Tanami Tent

leave it set up and do the drench and dry thing about 5 times , this might 'settle' the fibres and close the hole, if not a tiny dob of silicone would do the trick nicely.

Eric,

There is a special concoction available in tube form. It sort of looks like clear silastic but is not. It's designed specifically for repairing holes in canvas.
Dries clear so when viewed from underneath looks like the hole is still there but permanently seals even largish holes and tears in canvas.

I bought it from the local Discount Camping store in South Oz, but assume it is also available throughout Australia.

I'll check the name out tomorrow (I'm on Night Shift) and post tomorrow night.

Bill.

Hi Eric:

I bought (another) of those Tanami seconds after sending my Aussie made one back and getting a full refund when it leaked like a sieve on my recent trip to Tassie.

I put it up, hosed it down and got a bit of water inside. To be expected, as it was a second.

I got some "Joseph Lyddy Dry-Seal" from a local saddelry and have painted all the seams. When I doused it for the fifth and final time on the weekend, no water inside at all. Cost per tin is $12.95, and I used pretty much the entire tin on the tent.

It is a thick white "gunk" in the tin, and I applied it with a brush along the seams. Brushes clean out in turps. Definitely easier than that wax stick they give you, plus I think brushing it in gets it right into the seams. It dries colourless.

I also bought a tin of beeswax and brushed it in, with a similar effect on my first Tanami "second". ( I had sold my "second" to put towards the cost of the Aussie made one, which was a disaster). That worked OK as well.

Still a terrific tent - I hope one day someone can make a good one that does not leak. Like you, I will use it more as a "dry weather" tent, but will always carry a tarp.

Jack

My Tanami (Aussie made) leaked like a sieve on virtually every seam and especially around the bottom of the windows. It was replaced by Direct Camping no problems but I have not yet had a chance to try the replacement. Testing with a hose is not enough. It needs a good couple of hours of rain and not even heavy rain to really saturate the seams. I would recommend waxing the seams but not until you find out if they do leak. I would not recommend ironing wax on unless it is very low heat. I would not be sure what it does to the canvas waterproofing. A heat gun was recommended to me to help melt the wax but again I think you need to be careful.
I am not convinced the window design with the flaps on the inside is a good idea for waterproofing. They allow the area around the bottom stitching of the window to hold water.
Here is a funny one. We were out in strong winds once and the tent collapsed on us. The cross bars are held in by friction on a pin through some holes. In the wind the cross bars were moving up and down and eventually (sometime after midnight of course) the pin worked out and the cross bars came down. It has not happened since!

Well as all melbournians know , it rained for a few hours this morning and the tent didnt leak , I gave it another soaking this arovo and seamed ok , I will do it 2 more times and wax the hell out of the seams and then pack it up for Murray sunset for it's first trial

Eric,

Back to your original post:- You were talking about holes and what to use on them.

The product I was referring to is called StormSure.
It comes in a 15gm tube a cost was $14.95 when I bought it 6 months ago.
It suposedly provides a permanent flexible waterproof repair to natural & manmade fabrics, including neoprene rubber and vinyl waders, besides tents.

It sure worked on my canvas tent. I had lent it to my sweet sister-in-law who went camping and must have had the tent too close to a camp fire. Had about 4 burn holes in various places, up to 12mm or so in size. The Stormsure certainly provided a transparent but permanent repair to the holes.

I wouldn't use this product on seams though. The wax would be a better solution in that case.

Hi Eric I was on a 7 day camp near Rushworth in an ex army tunnel tent 14'x14",
this was its 1st outing and at night you could almost see the stars it had that many pin holes in 1 of the 1/4 panels. Strange thing was the last night it poured rain and guess what ...... no water inside that tent.

When we purchased our own center pole tent 18months ago we were told to use it
and sure 1 day it will rain, if it does leak a little just put a towel under the leak, assuming you get rained on for about 8 hrs it should be enough to expand the canvas & stitching.

8hrs of steady rain is what you need & you can't duplicate that with a hose.

Cheers & looking forward to getting out on some tracks again.