Tarptent (Contrail) in the rain (video)

[Franco]

Following somne of the comments here on another thread I had the opportunity to shoot this last night and this morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD5t3TOrUa0
We had a rain storm passing through last night , so I set up the Contrail in the middle of it..
The initial downpour lasted about 20 minutes, in the area people reported between 3 and 7 cm in their rain gauge.
After a short break it started to rain again and kept raining most of the night .
First I set up the Contrail getting completely wet at the bottom doing so (I had a rain jacket on ).
As soon as I had that up (it takes me less then two minutes even in those conditions) I went in got dry and changed, by then it had almost stopped.
This is when I started taping.
Note that I only pull the shelter taut during set up (the fly was almost underwater as I was pegging the corners, so it was fully relaxed in minutes)
As you can see there are a few drops on the floor after all that rain however that as much as it scares some it does not bother me at all...
(one of my cats spent the night inside it...)
Franco
BTW...
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/storm-to-move-south-and-soak-victoria/story-e6frf7kx-1225999816174

[10-K]

Franco - I started that thread and just for the record I did say that it wasn't a show stopper for me, though the misting issue is somewhat of a bummer, which I still think since no other single wall tent I've used is prone to this behavior.

If I had known (and I had every opportunity to learn, had I done my homework) of the misting issue it is true that I would have bought another brand - but my buyer's remorse isn't a major complaint or anything. I don't feel cheated, etc.

It's more of an annoyance than anything....

[Bags4266]

Well let me tell ya. It was a game stopper for me. I am a hanger and tenter and have not experienced another hard rain in my contrail yet cause I have been hamock hiking. This spring however I am taking it on a month section down south and will put it to the test once again. Hoping for the best. I was so discouraged last time that afterwards I only sleep in shelters, when I got home I set it up in my yard and put the hose to it....dry as a bone. Go figure.

[Franco]

10k
I posted this following some comments (not yours...) that stated and or implied that these shelters are useless in the rain.
As you know I have used them for about 6 years as well as having set them up for days at a time under the rain in my backyard too just to get a better idea of what happens when..
So this is not directed at you personally, just some info so that people can get a different point of view.
As already mentioned, a lot of TT shelters are a repeat sale ( many TT customers have more than one shelter, I had 4 before I joined TT) and most are sold via personal recommendation.
In fact here in Australia there is a "pocket" (around Canberra) that probably has the highest TT ownership per capita than anywhere else on the planet.. (about 60x the Aussie average by my calculation)
That happened simply by word of mouth .
(BTW there are several thousands of TT out there, people that comment on the Net are a tiny proportion of actual users)
But as I keep saying, there is no product that works for everybody all of the time.
Not just tents. Boots/packs/sleeping bags... have a look at the love/hate response to the Neo Air as an obvious example.
Is it fantastic or a piece of crap ? Apparently both... (I like mine)
Please also note that growing up in the Italian Alps and often coming back totally soaked from our day excursions made me a lot more tolerant of a few drops of rain than some.
Same reason why some sleep on a 1/8th " thinlight , other need 2" of padding.
Franco
BTW. I posted a higher res version for the ones with too much broad band :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFnO2xcfevg

[Country Roads]

I have had good experiences with my Contrail (2007 model). It is very liveable. I have not experience much condensation or this wonderous thing called misting when using it, since it it very well ventilated. I have had condensation when using my Wild Oasis, and the intensity of the rain beating down on it rained the condensation down on me, so sometimes I think this is mistaken for misting.

Only problem I have experienced was from user set up error; forgetting to close vestibule door when exploring and experiencing a heckish storm, but gear still dry, just a puddle underneath my sleeping pad.

[FamilyGuy]

Isn't this what it is supposed to do?

Or were you testing the seam sealing?

[StormBird]

i have definitely experienced misting in the Contrail I used for a short time last year on my thru. It only happened in really heavy rains. There was also some splashing that got through on the sides where the mesh is. I wouldn't want to stay in this tent during heavy rains.

[JohnEbner]

Just wanted to add my recent experience with the Contrail. I just picked up a used one a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't seam sealed so I set it up in the yard and took care of that. We had a hard cold front coming in late that night so I left it set up to see how it would do. The forecast called for 24mph winds with gusts up to 30 for the entire day. I set up the tent so that the foot end would be facing into the wind. About 5 AM the front came in. What I wasn't expecting was the initial winds coming out of the west which hit the tent broadside. I also didn't realize that initial storms that came with the front were forecast to bring winds up to 65mph. I don't know if the wind ever got up to 65 or not but I would bet they were 50 or better.

I had waited up to watch the tent when the front came in and make sure everything was ok. I was first alerted to the high winds by hearing a roaring sound and the sound of rain and flying debris hitting our windows. I looked out the front door and realized the tent was not in a good position but decided to let it ride the storm out as is. The Contrail was set up as low to the ground as I could get it and staked out with 8 stakes (4 groundhogs and 4 6" titanium). After about 10 minutes I checked on the tent again and my stomach turned as I saw the front flapping wildly in the wind. I just knew something had tore loose. I threw on a jacket and went out in the driving rain to inspect the tent. What I found was a center side stake pulled loose (6" ti) and one of my hiking poles laying on the ground (I had used dual poles in an inverted V). I quickly reset the hiking pole and side stake and made sure everything was tight. My guess is that the wind got up under the tent and lifted it just enough for the pole to come loose and fall over. After about an hour or so the winds died down and remained out of the north at about 20-25mph for the rest of the day. By mid-late morning the rain had stopped and I checked the inside of the tent. Since I didn't stay in the tent during the rain I can't say whether or not there was any misting but the inside was definitely bone dry.

We were supposed to have 2-3 inches of snow the next day with a low of close to 20* so I planned on an overnighter since that kind of snow is pretty rare here in Texas. We never got the snow but instead got freezing rain and sleet. I had been concerned about condensation in single wall tents and figured this would be a good time to test that out. I slept with the tent raised, mesh door open, foot open and vestibule closed (my dog slept in the vestibule). No condensation whatsoever. I did wind up with about 1/8" sheet of solid ice covering the entire tent though. I don't think I could ask for much more from a tent and am very happy with mine.



The texture you see is from me knocking off ice during the night and sleet and freezing rain building up on top of what didn't come off.

[stranger]

Isn't this what it is supposed to do?

Or were you testing the seam sealing?

Agreed...tents are supposed to do this aren't they?

Is your next film going to demonstrate that if you lock a door from one side it won't open from the other?

About as equally informative

[stranger]

.
In fact here in Australia there is a "pocket" (around Canberra) that probably has the highest TT ownership per capita than anywhere else on the planet.. (about 60x the Aussie average by my calculation)
That happened simply by word of mouth .

I think half your problem is listening to people in Canberra

[Camping Dave]

So what? 10cm in 11 hours, that's what they call moderate rainfall. Send out a press release: the contrail stays almost dry in a moderate rainfall.

10-K's original thread was about water penetration in one of those "howling winds, driving rain" storms.

Same point as before: if you buy a tent whose fabric is barely waterproof, even under the laxest definition of waterproof, expect to get wet in heavy or driving rain unless you treat the fabric yourself. Sorry if that bothers you Franco. Big boys don't get their drawers in a twist over the facts of material properties.

[Franco]

Moderate rainfall...
Let me see
In Baltimore you get an average of 3.5" of rain per month. (113 rain days av total)
But to you 4" of rain in 1 night is "moderate" ...
Franco

[SmokeEater]

Great job on the video! People will complain over anything.

[Camping Dave]

Moderate rainfall...Let me see In Baltimore you get an average of 3.5" of rain per month. (113 rain days av total) But to you 4" of rain in 1 night is "moderate" ...
Franco

That's according to the Glossary of Meteorology, and you can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain#Intensity

Just another fact for you to explain away.

Bottom line: you have a video that allegedly proves the contrail stays dry in a moderate, windless rainfall. Big whoop.