Bushwalk Australia

Took my 6 month old Macpac Macrolight out last week. During the evening we had about 7 hours of constant rain(not a downpour) - this is the first time I've had the tent in rain for a long period. Woke up to find water dripping through the entrance door (the outer fly was sagging inwards and touching the inner door - a patch about 20cm by 15cm) - also water was dripping through the air vent. I braved the rain to try and repitch the outer to come away from the inner but with little success.

Any one else had this problem and know how to rectify it?

I have contacted Macpac by email who were polite but didn't offer any technical insight - all they said was go to the nearest store (not practical as its 2 hours away from where I live).

Try sending Blacksheep a PM about it.

It's a bit hard to say, but I'm assuming it was bucketing down? Sounds like bad pitching was a contributor. There should be no sag at all if you can help it. Bad pitching will affect the water proofness of the tent, and this is exacerbated if the fly comes into contact with the inner.

are you sure it wasn't condensation?... it may well be vapour condensing onto the inner of the fly and then running down and wetting your inner where it is touching the outer fly... the pu coating on Macpac tents is pretty good... the vent at the top may let some wind blown moisture in but really nothing to write home about...

Nothing against Macpacs usually great quality & design, but I think this model had a few design flaws from the outset.
Haven't had any experience with this model personally & I have only seen it set up in store so can only comment as such.

I personally didn't like how the entrances worked on this model; in rain the inner tent + inside the tent itself would get wet due to the very open nature of the vestibule doors, the only way to avoid getting the inside of the tent wet whilst raining would be to crawl into the cramped vestibule, zip closed the vestibule door, then open the door to the inner tent, probably not really possible in the fairly cramped vestibule space?

The flat spot on the roof also looked like it could be problematic in snow & possibly in extended, drenching rain, but others would know from experience?

The vents should'nt leak really, maybe you just need to be sure they are closed (props dropped) when there is driving rain towards them?;
there should be 2 (1 at each end) I think? Just make sure the one facing the prevailing weather is closed.

I think a third crossing pole in this design would have created more vestibule space & perhaps negated the problem of the fly touching the inner as you have experienced.

Again, nothing against Macpac as my Minaret has been serving me happily for the past 5 years & it is my 2 person tent of choice.
Just don't hink this particular model was up to their usually very high design standards.

It looks though the Macrolite may have been discontinued, it is not listed on the MacPac WWW anymore. I see also they are reintroducing some tried and tru designs. A friend also heard the Celeste is making a comeback. Overall a positive move by MacPac

It is still there for me...
http://www.macpac.co.nz/shop/en_nz/gear ... light.html

I always cop a lot of flack in some forums when I suggest "user error" regarding the use of a certain pet brand of mine, however sometime...
Was the tent seam sealed ?

If I had that shelter I would set it up in my backyard in the rain and fiddle with it to work out a taut set up under those conditions.
Silnylon stretches a bit more than some other fabrics, so when cold and wet the set up needs to be modified for that.
But of course I am just guessing...
Franco

No worries. Whats going on there. Its listed on the NZ site and not the Australain one?

http://www.macpac.com.au/shop/en_au/gear-and-clothing/tents

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'd agree with the comment about getting in and out of the tent when its raining - the doors 'challenge you' to get completely ready inside your tent, move your stuff out of the way inside that might get wet and then leap out. Helps to have a friend inside in charge of the inner door zip. Getting back is also a hassle.

I will have another go at repitching in the back-yard and carefully revisit my seam sealing. By the way on the night it rained there was no wind so the water dripping in from the vent is a complete mystery. I bent the vent all sorts of ways but still had problems.

LAMEA-Gals wrote:
I will have another go at repitching in the back-yard and carefully revisit my seam sealing. By the way on the night it rained there was no wind so the water dripping in from the vent is a complete mystery. I bent the vent all sorts of ways but still had problems.

lots of moisture and no wind?! I would put money on condensation... especially with the solid inner and vents 1/2 way up the outer fly....
great tent for what it is designed for... able to handle cold stormy conditions... those 2 poles are integral to the fly so are nice and solid in a wind or a bit of snow load ...

If this tent continues to cause concern for you you can PM me and we'll help out (if a store is not very local for you).
In cidently, the macrolight has been re-designed for 2011, with a multipitch system (albeit with a small weight penalty, but there was a strong demand for this system ). We have also tweaked the entry placement to be improved for entry/exit in heavy rain. The vents; well, I don't know what the issue may have been here- these vents are no different to the $1200 expedition tent in the range, I'm struggling to identify where these may have let you down ..
as I say, will be happy to help out if you find the suggestions/comments from others here are not the sources of your unfortunate experience.
Campbell

Thanks Blacksheep. I'll see how i go trying to improve the pitching.