Took me 4 months to figure out why my tent kept leaking at the seams

I bought a brand new tent last spring, a pretty decent three-season one from a mid-range brand. First trip out to Red River Gorge, it rained hard and I woke up with a wet sleeping bag. I thought it was the rainfly not being tight enough, so I adjusted that. Next trip to a local state park, same thing happened after a light drizzle. I seam sealed the whole thing by hand, waited 24 hours for it to cure, and tested it in my driveway with a hose. Still got a drip along the main ridge seam. I finally took it to a gear shop in town and the guy there spent like five minutes with me. He pointed out the seam tape was peeling off from the factory because it was stored folded too tight. I spent four months blaming myself and my setup when it was a manufacturing defect the whole time. Has anyone else dealt with seam tape failing right out of the box?

2 comments

2 Comments

emmajackson4d ago

Oh man, that reminds me of the time my tent poles snapped in a calm wind.

carr.blake3d ago

Heard on a camping forum that some brands just can't handle even a light breeze, @emmajackson.