Seam sealing tents

[NDM91920]

I got a new tent for an elk trip this year and it looks like we are going to get some rain. Should I seal my tent before hand and if so what the best thing to use?

 

[yeti14]

Depends on what you got....
Some are already seam sealed or taped.
If you need to seam seal, I found it easiest to use a commercially available sealer such as gear aid. but you can also mix silicone and mineral spirits, or I've read about permatex silicone windshield repair silicone being used

 

[snowymtnwolf]

I got a new tent for an elk trip this year and it looks like we are going to get some rain. Should I seal my tent before hand and if so what the best thing to use?

Double check what manufacturer recommends, but this is what I use.


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[mountainman406]

Double check what manufacturer recommends, but this is what I use.


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Second this stuff OP, works great. Personally, I cut mine with a little bit of mineral spirits to make application easier.


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[jsbymaster]

I'll second cutting with mineral spirits. It makes application much easier and leaves a much cleaner seam.

 

[roosterdown]

You need to find out if the fabric's coating is Sil-based or Urethane based - they are not the same and there are different sealers for each.

 

[jayjay]

I’ve had good success with seam sealing by using a curved plastic tip syringe. I’ll fill it up with seam sealer and use it to apply. It makes it really easy and clean. I got the idea from Outdoor Gear Review YouTube channel.

 

[BDWMT]

If you are seam sealing I recommend doing it indoors stretched and one seam at a time. I did my tipi in the yard and made a bigger mess than I should have. Hard to reach the upper stuff and the breeze picked up midway through. I did a tarp in the garage pulled horizontally and it was much easier and cleaner of a job.

 

[MattB]

Depends on whether it has factory seal/tape. You don’t need to in the vast majority of tents because they come from the factory that way. Kifaru is the only one I am familiar with that isn’t.

 

[*zap*]

I would absolutely seam seal any stiches/seams in the bathtub floor inside and outside. Sealing the stiches/seams in the fly is a good precaution. I do the outside. I just did all my tents and used 3-8 ounce tubes of seam seal wp but I have owned those tents for 15+ years and there were alot of seams/stiches in the bathtub floors. I also re-waterproofed the floors inside/out and the flys.

The gear aid seam seal sil is for silnylon/silpoly and the seam seal wp is for everything else.