oz tent dripping water inside tent

Holy **** thats looks bad

Jack,

I think you have provided the complete answer.

We also have our heads towards the front of the tent and also keep a vent or two open to provide airflow.

Have never experienced the need for a fly over the tent, but then again we only use the tent for sleeping and by that time the sun has well and truly gone down.

Great tent we reckon.
Suits our needs perfectly when not using the camper trailer.

Bill

We have a Black Wolf 240. It has never dripped on us, no condensation at all. It is as quick to erect as the Oztent by the time you fit the flys to each. The problem, I think, with the Oztent is the sloping roof in one plane gives a nice large surface for the condensate to collect on and as the roof sags a little, give the drips a chance to drop. But, the fly sits on the roof with no air space which is contrary to the general layout and principle of having a fly. You need the airspace to allow for air circulation. The fly on the Oztent serves only to keep the tent from getting rain or dew on it.
The Black Wolf "looks" like a tent should look, has the shape of a "tent", not that of a box.
Full marks though for the clever design and quick set up (just couldn't use that other word) time. A well made unit, just a pity about the drips.
I have 4 friends with whom we travel a lot who have Oztents and they love them but not for me, not while I can have a Black Wolf.

As with all tents, the blackwolf gets condensation inside.
We have a 300 turbo plus lite. We've not had so much condensation that it drips but interestingly on a recent trip we tried it without the fly and it didn't take much rain before some water started dripping in at a couple of points (mostly where there are internal hooks - thus some more stitching).
No problem with the fly on although as said, there still certainly isn't some moisture on the walls in certain weather conditions. Don't touch the walls if you can avoid it.

We also have a BlackWolf 300 turbo lite plus. Haven't had condensation, but they have some zippered vents in the roof to prevent it and we leave these open. The canvas versions don't have these vents.

Goes up easily, but its a real bugger to pack up.

Yes.... simple physics really. Cool surface, moist air, condensation.
Nothing at all to do with the tent. Open it a bit so air can circulate better.

I agree that ventilation is more than likely a cure for this problem, but the material that the tent is made of will have some bearing on how much condensation is formed. Think of the example of how Goretex works...... lets the water vapour out, but not droplets in and it works VERY well. There are thousands of waterproof coats around made from goretex, as well as some expedition tents that are designed for very high altitude and light weight camping.

Canvas is the same and will generally 'breathe', whilst not letting the rain droplets in. Some canvas is woven differently and will 'breathe' better than some others.

I have the BW turbo 300 in the 'heavy' canvas. We hardly ever put the fly on (unless its looks like inclement weather), we also keep a window or two 'cracked' open and a little ventilation somewhere around the door. You need to create a little cross ventilation to let the water vapour from your breathing and insensible sweating escape.

We have never had any condensation drip on us at all.A mate of mine tried two oz-tents and he returned both of them due to the condensation issue (he also knows about ventilation), so it is possible that the design (flatish roof) or materials make it worse than other tents, but I would try to keep things open and get some ventilation in there first and see how you go.

I personally can't stand being in a tent that is tightly closed up at night, no matter how cold it is. In fact the colder it is, the more condensation will form and so you should be more inclined to keep things open in colder weather. If you get cold, get a better sleeping bag.

Cheers,

Mark

That's right Mark, no such thing as cold nights, just inadequate sleeping bags.

I think the way you sleep is the answer also, some poeple sleep too hot - so cold air outside - hot air inside your bedding - we have a friend who wears flanellete pj's flanny sheets, blankets doonas - you name it, and they have had bad condensation in everything they have camped in that had canvas - even in their caravan now the window next to her bed is always covered in condensation in the morning.
jules

I tend to disagree CJ

The pic that I posted of our RV4 dripping was related to minus 6 nights and the sun hitting the canvas early morning.
On a five week trip we tried everything doors open, side windows, rear window sleeping heads to door... nothing worked!

Since we bought the Southern Cross we have not had a problem in very similar conditions.

I realize a lot of people are happy with them but for us I felt it was crap for what you pay for them, we were bitterly disapointed.

In very cold conditions the Oz Tent needs a fly or it will rain on you

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Ingo,

I see your point and you obviously have a probelm as demonstrated. We seem to have different experiences though.

We have BOTH an Oztent and a BW turbo (the light material) and by choice we use the Oztent more.

We are in the tropics and have been in monsoon rains in our Oztent (which we prefer in rain as it has a larger awning than the BW). We have not had any water ingress at all.

Where there may be a difference though is that the coldest we have ever been in the tent was -1C in the CSR, but we always have windows open enough for ventilation. I admit that there seems to be more condensation in the Oztent than in the BW but nearly as much as demonstrated by your experience and never a probelm for us.

Cheers, CJ

Hi CJ

The great thing about exploroz is factual Information and difference of opinions. When we did our research on Oz tents we heard nothing but praise and so we purchased one.

In 06 when I posted asking the question about the condensation in the OZ tents there were stacks of owners came out of the woodwork with the same problem.
I wished that I had known this earlier!

Cheers

does anybody have any condensation problems in a southern cross tent??????????