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Hi we have just returned from a wet week of camping in Devon in our new Outwell Wolf Lake 5. Overall the tent was fantastic with the space and light it offers however we discovered 2 leaks along a seam line in the lounge in almost identical places on each side of the tent.

Has anyone else with a polycotton or Outwell tent suffered from this (friends in a Bear Lake 6 had a small leak in a similar spot) - I'm assuming the seams are just stitched in the polycotton and they may be taped in polyester tents? The tent is less than a year old so I am assuming it is covered under warrenty though I don't want to have to go to the trouble of trying to change the tent if there is a simple fix....

Any advice gratefully recieved please.....

Thanks

Hi, we have the same tent, which we bought last year, and used it quite a bit last year, though didn't really have heavy/prolonged rain, so no problems.

We have been twice this year so far, and had really torrential downpours each time, and had leaks under the windows in the living area. We were really disappointed, and went to the Yeomans tent exhibition in Ambleside to discusss it, as we had bought at a Yeomans show.

The man there was really helpful, and explained to us that it was probably just 'weathering' which we hadn't really known about, as this is our first polycotton tent. He explained that hopefully now the tent has had a couple of good soakings, the fabrtic should have swelled and sealed itself, as is usual with this material. We haven't used it again since, but are due a week in Cornwall in Sept, so will probably be put to the test then. Fingers crossed, he's right - he seemed very genuine & knowledgeable.

We love our 'Wolfie' in every way other than this, so will be very upset if the problem persists. He did also say that it would not harm the tent to apply a small amount of waterproofing spray, though it would slightly affect the 'breatherability', so not to do it unless absolutely necessary.

Hope this helps!

Oh yes, Fabsil - that's the one that the man at Yeomans mentioned. I couldn't remember the name!

Thanks for the replies.

The tent was pitched with one side of the tent under a bit of tree canopy and the other side exposed and we had rain varying from drizzle to pretty heavy on 6 out of 7 days (great camping weather brrhhh!) and we think the leaks continued for the duration of the stay. I don't know how long its meant to take to weather in these tents - I might try putting up on the weekend and drenching it with a hose pipe to see if that helps to seal it up or not?

The leaks were at under window height but on the main seam which carries the curved pole over the tent.

Hopefully I could exchange the tent if it continues to leak as its under a year old - I have a photo of a small pool of water in a freebe under the spot where the leak occured but no actual picture of a leak if needed to prove the leak.

On another note does anyone know how to remove tree sap from polycotton - we had a small pitch partly under trees and the sloping rear bedroom wall now feels slightly sticky.....