6 Tips For A Longer Tent Life
Whether the hills beckon to you every weekend, or an annual camping trip with friends and family is more your pace, you want to make sure your tent stands up for the long haul. We spoke to MSR's tent experts about what you can do to prolong the life of your tent.
01. Never Store Your Tent Wet
Storing your tent while it’s wet or even damp can lead to the premature breakdown of its fabric and coatings. For this reason, the number one guideline for longer tent life is to make sure your tent is clean, dry and stored in a cool area out of direct sunlight.
02. Treat Your Poles Well
Most pole damage occurs during setup. Try to keep the ends of the pole sections from banging together when assembling the frame as it can dent them or create cracks at the ends, which can compromise pole strength and lead to breakage. Don't overstress the poles when setting up the tent; doing so can lead to permanently deforming the sections. When disassembling your poles, start from the centre and move outwards to evenly distribute the tension on the shock cord. Make sure to clean your poles, especially around the intersections.
03. Use A Footprint With Your Tent
Footprints are designed to keep your tent floor clean, dry, and protected from excessive abrasions. They do this by keeping water and dirt away from the bottom of your tent. This also helps your tent stay clean when you need to pack it up again.
04. Be Kind To The Zips
Tent fabric is designed to be taut when set up, so there will always be some tension on the zip. Assisting the zip with a second hand, especially when going around a curve, will reduce wear on the zip and its metal slider and help keep it running smoothly. Keep zips clean and free of fine grit, which can wear away at the zip’s metal slider to the point where it no longer clinches the zip teeth together.
05. Seal The Seams
Over time, moisture, heat and humidity can breakdown the seam tape on tents made of lightweight fabrics. If you start to notice leaks along your seams, seam sealing can help prolong their waterproofness. Seam sealing will ensure maximum waterproof protection and create a tent with exceptional longevity.
06. Avoid Long-Term UV Exposure
Tents can offer great protection in sunny as well as stormy weather, but you shouldn’t set up your tent in your back garden and forget about it, leaving it to bake in the sun all season long. UV rays break down nylon fibre, making it dry and brittle and reducing its tensile strength causing the fabric to rip at the seams and stress joints. Polyester offers a little more UV resistance over nylon fabrics, but any tent should be stored out of direct sunlight when not in use. If you take good care of your tent, it will take good care of you, so you can have adventures together for many years to come.
MSR TENT RANGE
If you want a great quality backpacking tent, MSR have you covered. The Elixir range is a staff favourite, providing exceptional value for a true wild camping tent, and one ready for years of good use. It's design is easy to pitch and offers plenty of space. Check out our range below to see which MSR model suits you.
MSR Elixir 1 - A one-person shelter with a large porch, this is ideal for the adventurer who wants to break away. At just 2.2kg, it's lightweight design is unbeatable.
MSR Elixir 2 - Sharing the same strong design as the MSR Hubba Hubba, the Elixir 2 has been one of our best-selling tents for several years. Strong, simple, excellent value - simply the best all-round, two-person tent.
MSR Elixir 3 - Like its siblings, the Elixir 3 is a simple, bombproof tent. Large enough for two, cosy for three, and like the other Elixir models, comes complete with a footprint for long life.
Shop The MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2 Tent
MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2 - Take the classic design of the Elixir and shed over 1kg of weight, and you get one of the ultimate backpacking tent: the Hubba Hubba. A firm staff favourite and proven performer.
