HOW TO MAKE YOUR TENT LAST LONGER?

A major factor in purchase of anything is the durability of the product.  All outdoor products have a lifespan.  At Gipfel, our endeavour is to make quality products that will last long, and do not add to the pile up of garbage and increase our environmental footprint.

In that spirit, how long do the tents last?

There is really no short answer to this!

A good analogy for a tent of any quality, is cars.  Consider this, if you do not put a lot of mileage on your car, and if you take care of it, the car will stay pristine for a long time, and then there is correlation between the initial build quality, use, and maintenance, and longevity.

But we do not make Gipfel tents hoping they will sit on the shelf.  We make our tents in anticipation that they will be put through the worst weather there is.

Firstly, the life span will vary considerably basis use.  Tents bought for personal use will last much longer than the same tent that will be used by a commercial tour operator or a tent bought for collective use by clubs, etc.

With good care and maintenance, a Gipfel tent will last you between three to eight years with frequent use.  

The basic longevity comes from the quality of materials, coatings and manufacturing.

Factors that will determine the life span of your tent

  1. Build quality and Materials

 

If you want a durable and a quality tent, that functions as it should in the inclement weather, start with a tent that uses high quality components, and focuses on manufacturing quality controls.

 

At Gipfel, we choose world class components whether it is the poles (all our top end models use DAC or Yunan poles), the fabrics, or accessories like the zips (we use only YKK zippers).  Our processes ensure qualitative build of the tent.

 

Even amongst good quality tents, some tents last longer than others.

 

Some tents are built for endurance and will last a decade, some focus on use in extreme conditions and should be replaced or repaired every couple of seasons with extreme use.

 

A car camping tent typically will last longer than a tent bought for high-altitude expeditions.   While car camping, you will handle your packed tent a lot less, and the typical weather it is pitched in is lot less severe, than say the high altitudes, where the rain, snow, and importantly the UV radiation is much higher.

 

To give you a reference point, we anticipate a Gipfel Norra 3 tent will last for 5 years if it is used 50-60 days, at an altitude of 3,500 – 4,000 meters.  The lower these numbers, the greater will be the life span. 

 

So, does that mean we anticipate 250-300 days of use from a tent such as Norra 3.  If being used continuously within a year, we expect the use-days to be higher, because the age-based degradation wouldn’t have set in as yet. 

 

If you think about it, that is a bold assertion from our end.  UV exposed tents have known to start degrading within a month of being pitched.

 

 

  1. Frequency of use and altitudes

 

The more frequently you use your tent, the faster it will wear down because of UV exposure. The same applies to the altitude.

 

Prolonged UV-exposure wears down the tensile and tear strength of the textile. It also deteriorates the coatings on the textile.

 

This is when you take care of the tent properly and follow the tips given below.

 

Note: We infuse UV stabilizers in our textiles for 4- season tents to retard degradation.

 

The Accelerated Weathering – UV exposure chamber test help us determine the impact on these changes to UV exposures. The amount of UV rays a textile will be subjected to in say 6 months at a 3,500 meters altitude above sea level, the chamber can produce that in just 2 days of testing. After the exposure, we test the tear strength again to check the impact.

 

  1. Storage

 

Always dry your tent before packing in, especially for long term storage.  Ensure all the moisture is removed.  In the short haul, and while on expeditions, this might be difficult to do.

 

The biggest enemy of a tent is the mold. Everything else is reparable, but not the mold.

 

Once the tent catches mold, you will have to discard it. The textile cannot even be cut and used to make something else. You know that the tent is moldy, if it releases a string musty smell. Also, you will see small brown spots forming on the textile that may be removed temporarily after wiping but it will return. The PU coating will also peel off rendering the tent less water resistant.

 

Have you ever been in a tent that had that sharp musty smell that reminds you that the tent might be pretty old, that is the smell of PU. Someone has not been listening and been packing the tent damp!

 

Every Gipfel tent has an instruction sewn inside the inner tent pocket that reads as following.

 

Roll the tent for packing.  Do NOT stuff the tent.  Repeated creasing and folding will eventually damage the waterproofness of the tent.

 

 

 

  1. Pitching: Watch for the Failure modes and Prevention

Poles:

 

Gipfel tent poles are made of highest grade of Aviation Aluminium (7000 series) AND they should last a lifetime.  However, this is one of the single biggest failure-point of the tents in the field, especially with our Commercial Operator customer base.

 

These pole segments are joined with the help of inserts between the poles.

 

If the poles are not properly joined, and the insert tubes are visible, the poles may snap.

 

We provide a repair tube with every tent. Click here to check out how to use a repair tube. The same applies when you take them apart.

 

We do provide the service of replacing the snapped pole segments, and the poles could be repaired at home with stretch cord, and we find this to be the single most damaged element of the tents.  Our valuable commercial operator customers reach out to us to replace 100s of these poles every year.  And all it takes is a bit of sensible care to ensure you have a fully functioning tent in the field.

 

Zippers:

 

The YKK Zippers we use in our tents are heavy duty and are rated to work efficiently even at -60 degrees Celsius.

 

And they should last the lifetime of the tent.  However a busted tent zipper is the most annoying thing you could have, after the poles snapping, and fabric tears.

 

However, just take care of the small things like keeping them clean of dirt and grit, not to brute-force the zipper when it gets stuck in the fabric (work it gently to remove the snag), and use zipper lubes periodically after every season to keep them working smoothly.

 

Fabrics:

 

The tents we make are absolute beasts in handling inclement weathers.  But these beasts still need tender loving care.

 

Do not walk in your tent with your crampons or ice cleats on!  This is the single biggest issue we see with the tents that come back for repairs from our customers.  (We offer replacement inners and outers, and foot prints.)

 

To extend the life of the fabrics and the tent overall:

  • Use tent foot print or ground sheet underneath your tent, when you can.
  • Protect your tent from UV, when you can and as you can.
  • Keep the insides and outsides clean of dirt and grit.
  • Do not machine wash your tent, If washing, set up your tent, and sponge it down with a non-detergent mild wash, and dry it out completely in shade preferably.
  • Re-waterproof your tent as per recommendations below, use a seam sealant available (Coghlan’s Seam Seal is available locally).

 

Where to Pitch:

Take time to clean your camp site.  Sharp stones and roots poking out of the ground will damage the tent.

As mentioned above, UV damage is real and can degrade and destroy the fabrics over a period of time.  So, pitch accordingly.

 

  1. Is there any spray to replenish the waterproofing of an old tent?

 

Waterproofing (water resistance)? No!

 

Water-repellence /DWR? Yes!

 

The waterproofing (water resistance is  a more appropriate term) comes from the PU coating on the inner side of the outer rainfly.

 

Anything coated on outside like DWR or Silicone, like in case of Gipfel tents – Silicone, only makes it water water repellent and not water-resistant.

 

The water repellence only helps in keeping the textile from absorbing water and stretching and sagging. It also offers the dye and textile some fastness to UV rays.

This water repellence lasts only few months with frequent use, so there is spray-on stuff available in the market that replenishes the water repellence, but that’s it.

 

This outer coating alone cannot make the tent water resistant. The inner coating is what will give water resistance. Unfortunately, once the inner coating comes off, there is little you can do because it cannot be sprayed on.

 

Here are some tips on proper tent usage and minor repairs. Click here

 

Have any comments? We would like to hear from you in the comments section below.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST TENT FOR CAMPING?

Here is a quick and easy way to compare the critical specifications of all our tents. The tents are divided seasons wise, but most our 3 season tents are competent enough for winter use as well (tested by third party alpinists)

Tent comparison table for Gipfel tents

Note: Updated as of 26-April 2020
Because of supply chain complications, some DAC poles in actual tents could be replaced with YUNAN and vice versa. 

TENT FABRICS – UNDERSTANDING TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

In this series we will try to demystify the components that go into making tents.

What is a good balance between weight and the durability, weight and the degree of waterproofing?  What fabrics are suited for what terrain?

Having spent years designing and producing tents, right from the conceptualization through schematic drawings, pattern makings, prototyping and then bulk production, there is a reasonable amount of knowledge we have accumulated about camping tents.

All Gipfel tents are produced in our own factory located near New Delhi (India), and the components are sourced from the best in the world.

To explain the textile used in tents, let’s see how you normally come across the textile description used by various tent makers. All of us mostly use a similar format.

 

DENIER (D)

This is the measure of the thickness/density of the synthetic yarn of the woven textile.  The higher the denier, the thicker and heavier the yarn is.  A higher number also means that the textile is probably stronger.

For example, a 20D Nylon is lighter but weaker than a 40D Nylon.  Also important to note is that, lower denier also means less tensile strength and faster degradation in sun.  So in the higher altitudes, a 40D or 70D would be better.  Beyond 70D, the fabric will be stronger, but the weight penalty will begin to kick in.

Taking a closer look, literally; if you look closely at the tent textile, the yarns are woven at an angle of 90° to each other.  The horizontally arranged yarns represent WARP and the vertically arranged yarns represent WEFT. The denier values are represented in this format Warp (D) x Weft (D).  Mostly the same yarn is used in both sides.  However, if you see something like this 40D x 70D, then it means that the textile has Warp of 40 Denier and Weft of 70 Denier.

  Texture of 1000D Nylon Kordura

 

 Texture of 40D Nylon (plain weave)

                

THREAD COUNT (T)

It represents the total number of yarns in Warp and Weft directions in a square inch area of textile.  With higher the thread count, textile will the thinner, lighter and suppler.  Basically, it has a better hand feel.

A higher thread count is great for sleeping bags but not always great for tents.  For example, a 210T Polyester is stronger than a 300T Polyester.  We use 210T Polyester for tents used by commercial operators.  They are heavier but more durable.  However we prefer to use 300T textile for sleeping bags.  The hand feel is great in this thread count.

    Bunch of 1000D PP Yarn

 

WEAVE TYPE (RIPSTOP OR PLAIN WEAVE)

There are many types of weaves in textiles, but in tents we mostly use Rip stop or Plain Weave taffeta.  As the name suggests, rip stop textile is a type of fabric that is incredibly resistant to rips and tears.  A grid is woven into the face fabric to prevent small rips and tears from spreading and completely destroying the entire piece of fabric.  This mesh is easily visible if you look closely.  The mesh looks like a square or a diamond.  These patterns can be small or big.

For example, Gipfel Fira 2 UL tent has 1mm rip stop (side of square is 1mm long).  The Gipfel High Mountain tent has a 5 mm rip stop. Plain weave has no mesh.  A rip can spread out much more easily in this textile, especially if it is a light weight textile.

 

 

    Square rip stop weave

    Diamond Rip stop weave

   Plain weave Taffeta texture

RESIN TYPE

The tent textiles for light weight camping tents are largely synthetic materials, i.e. plastics.  The textile is woven from yarns and the yarns are made from plastic resin.  The most commonly used ones in tents are Nylon and Polyester.

Nylon is amazing.  It has higher strength to weight ratio than Polyester but less so than speciality fibers like the Dyneema.  Unfortunately, Nylons absorb water and expand making the tent loose.  The tents made from Nylon require frequent re-tensioning of guy lines depending on the weather and what time of the day it is.  Additionally, the color fastness to UV exposure in Nylon isn’t as great as Polyester.

Despite the cons, Nylon is still the preferred textile for high specification tents because Nylon is stronger and lighter.  A 70D Nylon is lighter than a 68D Polyester.  As far as the cons are concerned, there are ways to minimize the effect of disadvantages as will be explained in the COATINGS section below.   UV stabilizers are added to the textile for better color fastness in the Gipfel tents.

 

WATER RESISTANCE (HYDROSTATIC HEAD)

This is the measure of the amount of water that the fabric will endure before it starts leaking.  Generally speaking it is measured as a height of the water column of 1 inch diameter.  Hydrostatic Head is a technical term of the pressure exerted by this column at the textile on the bottom end of the column.

All Gipfel tents’ rainflies (or the outer covers) have a resistance of at least 3,000 mm Hydrostatic Head.  This is a excellent rain proofing for the tents and will not leak even under extremely heavy rain.

Gipfel tents’ ground sheets typically have a higher resistance to water than the rainflies, a minimum of 7,000 mm water resistance.  This is for two reasons.  One, there is a lot more pressure on the ground sheet from use which means the 3,000 mm water resistance is not adequate to avoid water seepage from the potentially damp ground, and two, this constant use also requires that the water proofing needs to be durable.  Hence the 7,000 mm water resistance.

 

COATING ON INNER SIDE OF BASE FABRIC (WATER RESISTANT) / COATING ON OUTER SIDE (WATER REPELLENT)

There are typically two kinds of coating used mostly on tents – PU and Silicone.

Water Resistant PU Coating:  This coating is applied in layers on the inner side of base fabric and provides water resistance.  The thicker the layer, the more is the resistance to water penetration.  This is always applied on the inner side of the textile and never on the outer side.  The best thing about PU coating is that it enables the seams of the tent to be taped.  This prevents the water from seeping through the needle holes in the seams.  Because all Gipfel tents are seam taped in the factory, all tents have PU coating on the inner side of the base fabric.

The coatings can either just be water resistant or there may be specialty PU coatings within microscopic pores that provides breathability in addition to the water resistance.  Such is the case with the Gipfel single walled KYRA tent.

Water Repellent Silicone Coating:  When applied on the outer side of base fabric, Silicone coating offers some UV resistance, better color fastness to UV, and most importantly, it is water repellent.

Water repellent coating prevents the textile from absorbing moisture / water. When water comes in contact with Silicone coating, it immediately beads up and drips off the surface without letting the base fabric from coming into contact with water.

If there is no information about the outer coating, then the tent probably has only the inner water resistant coating.

Gipfel rainflies have PU/Silicone. It means they have PU coatings on inner side and Silicone on outer side.

  Water beading up on the silicone coating

If you have any further questions, or feedback on this write up, please feel free to leave a note below, or mail us at info@gipfelclimbing.com.

LEADING TREK COMPANIES LOVE GIPFEL TENTS

At Gipfel’s Tents division, we think, dream, and breathe tents.

When we started making Tents, we wanted to create world-class products that could withstand the rigours of Himalayas at prices that weren’t inflated by the economics of shareholder value and outsourcing. Our tents are made inhouse, designed with thought, put together with love and quality components, and priced right.

We are proud of EVERY tent that we make, and when we make a tent, we make sure that it meets our minimum requirements of the three C’s: COMFORT, CONVENIENCE, CONDENSATION

Here are some key features about our tents.

1. High Quality Raw Materials: 

Anyone with experience with food, knows that good quality ingredients are the foundation to a sublime gastronomic experience.

As with food, good tents deserve only the best. Our poles are sourced from DAC in Korea, our fabrics from Taiwan, we use YKK zippers, or the tent guy line tensioners are amongst the best design.

A case in point with the tent poles, we largely use aviation grade DAC® Aluminium poles (7000 series) for our tents. DAC Aluminium poles are world’s best poles, will last you a lifetime without abuse, are light, and can withstand heavy winds. And yet, we provide a 5-year limited warranty on them for non-commercial use.

2. More space with the same footprint:

Many of our tents are roomy and airy. Orion and UFO series of tents have an intelligent design that allows the walls to remain vertical, and the roof is close to horizontal. The result is that the tents have more space and headroom. While this marginally increases the weight, our customers have come back to tell us that their stay was very comfortable.

 

3. Low Condensation: 

Right from the design stage we ensure that the tents are sufficiently ventilated.

Our 4-seasons tents have double-layered doors on either side of the tent. One layer is made from breathable polyester mesh while the other is made from non-breathable fabric. This allows for flexibility of options to keep the tent breathing.

This is particularly helpful in the case of 4-seasons tents with capacity of 3 persons and more. These tents are most susceptible to condensation because of the sub-zero surrounding temperatures and the sheer amount of vapour present inside the tent resulting from breathing.

In our single-wall tents we use water resistant and breathable fabrics, and intelligently placed ventilating chutes.

 

 

 

4. Convenience:

If you visit our Tents’ division, located an hour and half from Delhi, we are abuzz with activity; there is a palpable energy and a sense of urgency, but we insist, and we love it, when our customers visit us at our factory.

This not only helps us understand our customer needs better but also the conversations eventually convert into exchange of mountain stories and experiences over a cup of hot coffee.

But that’s not it alone, convenience stems from the fact that we are in India, and we manufacture locally (not outsourced) and offer repairs and maintenance on our products.  Despite the best quality materials there are always external factors, as in the case when a customer reported a punctured groundsheet because a trekker wore crampons inside a tent.  (Obviously, we repaired that tent).

Our turnaround time is 1 week or less for any repair.

Additionally, we have custom built tents to our Customer’s requirements.

Our customers look at us as integral part of their business logistics support!

5. Small things make a big difference:

We are constantly thinking of making our customer experiences better.  We are not just making ‘Tents’, we are creating an experience for you, through our Tents!

Design, materials, quality of manufacturing are all great, but small details such as the Jake’s foot (for inserting tent poles into the ground sheet) that we introduced to India or our new guy-line tensioners which are again revolutionary for India; these details go a long way in making your camping, bivouacking experience more fun and efficient!

 

6. Made in India, tested in Himalaya: 

The biggest advantage we have amongst world’s Tent makers; we aren’t located in some remote corner of a large country in an industrial complex removed from end user experience.  We are four-hour drive away from the mountains!

And the biggest mountains of them all; Himalayas!

Often you will find our testing teams (invariably, the very people who are creating these tents) making a dash over the weekends to the Himalayas to test new designs.  But we also test our tents in Sahyadaris and Deccan landscapes to get a wider perspective.

Additionally, we have a network of friends and expert users whose observations are carefully documented by our inhouse team. We value the feedback and act upon it quickly. It is not without any reason that we stand behind every tent we make.

 

 

7. Fully seam taped tents: We seal the seams carefully to ensure water tightness. Additionally, the threads are water repellent and seams are lap felled.