Weathering a tent? Campers, your help is needed!

[poachedeggs]

OK, so as an anniversary present we bought ourselves a tent. I'll hold my hands up here, it was on offer at £60 from Go Outdoors for a 6 man tent so our expectations weren't high! Anyway, we put the outer up in the garden last night (in rain) and this morning there are big fat drips coming through it!

I'm all for sending it back. It's 1500HH and we could get a 3000HH 5 man tent for an extra tenner. We haven't got the cash for a better brand.

But some forums talk about weathering your new tent with a hosepipe and apparently soaking it then letting it dry out is what makes it waterproof.

WDYT?

Bump (surely most campsites have WiFi these days?!)

Your tent isn't made of waterproof enough material. 1500HH is only really for light showers and it poured down here last night. For camping in this country you need 3000HH material. You don't need to weatherproof a manmade material tent.

Not all campsites in this country have Wi-Fi and, unlike most campsites in France, if they do have Wi-Fi, you have to pay royally for it.

I hope you manage to get a tent that is suitable for you and have a lovely holiday.

Thanks for your advice. At least it dried out today!

You used to have to weather canvas tents but not sure you do now but definitely not polyester tents, they should be waterproof from the off.

Ilovejudgejudy is right 1500HH is not enough for this country and it makes me cross that shops sell them cheaply and people think they are suitable for out weather. They really are not.

You really need 3000HH in this country and some good makes are now 4000 or even 5000.

In Devon a couple of weeks ago we had really heavy rain for a full night and a full day and my 3000HH was starting to feel the strain, we had water droplets on the inside of the fly sheet but no actually drops.

Take your "tent" back it is not fit for purpose