Originally Posted By Loquinho


1. Is the tent a goner? I can't imagine how I could fix the integrity of the fabric itself, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Yes, the tent is a goner. Some people report you can scrub all of the failed coating off and then reapply a new coating. It is an extremely tedious process and if you do a realy good job you'll end up with a tent slightly less waterproof than it was originally. I've never heard of anyone successfully completing the process. I think it is mostly for catharsis to emotionally help some people throw away a beloved tent.

And I agree with Paul above. It probably wasn't the bug spray. This has happened to all of my tents from that era. They were all stored properly and (unfortunatly) not over used frown

Originally Posted By Loquinho

3 What tents should I be looking at to get similar features to what I had with this one? I'm ok with a slightly heavier backpacking tent to get the features I want. If I'm really going lightweight, I just take my Hennessy.

You may not get a satisfying answer from this group. I think most people here prefer a lighter, less feature rich tent.

I can tell you the Tarptent Hogback is much bigger (4 person), much lighter (4 lbs), has two vestibules, and allows you to set up 1/2 mesh or full mesh for a view of the night sky. It doesn't have a window and it is not freestanding.

The Stratospire II is bigger (52" wide, 50" peak height), much lighter (under 3 lbs), has two vestibules, allows you to set up full mesh.

Actually if you have $700 burning a hole in your pocket the Stratospire Li is the same tent in ultra-light dyneema fabric. That fabric is so lightweight it will feel like the whole tent is a big window smile

If neither of those sound appealing to you, I would suggest going to REI and checking out the latest options: https://www.rei.com/c/backpacking-tents?ir=category%3Abackpacking-tents&r=c%3Bsleeping-capacity%3A3-person%7C2-person%3Bnumber-of-doors%3A2+doors

I've never known REI to sell garbage tents.


Edited by BZH (08/23/21 09:59 AM)