Glued tent seams coming apart.

Any recommendations on repairing glued seams on a tent that are coming undone? I was thinking of sewing/sealing.

Sewing and then seam sealing would certainly work, as would seam taping. If the tent is from one of the mainstream manufacturers you could probably send it back and they would repair for free as well.

Bkuti, what kind of tent is it?

seam tape

I like Rick am wondering who would send out a tent with glued seams, shurly they must have been stiched as well?  If not I would pull the seams if the glue does not tear the material and then sew the seams and the seam seal after cleaning as much of the glue residue of off the seams.  What is the material used for the tent body?

Glued/welded only seams are done by a few companies out there. I am curious as to what kind of tent this really is. I didn't see anything in the OP in regards to there being a stitched seam so this has me somewhat curious. 

Also is the seam completely blown or just starting to show the signs?

MH would be my guess. There are many bad reviews on the welded seams coming undone.

mikemorrow said:

MH would be my guess. There are many bad reviews on the welded seams coming undone.

 I would think that they would be the most common of the ones that weld seams but they are not the only ones that use this method. There are a few European companies that do this as well. 

@Brian- Thanks alot man, now I think I am developing a tent addiction along with my boot problem uggghhhhh......

Whats next? Packs and stoves? .... On 2nd thought I better keep my mouth shut. 

Just got back from the dollar store. Picked up a product called handy mend it. It says machine wash and dry, multi-fabric use, clear, flexible bond, waterproof, and dries clear. I figure that I have a few idems I can try this on. One tent with a small hole on the floor, and some of my kites. For a $1.29 its worth a try.

Rick, If you look at the reviews many MH tents had this flaw.

My God, I just traded an old Mt Hardwear Mountain Jet tent to Bkuti for a used Mystery Ranch pack and he's probably talking about it already falling apart! 

Anyway, I used the Mt Jet several times and never noticed it having welded seams . . . . . hmmmm . . . . .

Rick-Pittsburgh said:

@Brian- Thanks alot man, now I think I am developing a tent addiction along with my boot problem uggghhhhh......

Whats next? Packs and stoves? .... On 2nd thought I better keep my mouth shut. 

 Rick, Yes, and if packs and stoves don't do it for yea, I have an endless list of things to collect, it goes on forever, and ever, and...........................

Welded/Glued seams on the critical seams of a tent, wait aren't all the seams on a tent critical?  When did this start? I know for shure that all the tents I have only have stitched seams (with welded tape over the stiching for seam sealing) with the exception of a MH Glacier that I have not had a chance to look at that was donated to my collection.  Is this an American Company phenomenon?  It's sad to say but American companies just keep comming up with reason after reason for me not to buy their products.  I just can't imagine a Euro country company doing this........am I wrong?  I can say 100 % I would not even consider buying a tent with welded/glued seams as I've seen way to many tarps and ponchoes fall apart when the weld/glue reaches it's half life.  Unbelievable 

Yup, Mikemorrow and Tipi got it right, it's a Mountain Hardwear Mountain Jet 2, single wall. No worry Tipi, I know it's not your fault, but MH's.

So I think I'm going to have it sewn, then seam seal it. MH said they won't repair it, but will give credit. I really just want this tent and am second thinking MH. I always thought they had good, quality products. I guess they do in a way but don't think I'll ever buy another MH tent. Shame really. I also had very good experiances with them in the past with customer service, which is always a bonus in a company. But this time, they kinda blew me off a bit and threw credit at me. I asked it they would at least try to fix it and they said no.

So anyway, any other ideas/help with getting this tent repaired would be appreciated. It's the seam by the head end of the tent, right above the lower perimeter mesh, and going up towards the ceiling. And part of one of the pockets is coming off.  I really like this design and don't want to give up on it.

@Rick - Yea I have that tent addiction and just overcame my pack addiction.

Off the top of my head the Kelty Foxhole had welded seams. Ferrino uses welded seams in its tent that incoroprates W. T. S. welding. They also use this in packs and sleeping bags.

I snagged this bullet point off a bag description.

HL Micro Plus WTS Features

WTS welded construction. No stitching!......

This is a tent that I am looking at that incororporates WTS:

http://www.ferrino.it/en/homepage/products/TENTS/high_lab_114/emperor_1_w_t_s_ss11_

The 2 man version of this tent retails for around $800 but Steep n Cheap had it for less than half at one time.

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=80636

The Kelty Gunnison Pro is welded as well.

The Ferrino is a sweet looking tent.

My next solo tent purchase is going to be the Golite Eden 1. Actually trying to talk girlfriend into making it an xmas and/or birthday gift.I like everything about it. Yea, I'm a bit of a single wall freak. It will be my 4th.

http://www.golite.com/Product/ProdDetail.aspx?p=372002110

I like the Eden. Its not a bad little tent. Being I have the Copper Spur 1 I am really looking into 4 season solo shelters. I am interested in the Emperor 1.

Then again there are around a half dozen shelters that I am looking into. 

Here is a bit of windtunnel tests on the Ferrino tents 150kph...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG1mI78FM20&feature=related

Bkuti, you might want to try this stuff

http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/107569267/Handy_Mend_It_Glue_Adhesive.html

Dont kniw how well its going to work. I'm using it now on some kites. The fabric is glued together. I'm going to set up a tent now and give it a try. Heck after glueing it would be easy to put a stitch in it.

Ok, so what is W. T. S. welding and what does W.T.S. stand for?  Is it anything like the (heat gun) welds they use to attach pieces of rubberized roofing together at the seams to make it one piece.

@Brian- Still researching that one but if ya watch the wind tunnel test vid I posted they are certainly sturdy. 

@ Bkuti :  I had to reroof my mobil home about 7 years ago and I ended up using some rolls of rubberized roofing material that I had for a few years.  It was designed to be heat welded together with a special heat gun.  As I'm cheap and did not really want to spend the time learning how to use the gun I used contact cement.  I check it every year and it has lasted 7 years out in the weather.  I just went up on the roof and checked the seams at the edges and after 7 years it is still bendable.  I truly believe that this is the glue that holds my house together, for if it fails I would guess that the wall's will fall outwards and the roof will pancake inwards.  The stuff is very messy to use and work with but works well and it think if you taped off properly that contact cement might be worthy of consideration.  With some investigation you should be able to find out how to thin it out if you were to find it to be to thick and sticky.   Just a thought.

The stuff I'm testing is a no go on treated rip stop nylon. Works well on non-treated nylon and polyester

i have a sleeping bag with welded seams & baffles, but i have never used a tent built that way.  bummer they won't fix it.  are they giving you credit for full retail, or depreciated?

Another suggestion as I just put my axe through my tent.

Use Gear Aid Tenacious Tape Repair Tape.

It is very light and strong and incredibly sticky.  After cleaning apply tape to both side and slightly offset from center of repair on each side such that there is a tapering of the tape on each side so as to be only one layer thick at the edge of tape.

@Callahan:  I'm sorry to hear you damaged your tent.  Tent repair items are on of the things most often forgotten about in the backcounty.  It can make a fun trip most interesting when yoiu have a tent that is compromised.  How prey tell did you put your axe thru your tent.  What kind of a tent is it?  Glad you were able to stop the hemorrhaging.

I'm am also interested in this axe through tent story. Sounds comical,....for the rest of us of course, probably not so funny to you.

Leadbelly- is the sleeping bag a MH? I have one with welded seams for MH as well, love it.

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