tent repair person chiming in here, over 15 years in the biz...Misc comments on the thread....

The china comment - any product is only as good as the management that oversees production. To use the "made in China" argument as an overall indicator is lame at best.

Quote:
Wenzel uses 'double stitched, lap-feld seams"-- which sounds good anyway. Amazing what they do with automation these days.... Their floor seams are "welded" which does sound a little dubious, although apparently Mountain Hardwear and Sierra Designs use a similar process on certain products.

But more to the point, I've never seen anything like seam failure -- on ANY tent. Just doesn't seem like a reasonable concern.



Everyone uses double stitched lap felled seam, and if you haven't seen seam failure on a low price tent you aren't looking very hard. The thread quality is very poor, and and tends to shred and break.

You can seal a tent just as well with seam grip as factory seam sealing - more depends on the over all quality of the materials and construction.
Low thread count fabric, cheap thread, soft metal on the zipper sliders.... only a few factors that add up to make a big difference in longevity and performance.
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