleeping mat under the weight.

Sorry that's not a straightforward answer, life's not like that :(
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Post Reply