just exhumed our Sierra West Skylite tent from the spare bedroom. It was the latest design when we bought it in 1982 in the US.
My remarkably well-organized husband has found the instructions which came with it; they give exact details of the poles (anodized, pre-bent, shock corded aluminium), but unfortunately do not identify the fabric. It's a lightweight nylon sort of fabric which has a smooth coating on the underside.
I'm hoping to use the tent for a few nights in the Walls after Easter. It's looking beautiful pitched on the lawn, but obviously needs a bit of attention before going further afield. Think we last used it about 20 years ago.
The main problem was getting the poles through the fabric tube, particularly at one end. Don't think it's really perished inside, but the fabric bunched up more persistently than I remember happening previously, so maybe some lubrication would help? Any suggestions what I should use? Strangely, the tent smells rather "cheesy". Couldn't find any food debris from our last excursion, so hope this isn't the result of some element of the tent decomposing?
Very heavy hosing only revealed two seams letting a little water through. The instructions recommend something called "Seam Stuff", but don't say what it is, and Google didn't help. Did find a recommendation for something called Nikwax which is available here. Any comments?
I've been advised to treat all seams with silicon, and was going to ask for advice at the local outdoor shops, but thought I should ask advice from the vast resources of BWT rather than inviting someone to try and sell me a new tent.
One more query: does the shock cord tend to break? Could be embarrassing if it happened, but the parts I could see looked in perfect condition.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.