Flippac Rain Performance?

[suntinez]

Mario, Doc or anyone else with experience- what are your thoughts on the FlipPac vs. multiple rainy nights?

Example: The fabric on a tent like the Maggiolina is good for multiple days of rain protection as long as you don't fold it up. After a few days of stowing/setting up in wet weather, the fabric will get saturated and water will start to creep onto the mattress. Is it a similar issue with the ATFP? I'm guessing the rain fly will get saturated after a day or two of constant rain, especially if folded up and then re-deployed at a new campsite? This is a common problem with EVERY tent and/or rainfly I'm familiar with, just wondering if the the ATFP fares any better?

One of my favorite things about the ATFP design is being able to get out of your wet/dirty clothes during a downpour and hop into bed nice and dry. Can't do that with my Maggiolina or any of my ground tents. :snorkel:

The current rainfly available is made out of plastic tarp material. If you were setup in the same place and didn't ever flip closed, it should keep the rain out and the tent dry. Before buying mine, I talked to a guy in AK who uses his out fishing for weeks at a time, he didn't mention a problem. He said it helps hold heat in too. If you were moving around and shook the fly out before storing, would only have minimal moisture on it when re-deploying.

If the new tent material that AT is working with turns out to be successful and they offered it for the flippac (not the JK Topper), I'd do it!

I've had the flippac deployed a few times in rain with no fly, it gets soaked pretty quickly. After closing, the blanket on the mattress gets wet from the tent and I air out the tent/canopy as soon as possible afterwards. If I lived somewhere where it rained alot, I'd always have the fly with me - it goes on pretty quickly, but you do have to flip closed to put it on.

 

[Martyn]

Being involved in manufacturing, and knowing we haven't started on this project, I would advise against waiting for the new tent portion of the FlipPac to come to market.

Right now all we have is the material, the process from here to a finished product takes a while, especially since our efforts are concentrated on the JK Topper project right now.

My advise would be to get an AT FlipPac with the standard tent and fly sheet, and replace them wit the tent made from the new material when it comes out. The removal and replacement process is very straight forward.

 

[Bella PSD]

I want to start off by saying the rain fly works fantastic. You will stay dry and warm.

But I think a new tent material is the key to the “next step” for the Flip Pac. I think the rain issue is the biggest draw back for me. Even though it only takes a few minutes to deploy the rain fly, it’s still something on your mind all the time. Should I put the rain fly on or not?? If I do put it on, it gets hot in the summer, if I don’t put it on I might get caught by a pop up storm!!

Light rain without the rain fly has been OK for us and even a quick down pour has not been to bad. But what a pain putting the rain fly on in a huge rain!! I have sat and waited to open up the tent until the rain let up, again a pain. Don’t ask me about getting up at 3am to deploy the fly….I just remind myself I did NOT want an enclosed camper and this is what comes with having a tent style design. The pay off is still WELL worth the hassle of dealing with a rain fly!

If the new tent was made in the same fashion as Flip Pac original design that would be great and we could ALL benefit from it. What I like about Flip Pac’s tent is it’s the same for all models. So maybe the JK Flip Pac can follow the same design and keep it the same size as the current Flip Pac tent, we can all benefit form the new tent. And production cost would be lower making one universal tent for all models. I think you would sell A LOT!! I would be 1st in line!!

Summer vent hole, one on each side. That's all you get. But I have learned to tie the rain fly away from the camper at the bottom and a breeze can blow up under the rain fly. Works pretty good in the summer.

My rain fly. You can see how well it fits, your not getting wet with this on!

 

[pygmyowl]

I do lots of backpacking and some mountaineering at altitude and my experience with single walled membrane (goretex, etc) tents is that they are all a compromise - no magic bullet in my experience.

Black Diamond makes some nice, super light weight single walled tents designed for summit pushes, but you can get lots of frost forming on the single interior wall, when conditions are right, that when you move about you brush off with your body. The same applies at lower elevations when the due point and the outside air temperature are equal, water vapor forms inside on the single panel, where as with a fly the majority of the moisture/frost forms on inside of the fly and not on the interior walls of the tent.

Be interesting to see how a single walled Flippac will perform in this regard- possibly the much larger volume will allow water vapor to disipate more readily, but I still suspect some frost will form on the interiror single wall?

 

[chet]

I wouldn't have a problem with using a fly evertime. The ONLY time I set a tent up around here without a fly is dead mid summer with full clear sky. in the PNW a rain can come anytime so a fly is std. equipment.

 

[Mike S]

AT has been in talks with an Australian company that manufactures a lightweight canvas that is water resistant and breathable...

..
The fabric we will use is light weigh, breathable, water resistant and will meet fire regulations.

Martyn - is it certified in US and Canada for vehicle use? You can PM me...