Help with tipi style single wall problems

Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Messages
2,121
Location
Front Range, Colorado
I'm having serious water problems with my SO BT2. Part of it is condensation, but in a heavy rainstorm a couple days ago, it got bad enough that it dripped on me all night long. It was in no way the worst storm I'll get caught in, so I was really disappointed. Is there some sort of inner nest that can combat this problem, or am I better off with a tarp tent?
 
Have you seam sealed it? It's probably over kill but I always seam seal my tents both inside and out because I HATE having water dripping on me. To answer your question, yes, there are many companies that offer nests of various sizes, including SO. I have never owned or have any experience with the BT2 shelter, but I have and have owned a couple SO shelters and can say that after proper seam sealing, you should not have any water coming through the shelter. This does not include condensation, obviously.
 
Ventilation is key with single wall shelters. The only true way to prevent condensation is a liner or keeping doors open to have a draft. I love the floor less design but will agree condensation is the biggest problem I have. Especially because there is usually a ton of moisture on the ground already where I hunt. A stove can help but you would be up all night keeping it going.
 
+1 on the Seam sealing if you haven't already. Persistent drips during storms are usually coming thru the tent material, at least IME and sealing the seams will usually alleviate the issue. Condensation is an issue with all single wall shelters, but usually I only notice it if I touch the side walls or it's really windy and the water shakes off on me. The dripping you described sounds like water coming thru from outside.
 
Like AKTroutbum I seam seal inside and outside. Likely totally overkill but I already have the tipi setup and sealing solution mixed so its easy enough to double down.

Also I usually pitch my tipis with a 2-6" gap above the ground most of the time to encourage good airflow. Seems to work for me. Yes the side walls will get moisture on them, but have never had constant drips on me except when I failed to seam seal a tipi before heading out on a trip.

Hope that helps.
 
I seam sealed it pretty well, but only inside. The dripping was definitely coming through the material. As far as nests go, they are typically mesh with a bathtub floor correct? That just allows you to pitch it up a couple inches and keep from touching the sides right?
 
You may have defective or deficient Silnylon. If you google for "silnylon misting" you should find lots of threads bemoaning this. I believe SO may have upgraded their Sil to Cordura brand just this year. I would contact them and discuss this, you may well have fabric issues.
 
I seam sealed it pretty well, but only inside. The dripping was definitely coming through the material. As far as nests go, they are typically mesh with a bathtub floor correct? That just allows you to pitch it up a couple inches and keep from touching the sides right?
I have a SO 2 person nest that has a the silnylon floor and 3 sides, then the front side is mesh. It is a couple years old and I think they have since changed the design. There are multiple places around my tipi to tie the apex of the nest up, then the 4 bottom corners are staked down. When it's in place there is a decent seperation between the outside wall of the nest and the inside wall of the tipi.
 
Are you sure you didn't have a bunch of condensation on the inside of the tent walls and then the rain was hitting the outside walls and shaking the condensation off the walls and onto you? This happened to me last year during a rain storm in Idaho when I didn't vent well enough.
 
I would tend to agree with Ironman regarding the dripping water. I think that with the natural condensation that occurs from the ground, coupled with the condensation from your person, and the increased humidity caused by the rain storm, you had a "perfect storm" excessive condensation on the interior of the tent.
 
Ironman8, couesbitten, that's definitely possible. I don't have much experience with single walls and most of my time with it was in the desert. I basically just need to pitch it up off the ground a bit then right?
 
The BCS2 has a vent in the apex. If I open that, unzip the doors about halfway, and leave a gap along the bottom at the back, it really cuts down on the condensation. Airflow is the key with the single wall, pitch it more open like a tarp and less boxed in like a tent ;)
 
You'll always get condensation in the single wall shelter. Whether your normal conditions allow you to control it effectively is the question.

During a rainstorm without high winds pitching off the deck a bit is a good idea. On the BT2 you'll need to add cord loops to at least some of the loops to make this happen. In addition or instead you can leave one or both of the doors unzipped a bit. Ideally winds severe enough to make pitching to the ground and being all zipped up will be strong enough (and ambient conditions cool enough) that condensation won't be an issue.

Of course bad bugs will require a nest if you also need lots of ventilation.

The BT2 is like most pyramids in that it's best suited to drier, alpine conditions. If you backpack in humid, buggy country a lot a Tarptent or something similar might be better.
 
I'd suspect condensation. Sometimes it just gets bad, have the right conditions all come together and you'll wish you had a double wall or a bivy for that night.

Leaking seams also don't help either, iv dealt with both terrible condensation, and poorly sealed seams (my fault), still use my single wall shelters though.

Things can be done to prevent condensation, like ventilation, and picking the right spot to set camp, but it's still bound to happen to some degree.
 
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