Tried posting this in the shit hits the fan forum but I wasn't getting much traffic.......
I recently took my North Face Roadrunner 2 tent off the shelf it has sat on for a good 10 years to prep for a camping trip with my son.
Setting it up at home to make sure it was good to go I found the plastic clear view windows had broke down/dry rotted and became two big holes in the fly. The waterproof coating of the fly now has a sticky gooey feel to it and is starting to peel from the fabric.
The tent itself appears fine all seems were strong.
I noted also that the water repellent bag my Thermarest was in has the sticky, gooey, feel on its interior like its water proof backing is breaking down. Getting the bag off the pad was a chore as it wanted to stick to the sleep pad.
So I taped up the holes where the clear view windows were on my tent fly with 90 mile per hour tape, vowed to never buy a tent with plastic windows again, and lucked out with no rain so my son and I totally enjoyed our days in the woods
So I guess going forward Ill store my tent loose and folded on a shelf rather than rolled in its bag.
Is this just the nature of coated nylon products that over time the water repellent coating becomes a gooey sticky deteriorating membrane or is it mitigated by proper storage?
My gear is in a cedar closet in the basement stored on a wire shelf. The basement is dry enough there is no mold or rust issues. It is a northeast climate within ten miles of the ocean - moist but not tropical certainly not desert dry.
What special measures do others take for long term storage of gear used infrequently?
I recently took my North Face Roadrunner 2 tent off the shelf it has sat on for a good 10 years to prep for a camping trip with my son.
Setting it up at home to make sure it was good to go I found the plastic clear view windows had broke down/dry rotted and became two big holes in the fly. The waterproof coating of the fly now has a sticky gooey feel to it and is starting to peel from the fabric.
The tent itself appears fine all seems were strong.
I noted also that the water repellent bag my Thermarest was in has the sticky, gooey, feel on its interior like its water proof backing is breaking down. Getting the bag off the pad was a chore as it wanted to stick to the sleep pad.
So I taped up the holes where the clear view windows were on my tent fly with 90 mile per hour tape, vowed to never buy a tent with plastic windows again, and lucked out with no rain so my son and I totally enjoyed our days in the woods
So I guess going forward Ill store my tent loose and folded on a shelf rather than rolled in its bag.
Is this just the nature of coated nylon products that over time the water repellent coating becomes a gooey sticky deteriorating membrane or is it mitigated by proper storage?
My gear is in a cedar closet in the basement stored on a wire shelf. The basement is dry enough there is no mold or rust issues. It is a northeast climate within ten miles of the ocean - moist but not tropical certainly not desert dry.
What special measures do others take for long term storage of gear used infrequently?
