Rewaterproofing old tent?

[Bill]

I have an old Sierra Designs mountaineering tent, we bought it in college. Snow tunnel, cook stove zip out opening in floor. Weighs 7.2# with the aluminum poles.

I took it out thinking about elk hunting, and it was dirty. I screwed-up and put in the washing machine. I opened it up, and lots if the original waterproof coating flaked off.

Reading up on the web, some folks say to get all old stuff off now and spray with a polyurethane sealer for the purpose. Others say to give up and buy a new one.

Anybody ever re-waterproof the bottom of the tent and rain fly? Was it successful?

Learn from my mistake!







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[ItsLeo]

IMHO, It's done. Get a new one.

[eradicator]

Time to upgrade!! I doubt sealer will do much good at this point.

[Plainsman]

Dang man. Time for a new one. You’d hate to have that thing go south on ya in the high country.

[Bill]

Rewaterproofing old tent?

That’s my fear. 5 mile hike from nowhere Montana, it starts to rain hard.

Maybe it becomes a backyard tent for grandkids.

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[huntingfanatic]

Gotta agree. There's no way I would trust a redo in the backcountry . Time for a new one. Lots of good designs out there

[Bill]

Learn from my mistake!


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[Benelliguy]

Take a tip from Billy May and paint it with Flexseal. And then think seriously about buying a new tent.

[the marshall]

Things have really advanced over the years. Get yourself a new one

[texan4ut]

That coating was probably going to flake off anyway. You probably just sped up the process.

[Bill]

I called Sierra Designs today and spoke with a woman in customer service. She said the waterproofing id destroyed by the UV energy in sunlight. She rotinely re-waterproofs her


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[jefandaward]

I called Sierra Designs today and spoke with a woman in customer service. She said the waterproofing id destroyed by the UV energy in sunlight. She rotinely re-waterproofs her


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Please share the technique she recommends

[NoFence]

Buy a new one. You can get a better tent for less than 1/3 of that weight and not have to risk waking up soaking wet.

[Bill]

She said the waterproof coatings are thin layers, and sunlight/ uv radiation degrades it. She said an old tent is doubtful to still be waterproof.

She does a lot of camping and waterproofs hers every year or 2.

Remove old coating by soaking a couple days in a tub with water, then use a brush or mild scrub pad (mild!) to take it off. She said if my tent was no worse for wear, use my clothes washer.

Brush/ gently remove old polyurethane coating from tent.

Dry

Seal seams first, on opposite side you’ll waterproof.

She said in the past the waterproofing was applied inside and under rain fly. She recommended bottom of tent in contact with ground, and top of rain fly.

She uses Nikwax UV waterproofing spray on amazon.

2 coats or top/bottom can’t hurt but doubtful value.


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[Bill]

I decided to try to DIY.

I soaked the tent and fly in a bucket of water for a day, laid it out on the driveway and used a spray nozzle and and a car washing brush to remove as much of the old waterproofing as I could. It’s drying in the back yard, the remaining waterproofing is flaky. I think I’ll get it all off.

When I’m done I’ll ask to move this to the DIY section.






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