Just had a 4 day camping trip in our new tent, which I had thought was a bargain as it was reduced in Tesco from £150 to £75, but when purchased with our Clubcard vouchers meant that the tent was actually free! We had downsized to this 6 person tent for this weekend but what a big mistake we made by not checking the HH rating! Even though it didn't rain all weekend, we did get wet inside it, in the bedrooms all over the bedding due to the ridiculous design of the Vis a Vis. I had never taken any notice of the HH before to be honest, and no wonder we were disappointed in our new tent when I discovered the HH was only 1500mm! Eeeek.
I would strongly advise everyone to read this 'Tips when choosing a tent' article before setting off! (particularly the HH bit!)
1500hh is the British Standard. Anything less than this and it can't be described as waterproof even if it is. An umbrella is waterproof and that doesn't leak.
I had a 1500hh tent for years and used it in all weathers and it didn't leak (except through the seams on occasions if I hadn't sealed it recently).
Are you sure it was leaking and not condensation? Condensation can get quite bad without good ventilation and can drip off the inner tent like rainwater giving the impression the tent is leaking.
"Even though it didn't rain all weekend, we did get wet inside it, in the bedrooms all over the bedding due to the ridiculous design of the Vis a Vis."
Sorry, if it didn't rain all weekend then it wasn't the tent leaking. All that wetness you describe actually came from yourselves sleeping in the tent. The condensation was most likely caused by the tent not being ventilated enough through one way or another. If that was a fault of the tent or a pitching error is another matter but even if your tent had a 50,000 HH the outcome would of been exactly the same.
1500HH is fine and is the Bristish standard - I have a Pro Action tent and it has withstood some horrendous weather.
If there was no rain then it wasn't the tent leaking - the water you experienced will have been caused by condensation due to lack of good ventilation and has nothing to do with the design of the tent. Any tent, no matter what the HH rating, can suffer from the same thing.
We've also had 1500hh tents and been fine in horrendous weather (we bought our VV500 after standing in one a huge downpour!). Tents were 1500HH for years with no problems.
As said if it didn't rain then you experienced condensation.
General opinion is its condensation which is always a problem with cheaper materials. The only way to guarantee you wont have that problem is to but a tent thats guaranteed breathable. But then you start to talk a lot more money. ood ventilation will certainly help but when you have settled down for the night and are keeping all the nasties out, its not always easy.
Tend to agree on condensation as it cant leak if it hasnt rained also agree 1500HH is waterproof in England
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