Hit 3 years of backpacking with the same tent and it finally let go on me near the Pecos River in New Mexico.

I got 36 months out of a $200 REI Half Dome 2. The zipper finally gave out in a windstorm last month. Waterproofing was basically gone after year two but it still kept me dry enough. I patched the floor four times with Tenacious Tape. Has anyone else stretched a piece of gear way past its expected life?

3 comments

3 Comments

harperg7622d agoMost Upvoted

My Big Agnes tent lasted almost five years with nothing but constant patching and seam sealing. I finally retired it when a mouse chewed through the mesh in three different spots on the same trip.

eva_thompson21d ago

Feel you on this one. My old Marmot tent went through three seasons of hard use before the pole snapped in a freak hailstorm in Colorado. I had duct tape holding the rainfly together for months after the first tear. The mesh was so thin by the end I could see stars through it. That tent saw me through some rough nights and it hurt to finally let it go.

mila_campbell2521d ago

Honestly, that mouse thing would make me rage so hard. I can handle wear and tear but a rodent just deciding your shelter is a snack is a whole different level of betrayal. You ever figure out how the little bastard got in there in the first place? Like was it just a tiny gap the mesh had gotten too weak to hold back, or did the thing actually chew through from the outside? I'd be paranoid every time I set up after that.

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