Vent: That one week where everything that could go wrong with my tent did

Last August I went camping up near Big Bear Lake for 5 days. Day one the zipper on my tent door got stuck halfway, so I had to crawl in and out through the flap for the whole trip. Then on day three a big gust of wind snapped one of the poles clean in half while I was inside. I ended up tying it to a tree branch with a shoelace to keep it up. By day five a small tear in the rainfly turned into a three-inch gap during a surprise thunderstorm. Anyone else ever have a tent just fall apart on them like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

kellyg142d ago

Oh come on, it wasn't THAT bad. You still got to camp for five days right? A little improvisation with a shoelace and you were fine. Tents are supposed to take a beating.

the_beth2d ago

Three poles and a prayer, that's my tent now.

rowanc292d ago

I mean kelly, I gotta push back a little on "tents are supposed to take a beating." A three pole tent with one pole snapping? That's not a beating, that's a design flaw. You shouldn't need a shoelace and a prayer just to keep your rain fly off your face on the first night. My buddy had the same thing happen with his new cheapo tent last summer, pole splintered in a light breeze, not even a storm. Tents should handle some wind and rain for sure, but not by having you MacGyver a fix before you've even made your first cup of coffee.