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Hi,

We have just bought a Coleman Coastline 3 and i was told i would need to weather a new tent before first use however all info i have seen says this is only for canvas tents. So my question is do i have to do this or not?

Any help would be great

Graeme

No you don't need to weather a poly tent.
You only need to do this with a canvas tent to get the cotton fibres to swell in order to make it completely waterproof.

It may be a good idea to pitch your tent and hose it down to check for any faults or leaks before your first outing.

As Helen says.....

On the contrary, weathering all tents is a good idea before first use. The easy explanation is that during manufacture, the size of the thread used for stitching is never as big as the hole made by the needle.

Poly tents are waterproofed by multiple coatings of a spray waterproofing agent. Theoretically this should make them waterproof from new, but it is not uncommon for some very minor leakage to occur down the seams in heavy rain on first use. Invariably this does not occur the second time the tent is out in the rain - to save any embrassment I would always suggest  weathering a new tent at least once (preferably twice).

If it still leaks after that, however, it's faulty.

Mike