Are zippers the weak point on all large floorless shelters?

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I just got back from spending 3 weeks in my SO Redcliff. Was camped around 11k, a little below the treeline and dealt with a lot of weather, more than usual for late Sept. About half way through the zipper failed, wouldn't close or would split half way down. I got dawn and a toothbrush, cleaned it, didn't matter. Obviously this caused some issues. I made due by using the bug screen and velcro, although the velcro stops way too high.
I previously had the zipper replaced about 9 months prior and the new zippers had less than 30 days on it, probably more like 20. The original zipper lasted 4-5 years, hundreds of nights. I've had good luck with the red cliff in weather but this has got my confidence in it shaken. Was this just a freak thing? A weak point in all larger floorless shelters? Maybe I've been lucky but I've never had a zipper fail on a higher quality standard tent.
I think I am going to start looking for a replacement, 6-8 man size. I have some other gripes with the red cliff, kind of do a lot OK but nothing great kind of shelter, but the zipper problem has become a safety issue twice.
Some background- I fly into places a lot for hunting so cannot bring a wall tent or Cabela's 35lbs dome. I usually use my red cliff for late season stuff, prefer floored for Aug/Sept in most cases. I'm looking at the Argali Yukon right now, says they use YKK #5, anyone know if that is the same SO uses? Any other options I should look at?

 

[Jimss]

Not all zippers are created equally. It’s tough to compare zippers on both different brands and models of tents.

From my experience with zippers, tension points where there is more stress on zippers have a greater chance of failure. If you add in weather and dirt/grime to stressed points it adds even more chance for failure. Obviously the more times zippers are opened in stressed areas the better chance of failure.

My guess is there may be ways to loosen stress points and clean/lubricate zippers so this doesn’t happen. A last option may be to purchase a brand or model that is better designed. I’ve used and abused flies, tents, backpacks for years without failure. I’ve had a few that failed but there usually is a reason.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

Same thing happened to my SO Redcliff on a goat hunt last fall. I got the zipper replaced, and am going to try pitching it a bit less taut from now on.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Same thing happened to my SO Redcliff on a goat hunt last fall. I got the zipper replaced, and am going to try pitching it a bit less taut from now on.

Being careful of pitch definitely helps, the way its designed puts a lot of pressure on zipper it you try to get a taught pitch. One problem is remembering to loosen everything in the morning. I'll tighten out all the guy lines at night to help with sag but if you forget to loosen in the morning, it gets super tight during the day when it warms it.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

maybe @Brad@Argali can shed some light on this.

 

[Grassymike]

I would just replace the zipper with a heavier one. I have a 20 some year old Kifaru 4 person tipi that has a massive coil zipper, still going strong. Not sure the size but like a #10 or so.