How long do you expect a tent to last for

[StripeyKnickersSpottySocks]

and when do you know its knackered?

We've had our Outwell tent for 9 years this summer. Its still going well apart from where DH used the stove and melted a hold in the living room groundsheet. There's also a tiny hole in the bedroom groundsheet where I think a stone must have been underneath. But some duck tape seems to have fixed those OK.

We use it for at least one week a year, plus some weekends and sometimes a 2nd week as well.

Is it likely to keep going for much longer. I've sprayed it with re-waterproofing stuff once but never had a problem.

When its past it will it start leaking or are the holes likely to get bigger?

dh has had our family tent for 20 years and it is still going strong.....they don't suddenly "go"....as long as you keep doing any leak repairs and put them away dry they should last for years...

....except if a gale bends the poles out of shape....north devon '92

It depends

We've about three tents. The oldest is my alpine tent from 0 years ago. Still as strong as ever and will stand up in just about any conditions, but seriously I prefer more comfort nowadays. Cost a bl*ding fortune.

Current "family" tent is a Decathlon one: lots of room for a family of four, but it only gets an outing once or twice a year at most. Takes a while to put up, but I'd expect it to last at least five years: and far cheaper than the alpine tent.

We've also an instant pop-up tent from Decathlon. This is used more as a sun/rain shelter, and takes about 10 seconds to setup, and about 20 seconds to fold back down. It gets used about 10 weekends over the summer (daytime only), but after 2 years is showing no sign of wear - I'd give it at least a five year life-span.

canvas tents last virtually for ever, unless you put them away damp when mold will strike.

The man-made fabrics seem to degrade with repeated exposure to sunlight and tend to only last up to 10 years. The places where the fabric is stretched most (eg over poles) just disintegrate, so look for signs of wear there.

Of course severe weather can cause poles to snap etc, but that can happen at any age I think.

10 years sounds good. I'm dreaming of a new tent.

We got about 10 years from our polyester tent, until the material became so UV degraded that I put my foot through it while taking the tent down! It did get a lot of use though.

DH's parents have a canvas frame tent about 35 years old which we use occasionally - the main tent is still going strong but the zips, rubber bands and plasticky bits of the inner tent are all starting to fall to bits. They don't make 'em like they used to!

We've had our wynnster sattelite 12 for 5 years using it for 2 week long jaunts a year and numerous weekend. It's still going strong.

However i'm bored with it so am now looking at an Outwell Montana6. To be honest I don't think that I will ever wear a tent out as I get bored and want a new style every few years

The cheap little polyester one my parents bought when I was little lasted 30 years, travelled all over the world, in all sorts of climate. In fact it didn't really stop working but we finally got bored of it.

Just been camping with my sister's 20 year old tent and dp's 15 year old one, both about as good as new, despite lots of use in various situations.

So, 20 years maybe?