View Full Version : Misting in a Tarptent Cloudburst2
greginmi
05-27-2010, 15:19
I was out camping last weekend and had a disturbing experience with my Cloudburst 2.
I was sleeping in what I would call medium rain with little wind.
When a heavier rain drop hit my tent, I could feel a misting of water on my face.
Is this normal for silnylon?
If so, is there anything I can do to reduce the amount of water infiltration?
Regards,
Greg
Blissful
05-27-2010, 15:22
Yes, its condensation. Happens with a single wall tent. You're going to get some of that. I use a small pack towel to dry off some of it
Is this normal for silnylon?
Yes. There are two possibilities. The first was pointed out by Blissful. Not much else you can do if there's no wind. The second possibility is that water is actually getting thru the silnylon fabric. No silnylon is completely waterproof.
If so, is there anything I can do to reduce the amount of water infiltration?
Nothing practical comes to mind, but consider that some tent makers are starting to use silnylon that's several times more resistant to water penetration. Lightheart and Big Sky come to mind, but I'm sure there are others. This could be a reason to upgrade your tent in the future, although I'd personally move to a tent built out of cuben fiber instead of silnylon because cuben fiber is completely waterproof, weighs less for the same strength, and can be patched by duct tape.
garlic08
05-27-2010, 16:27
I've heard of at least one silnylon user painting the fabric with a thin mixture of silicone and mineral spirits. That's more often done for the floor, but not the canopy. If I tried that, I'd probably make a royal mess. I've never had enough misting to be worried about, but yes, it is sometimes noticeable. My bandanna always takes care of the problem.
bigcranky
05-27-2010, 16:29
It's normal for sil nylon. Either it's spattering the condensation inside your tent, or it's coming through the fabric. Both of those have happened to me. It has not been a big deal, not even in the most amazing hard rain was the interior misting enough to bother us.
Some people make a very thin silicone paste (much thinner than you would use to seam seal the tent), and paint it on the top of the tent fabric. I haven't done that.
Mountain Wildman
05-27-2010, 16:46
The above responses are correct, It is normal for misting to occur.
Wiping down the inside as stated is one means of control, You should also take into consideration: Leave any wet or damp gear outside of the tent, under vestibule etc...
If you sweat alot when you sleep that will also add to the condensation situation, Remove layers as appropriate to sleep comfortably or even a little cool.
If your clothes got wet or damp from the rain, leave them outside as well and put on dry layers. Open any vents that rain will not enter to allow moisture to escape or dissipate.
Other than these measures, The other option as stated would be to switch to a Hybrid tent like the LightHeart Solo or Duo, Stephenson Warmlite or any other tent with the single/double wall design or an old school design of a tent with outer fly.
leaftye is correct.
As well as condensation knocked off the wall you can also have penetration.
This happens when the rain drops are large enough to fall faster and exceed the waterhead of the fabric (kinetic force)
Typically, as Greg described it, it is confined to an odd drop here or there, sometimes (as it has happen to me) is a big blob that falls from a tree.
That is when a branch hold water for a while and then it bends and lets go and starts the process again.
A couple of the TT have a liner designed to counteract this problem, another one will have that soon.
However the liner takes some space and you cannot wipe under it without unclipping it.
For most wiping a few times a night is more than enough to prevent the more common misting from condensation.
Something that I will be looking at, if I can figure out how to replicate the misting by penetration bit, is a McNett
spray on silicone product. This will be easier and probably lighter than the paint on type suggested above.
BTW, again ventilation is your best friend to reduce condensation. So always open up as much as you can
as long as you don't get the inside wet...
Franco
skinewmexico
05-27-2010, 23:31
I've heard of at least one silnylon user painting the fabric with a thin mixture of silicone and mineral spirits. That's more often done for the floor, but not the canopy. If I tried that, I'd probably make a royal mess. I've never had enough misting to be worried about, but yes, it is sometimes noticeable. My bandanna always takes care of the problem.
I may try painting the canopy on my Moment.
"I may try painting the canopy on my Moment"
I suggest you wait a couple of weeks before you do that....
Franco
skinewmexico
05-28-2010, 00:09
Uh............why?
A few reasons.
First I see that you are lusting after a Rainbow , so it may be harder to sell a modified Moment.
Next I think that maybe the spray on McNett silicone might be a better way of doing it. I will do some experiments when I get some spare silnylon.
And maybe something else. I'll PM you.
Franco
A few reasons.
First I see that you are lusting after a Rainbow , so it may be harder to sell a modified Moment.
Next I think that maybe the spray on McNett silicone might be a better way of doing it. I will do some experiments when I get some spare silnylon.
And maybe something else. I'll PM you.
Franco
Heck. Post up where I can read it too!:)
greginmi
05-28-2010, 08:39
Thanks for all the great info.
I did have the sides of the tent down on the ground so condensation was at least part of the equation.
I'll pay more attention next time to figure out if the problem is more condensation being knocked off versus infiltration.
Regards,
Greg
Berserker
06-01-2010, 13:03
Your problem could be condensation just being knocked off or misting. If it's condensation being knocked off the best thing to do is to just wipe it down periodically with a pack towel. If you think it's misting and you want to read more than you ever wanted to know about misting check out this thread I started on BPL: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=25270. I have painted the canopy of my Squall with diluted silicone to resolve this issue, and what I did is detailed in that thread.
brooklynkayak
06-04-2010, 11:26
In my experience, it has always been from condensation. Applying more silicone won't take care of that. It happens in all shelters, but sometimes the second wall of a double wall shelter blocks or deflects it.
Not letting it bother you is key. Doing what you can to improve ventilation is good as well.
It's really hard not to be bothered by mist falling on your face at 3AM. I'm pretty sure that if I lived where I regularly hiked in rain I would get a tent with a rain fly instead of a tarp tent. As it was, I ran through the state of Washington on my PCT hike. Every time it rained on me, I would get up and hike a 30 mile day just to try to get away. I do not like rain. I have to admit that I only experienced mist falling on my face at 3AM once on the whole trail.
I'm bringing this subject up again because it seems to be a never-ending debate as to what causes misting in a tent (heck, I've had it under a tarp over a groundsheet - both my insensible persperation and the dampness of the ground under the tarp conspired to cause condensation which got knocked onto me by rain drops from above).
In my book, post #6 is right on the mark with a minimum of wordiness.
I especially like that he mentions Warmlite tents (www.warmlite.com (http://www.warmlite.com)). Jack Stephenson (a retired aerospace engineer) did extensive studies on thermodynamics of double walled (sewn together) tents vs. single walled tents, as well as the causes of condensation, and, having read his catalogue (back in the 1980s) I have to believe that Mountain Wildman has, too.
Most tent canopies don't leak, it's most likely your distilled sweat coming back at you when knocked off the inside of your tent (or fly, if you have a mosqito net ceiling).
This is my fix for misting by penetration:
http://www.youtube.com/user/francodarioli?feature=mhum#p/u/5/GBnkGIz9cco
Quick,easy and under $10.
Franco