tents and heavy rain

[bigTillyMint]

Hello all heavy rain-expereienced campers!

If your tent had had 36 hours non-stop heavy rain and was just beginning to drip inside, would you think it was
a) leaking
b) condensation

And once it had dried out, would you risk taking it on another long and possibly wet holiday?

Also, I saw smallish dome tents covered in plastic sheeting in the torrential rain. Would that work?

ours did this last year - they were airlifting people locally out of flood water. I sprayed the outside with sealant i bought from the shop. do you get condensation under normal conditions? If its cold on the outside, damp warmth on the inside and not enough ventilation that causes condensation - so if you don't normally get it i guess its a leak. was it over the bedrooms? If not i would personally just live with it. not sure about sheeting - would make a racket and keep me awake

I'd thik that even the best tent has its limits. And would rewaterproof it with spray and seam sealant.

Thanks fot your replies!

We do get a bit of condensation in there, and there were 8 of us sleeping in it....

On the subject of rewaterproofing, do you do it when the tent is up? And if so, how do you reach the top? Do you just use the spray one all over? Which make is best?

i did it when the tent was up and sprayed all over, with a bit extra on the seems especially at the top as i guess thats where most rain hits it. it went a bit dark at first but doesn't show now its dried. leave tent up for a bit to allow it to dry. can't remember the make - i just bought what they had at the camping shop. i also now pack a tin when we go away, just in case.

Thanks!

Just wondering how I would reach the top as it's a huge tunnel tent and we only have a teeny garden, so I couldn't do it there and use the stepladder. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

i guess you could do it on the floor instead as long as you left it flat to dry - in sections. or when you go away again as long as not raining. i sort of aimed and sprayed - though i am a bit of a bodge job sort of person. ours is a quick errect one so i had to do it when up as it won't lay flat

It'd be a hassle but I'd drape the tent over an outdoor picnic table to do the top part- after all, that's probably the place that will 'fail' first in heavy rain! Then once it was dry, you could erect it and do the rest.

Do you have a park close by or even a 'landscaped area' near where you live that you could pitch it on for a little while to do the waterproofing?

Wiggle, we could go and pitch it somewhere, but I don't know how we would reach the top - it's very tall. We would have to take a ladder!

What if we laid it out on the ground and sprayed the top? Would that work or does it have to be pitched for it to work?

No idea...

You could pitch it close to a convenient climbing frame in the park and send the DCs up to hang off and spray from there?

(I have had wine now so probably not the best person to ask anymore.... )