Same here !
Our eBay special is (Ive been keeping this quiet up to now) a Freecamp Arizona tunnel. There Ive said it. Also 1500HH and we were in persistent heavy rain for two days with ours and the only problem was where the top eventually sagged onto the bedroom inner and rain came through there. After that, we unhooked the top/middle bedroom toggle to lower it, and all was fine - though I was very nervous ! Had it been windy as well it might have been worse as the sides wouldnt tension well and flapped about quite a lot.
Now we know we like camping, we don't mind spending proper money on a proper tent for next year !
My first tent was also a Stormproof USA. I knew nothing about tents and thought it would be a good laugh to buy one and see if we could get hooked. It went up easily and we went away for 3 days. On the last night it absolutely poured down and the tent didn't leak at all. It had no groundsheet and was awful crawling in and out. Despite that I was hooked and instantly upgraded to a 'walk in' which was a Coleman. Got that in the end of season sales.
1500mm Hydrostatic head means your tent fabric can support a column of water 1.5 metres high.
I don't know about you but I've personally never experienced rain in the UK that resulted in nearly 5 feet of standing water. If I did I wouldn't want to be in a tent during it, I'd prefer to be in a different country watching it on the TV news!
Quote: Originally posted by PaulDG on 02/4/2009
1500mm Hydrostatic head means your tent fabric can support a column of water 1.5 metres high.
Unless you're going to pitch under a waterfall, then I think you will be fine. The first time I went with my camping buddy she had bought a tent from a french hypermarket, we had no idea of brand and never heard of hydrostatic head. It got well and truly tested out in a bad thunderstorm one night! it held up fine it was a smashing tent apartbfrom the colour it was a purple with a sicky greeny mustardy colour ( we never so another one like it on any of the campsites we went to) until it got pinched out of her garage. It was through that tent we discovered the joys of the great outdoors with the children!!!!!! At least you will decide if you like camping with out going out and spendid loads on you're tent and deciding you don't like it!!!!
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Windy jo
Best keep off the baked beans