Question about RTT Flysheet Rods

[tcwfalcon]

So, I recently purchased a used Eezi-Awn roof top tent and we just got back from our first weekend of use. The tent was awesome and well worth the money, but I did notice two things that I need to take care of. First, we had some light rain and I noticed the side canvas was absorbing a little of the moisture. I plan to order some spray on waterproofing to correct, so that's an easy fix. The second thing I'm a little less sure about. We camped on top of a hill (unusual) and the wind picked up to 20-30mph gusts at night. The tent itself was very stable, but the spring rods (that hold the flysheet out) kept popping out when the wind would whip through. Is this normal and just something I should be aware of when camping in windy situations, or should those rods be springy enough to maintain tension in moderate winds like that?


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[grnhornetcustoms]

In the wind and extremely cold weather I would and do use the elastic tensioner cord inside and I only open the rain fly on the down wind side, it is an egress thing. I just camped in The desert and experienced some pretty hairy cold high winds. It sounded like a hundred people outside my tent Drumming on it.

In the picture I had the rain fly up on the right during the day when the wind was not blowing. At night everything was down. I think it helps for sure with insulation value.


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[gsdog2]

Last weekend in the desert we had some high winds......the second and third night I just removed the rain fly and no more flappin sound whilst we tried to sleep. I have the CV T Mt. Shasta with the overhang. So unless I think it's going to rain, the stupid thing stays off.

 

[tcwfalcon]

In the wind and extremely cold weather I would and do use the elastic tensioner cord inside and I only open the rain fly on the down wind side, it is an egress thing. I just camped in The desert and experienced some pretty hairy cold high winds. It sounded like a hundred people outside my tent Drumming on it.

In the picture I had the rain fly up on the right during the day when the wind was not blowing. At night everything was down. I think it helps for sure with insulation value.


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That makes sense. Maybe it was mostly just the position of the tent. I ended up buckling everything down, but the wind just didn't seem extreme enough for me to need to do that. However, since this is the first RTT i've owned, I'm still learning the ins and outs I guess.


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[tcwfalcon]

Last weekend in the desert we had some high winds......the second and third night I just removed the rain fly and no more flappin sound whilst we tried to sleep. I have the CV T Mt. Shasta with the overhang. So unless I think it's going to rain, the stupid thing stays off.

Nice. Thanks for the tip.


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[Martyn]

Don't treat the tent with any type of spray. The material is treated with bees wax and it will loose it's waterproof properties.

It sounds like you didn't first spray the fabric with water prior to going camping, the poly-cotton is going through the phase of absorbing the moisture, expanding the cotton, and tightening the weave. This is normal for this fabric. This is the first thing we recommend to customers prior to using the tent.

Once the fabric has absorbed moisture it perform as expected.

If you see any weeping of moisture along any stitch hole rub beeswax on the exterior along the portion of the seam and you will be good to go.

 

[tcwfalcon]

Don't treat the tent with any type of spray. The material is treated with bees wax and it will loose it's waterproof properties.

It sounds like you didn't first spray the fabric with water prior to going camping, the poly-cotton is going through the phase of absorbing the moisture, expanding the cotton, and tightening the weave. This is normal for this fabric. This is the first thing we recommend to customers prior to using the tent.

Once the fabric has absorbed moisture it perform as expected.

If you see any weeping of moisture along any stitch hole rub beeswax on the exterior along the portion of the seam and you will be good to go.

Thanks for the info. Also, will the poly-cotton fabric ever need to be retreated?


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[VanIsle_Greg]

You shouldn't have to. I did as directed with my CVT, and misted it when i first got it. I sprayed the whole tent down on the outside and allowed it to dry in the sun. I have camped in a torrential downpour and the sides were getting dumped on for 2 days straight. The fabric looked a little like it was absorbing water outside (which had me worried) but it was bone dry inside?

So far, it has been great and very waterproof.

I have heard of people who use their tents extensively, like 100 plus days in a year, and the fabric did show signs of becoming less water resistant. I think there are things you can do to revive it, but out of the box you should be GTG with a misting and allowing the cotton to swell up and seal up.

 

[F40]

I concur with not having the fly up on the windy side, as it looks like a kite ready to take flight. I haven't had the spring rods pop out yet, and I've been in 40+ mph gusts. I also always keep the ladder side out of the wind, I stake the ladder down with paracord loops, and run a ratchet strap from the tent to the wheel.

 

[fredgoodsell]

Don't treat the tent with any type of spray. The material is treated with bees wax and it will loose it's waterproof properties.

It sounds like you didn't first spray the fabric with water prior to going camping, the poly-cotton is going through the phase of absorbing the moisture, expanding the cotton, and tightening the weave. This is normal for this fabric. This is the first thing we recommend to customers prior to using the tent.

Once the fabric has absorbed moisture it perform as expected.

If you see any weeping of moisture along any stitch hole rub beeswax on the exterior along the portion of the seam and you will be good to go.

Does this apply in this case even though the tent was purchased used?

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I concur with not having the fly up on the windy side, as it looks like a kite ready to take flight. I haven't had the spring rods pop out yet, and I've been in 40+ mph gusts. I also always keep the ladder side out of the wind, I stake the ladder down with paracord loops, and run a ratchet strap from the tent to the wheel.

That is a good idea. I often wondered if that side could get caught by a gust and fold you in half?

 

[grnhornetcustoms]

That is a good idea. I often wondered if that side could get caught by a gust and fold you in half?

Interesting thought, my trip to the desert was to watch the King of The Hammers races. In Hammertown, Tepui had a booth with several tents set up. I noticed they had installed stainless eye hooks along the the underside on the ladder side and tied them off back to the vehicle/trailer. Better to be safe then sorry I guess.

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[tcwfalcon]

That's pretty interesting. I may see if I can rig something up like that to keep the fly a little tighter. As for the unit itself, if it were to come loose due to wind, I've got bigger issues.

 

[tcwfalcon]

So, I emailed Eezi-awn yesterday and heard back from them this morning. According to them, as long as the tent hasn't been washed with a detergent, etc, I should never have to re-apply a waterproofing agent. If water is actually leaking to the inside, I may need to apply something, but otherwise, it should be good for life. On the rods, they just recommended bending the ends a little to prevent the fly from popping off.


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