Last weekend my tent became a swimming pool after 4 hours of rain

I was camping up near Lake George and thought my old Coleman tent was fine. Around 2 AM I woke up with water seeping through the floor seam right under my sleeping bag. I checked the rainfly and realized I hadn't pulled it tight enough to the ground. That mistake cost me a wet sleeping bag and a miserable 3 hour drive home early Sunday morning. Now I'm looking at seam sealers but wondering if a different tent design would stop this from happening again. Has anyone tried that silicone based sealant on old tent floors?

3 comments

3 Comments

terry_wood5129d ago

Start by looking at your tent's floor design before you buy any sealant. I've seen a lot of folks blame the seam when the real issue is the bathtub floor isn't high enough for the conditions you're in. A good rule of thumb is to pitch your tent so the bottom edge of the rainfly sits about 2-3 inches below the tent floor seam, not just pulled tight to the ground. That lets rain run off without pooling against the seams. For the sealant question, the silicone based stuff works fine on old nylon floors if you clean the area really well with alcohol first. Just don't expect it to fix a floor that's already worn thin or has micro-tears from being set up on gravel too many times.

the_hugo29d agoMost Upvoted

Nah, I gotta push back a bit here. @henry604 is right that half the time people overthink this stuff, and in my experience a cheap tarp under the tent does way more than obsessing over rainfly angles or scrubbing floors with alcohol. Have you actually tested that 2-3 inch rule in heavy rain or is this more of a textbook thing?

henry60429d agoTop Commenter

Right, because nothing says "fun camping trip" like spending half an hour scrubbing your tent floor with rubbing alcohol on a Friday night. I've definitely been that guy who bought the fancy sealant only to realize the real problem was I pitched the rainfly like a tight drum. At this point I just bring a tarp and call it a day.