New Tent - What to do about slippery tent floor

[ehasenmyer]

We bought a Six Moon Design Lunar Duo this past summer. We have taken it on several week long trips and LOVE it. Roomy, super light and easy to set-up once you get the hang of it. Our only grumble is that the tent floor is really slippery. Even if there isn't an incline, you end up curled up at one of the ends or the or side of the tent. Can make for a long night especially if you end up knocking down the hiking pole that's holding the tent up. The floor is made of silicon nylon. Does anyone have some idea of how I can somehow decrease the how slippery the floor is? I don't want to ruin the tent or anything.

I was thinking I might add thin beads of silicone caulking along the width of the tent. Does anyone know if this would hurt or reduce the life of the tent?

[SouthMark]

Paint circles on the floor with the same silicon sealer mix that you use to seam seal a silicon tent. No harm to the tent.

[Pacific Tortuga]

Get some Sil-net silicon in a tube and make a PUD or snake like shape from side to side at about 4 to 6 inches apart.
That is what Shires tents use, for what its worth.

[McBride]

Rather than painting circles or stripes on my floor I personally coated the entire floor of the inside of my tent with a 5 to 1 denatured alcohol / silicon mix. The reason that I did the whole thing is due to the fact that normal silnylon can only take a certain amount of pressure per square inch before it gets micropunctures (think kneeling on the floor for the most pressure). If you coat the inside with the treatment it boosts the pressure rating enough to allow you to not have to use a groundsheet. I only mention this because it also has the side effect of making the tent floor far less slippery while eliminating the ground sheet if you so choose.

Heres the article that I read last year that made me choose to do it for my thru.

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/Silnylon1/#Description

[skinewmexico]

I've always painted circles, since stripes makes it harder to sweep out. Though about doing the JW basecamp deal, just haven't gotten around to it. To the OP - you did seam seal it, didin't you? If you don't want to do the mix, you can buy some flowable Permatex windshield sealant, just squirt it around.

[OutdoorsMan]

There is no solution to your problem. You need to mail the tent to me and go out and buy another that doesn't have a slippery floor.

[coheterojo]

I did circles. X'es, lines, squiggles and AT symbols on the floor of my Lunar Duo w my leftover seam sealer.

[daddytwosticks]

All good solutions above. I use a very thin, lightweight pad (2 oz.) from Gossamer Gear beneath my Prolite 3 when sleeping on a silnylon floor. No more slipping, plus I have more warmth and slightly more padding. In addition, I keep it strapped to the outside of my pack for use as a sit pad during breaks. Works great. :)

[Mrs Baggins]

What about those non-slip pads for putting under area rugs? They are very thin, very light, can be cut to size. Just an idea. Maybe they'd still slide around on nylon.

[thecaptain]

I have used 2 different methods to pervent sliding....1st was applying the non slip thingies that are used in a shower....worked ok but peeled off after a while...2nd applied dots of silicon to the floor this worked much better

[ehasenmyer]

Yes the tent is seam sealed. Although it never occurred to me to use seam sealer on the entire tent floor as well. I think I'll try that and see if that helps.

[Jim Adams]

If adding weight is the solution to the problem then why not just buy a slightly heavier tent that actually works?
I've never seam sealed a tent yet and have never had leakage problems and I've camped in several hurricanes.
I've also never had the sliding problem.

geek

[brotheral]

We bought a Six Moon Design Lunar Duo this past summer. We have taken it on several week long trips and LOVE it. Roomy, super light and easy to set-up once you get the hang of it. Our only grumble is that the tent floor is really slippery. Even if there isn't an incline, you end up curled up at one of the ends or the or side of the tent. Can make for a long night especially if you end up knocking down the hiking pole that's holding the tent up. The floor is made of silicon nylon. Does anyone have some idea of how I can somehow decrease the how slippery the floor is? I don't want to ruin the tent or anything.

I was thinking I might add thin beads of silicone caulking along the width of the tent. Does anyone know if this would hurt or reduce the life of the tent?
Have you contacted Six Moon Designs ?? It's been my experience that Ron is very good at responding to customers...

[srestrepo]

just leave it alone... might even be more fun that way!

[Pacific Tortuga]

just leave it alone... might even be more fun that way!


Please, your in your twenty's, it all seems fun and usually ends in intimacy.
I'd like to go there, but, it is a G rated forum. :cool:

[skinewmexico]

Have you contacted Six Moon Designs ?? It's been my experience that Ron is very good at responding to customers...

Not Ron's problem. Ron will tell you to mix a little silicone with mineral spirits and paint stripes. Just one of the skills you learn when you know 2-4 pounds of your old school tent.

[skinewmexico]

Knock, not know. Shoot, guess I need to go donate again so I can edit.

[Tinker]

What about those non-slip pads for putting under area rugs? They are very thin, very light, can be cut to size. Just an idea. Maybe they'd still slide around on nylon.

They work, but it's just one more thing to keep track of, and it's heavier than a ribbon or two of Silnet or similar product on the floor.

[srestrepo]

oh no, i'm sorry if i came off wrong. but truly, i always end up by myself and i play like a giant 290 pound child... (i still jump on hotel beds)

sorry for the misinterpretation. in any case, i ithink that at the very least you could add some seam sealer to your pad as opposed to your tent. i would feel more comfortable playing around with non slip options for your sleeping pad as opposed to your nice new tent.

[Sir-Packs-Alot]

We bought a Six Moon Design Lunar Duo this past summer. We have taken it on several week long trips and LOVE it. Roomy, super light and easy to set-up once you get the hang of it. Our only grumble is that the tent floor is really slippery. Even if there isn't an incline, you end up curled up at one of the ends or the or side of the tent. Can make for a long night especially if you end up knocking down the hiking pole that's holding the tent up. The floor is made of silicon nylon. Does anyone have some idea of how I can somehow decrease the how slippery the floor is? I don't want to ruin the tent or anything.

I was thinking I might add thin beads of silicone caulking along the width of the tent. Does anyone know if this would hurt or reduce the life of the tent?
I've got a Luna Solo I love it ... and had the same "slipping into a fetal position in a corner of the tent during the night if there is any slope" problem. I put smears of silicone under my inflatable sleeping pad - I've been good since - peels off after a while - may need to reapply seasonally.

[Johnny Appleseed]

vaseline, duh.

[Tinker]

I've got a Luna Solo I love it ... and had the same "slipping into a fetal position in a corner of the tent during the night if there is any slope" problem. I put smears of silicone under my inflatable sleeping pad - I've been good since - peels off after a while - may need to reapply seasonally.

To my knowledge (admittedly not up-to-date), all inflatable pads are made of urethane coated nylon which has the urethane on the inside and, as is typical for that type of fabric, a dwr on the outside. That's why the dots peel off. The silicone applied to the floor will stick to the silicone with which the floor fabric is impregnated and should not peel off.
It will, though, pick up some dirt over time and lose some of the stick that keeps the mat from sliding around.
Neither solution is perfect or permanent.
As Jim Adams said, he's owned multiple tents and hasn't had the sliding problem. He's probably never had one with a silnylon floor. Silnylon is waterproof enough in most situations, but urethane coating is more reliable in the long run.

[Jim Adams]

Have had sil tents and floors...the problems that I had with them was not sliding but condensation and keeping them upright.

geek