Hydrostatic mm; can it be improved ?

[Toddy]

With the seasonal clearouts underway I keep seeing tents reduced to silly prices in the supermarkets.
Tesco had a £135 tent for £21.95 yesterday. The hydrostatic number though said 1,500, and I've been told to look for at least 3,000.

Is there anyway to improve the waterproofing on such a cheap tent ?
The label said not suitable for severe weather, but it can be torrential rain for days even in Summer here, and presumably that's 'severe'. I really thought of this just as a cheap occasional use at big meet ups kind of tent since it had so much room in it, but it's going to be no use if it's going to let everything inside get soaked.

Anyone any experience of fixing this issue ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[sapper1]

The hydrostatic head is governed by the quality and tightnes of the weave of the fabric.No matter what you treat it with it will still have the sam HH unless you use something like ruberoid roofing repair.
Not sure if you know how the HH is measured so I'll explain so everyone will know.
The hydrostatic head of any material is measured in millimetres,the actual value relates to the height of a water column sat on the fabric,eg. 1,500mm means that the fabric will stop water coming through at a pressure of 1,500mm.The pressure of water hitting the tent depends on ,mainly, how hard it is raining and how big the drops are.Also how strong the wins is blowing.
Another thing to remember is that HH only refers to the fabric,and not the tent as a finished article.Seams and zips are not covered by the HH of the fabric.
Hope this helps

 

[Graham_S]

I don't think you can alter the HH, but a good coating of repellant will help to shed water before it can penetrate, the seams are more likely to be a problem than the fabric.
a groundsheet under the tent will also help

 

[sapper1]

I don't think you can alter the HH, but a good coating of repellant will help to shed water before it can penetrate, the seams are more likely to be a problem than the fabric.
a groundsheet under the tent will also help

Hi Graham, I'm not disputing the groundsheet,but courious how it will help with water repellency.

 

[Toddy]

Thanks folks
I was only thinking of using it at a New Year meet and at the Moot.
Places where having extra room would be really useful.

ah well,
cheers,
M

 

[Graham_S]

Hi Graham, I'm not disputing the groundsheet,but courious how it will help with water repellency.

A lot of cheap tents have poor quality groundsheets, a significant source of the leaking problems they face.
placing another under the tent helps with any "pressure seepage" when you're kneeling inside the tent.

 

[sapper1]

Ah! I thought you meant it would help with the fly leaking.
Funny enough I've just bought a new tent for that very reason the groundsheet let water in despite using self inflating bed rolls.There was no pressure on the groundsheet other than well spread over the whole groundsheet.A bit annoying really.

 

[Wayland]

You could always set it up under a decent tarp....