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bad knees 
Group: Members
Posts: 2384
Joined: May 2007
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 1:26 pm |
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I am looking at a tent with DWR coating on the floor and fly. How does this differ from the standard pu coating? I am not familiar with how well it stacks up. IE: Does the coating break down and get sticky? Is it as waterproof? ETC...
Thanks, John
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There's a story behind that!
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rayestrella
Group: Members
Posts: 6420
Joined: Nov. 2004
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 3:06 pm |
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Polyurethane is applied one time and is somewhat permanently boded to the fabric. It has a noticeably tacky (plastic-like) feel to it. Most nylons that have a PU coating (always to just one side) have a silicone coating on the other.
DWR is a sprayed or dipped application of surface water-repellent. Note it is not waterproof. It can wear off, but can also be reapplied easily. PU coating cannot.
PU adds quite a bit of weight to a fabric, DWR does not.
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I measure happiness with an altimeter
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rayestrella
Group: Members
Posts: 6420
Joined: Nov. 2004
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 4:19 pm |
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Unfortunately too common on cheaper tents. We are testing some cheap tents at BGT right now that leak like a sieve. But you are looking at the Eureka right? They are coated, meaning they have a PU coating. If it says it has "taped" seams, that is tape that they use on the sewn seams that bonds to the PU coating and covers the holes made in the coating during sewing.
Now at only 800mm coating, it sure isn't much. But it is made for camping, not extended backcountry expeditions.
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I measure happiness with an altimeter
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TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13352
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 5:58 pm |
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They're totally different letters.
Sorry. Got a case of the SA's.
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"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
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leadbelly2550
Group: Members
Posts: 1047
Joined: Apr. 2009
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Posted on: Nov. 19 2012, 6:23 pm |
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i would not purchase a tent that has a floor with DWR only. it's a recipe for damp/wet sleeping bags on a rainy night.
polyurethane coated nylon can get sticky and fail by peeling or delaminating after years of use or through adverse storage conditions. tents stored in high heat/humidity, for example, or tents that aren't properly pitched to dry after a trip are more likely to fail.
when i guided trips in the adirondacks, we generally used eureka A frame tents like the timberline 2. they worked well and generally lasted a number of seasons, didn't leak until the bottoms or rain fly got perforated through normal use, which does happen. those tents still have a coated floor, weigh about 6 pounds. they should still be reliable and are easy to set up. they retail for around $150. Eureka has a limited lifetime warranty that i have never tested, but it has a caveat that says they don't cover normal wear & tear such as UV light damage or damage from "improper care." i owned one of these for several years and had good luck with it.
take a look at REI's camp dome 2. coated nylon floor, they weigh about the same as the Eureka, they are easy/quick to pitch, and they cost $100 bucks. the floor is about as long as the timberline, but it's somewhat narrower - the Eureka is 9 inches wider. the REI tent has 2 doors, which is nice. even better, REI has excellent customer service and honors their warranty. a friend of mine returned a 3/4 season REI tent after several years of use because the coated nylon floor started delaminating. despite that the delam was probably my friend's fault due to less-than-optimal storage, they replaced the tent without giving him a hard time.
i have one of the REI camp domes - my kids often sleep in it, and i often loan it to friends because i don't tend to worry about it getting damaged due to the relatively low cost. still, after several years and lots of lending, it continues to work well. if i were to start guiding trips today and had to buy several tents for teenagers, this is likely what i would get.
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