Got bit by the "tacky rain fly" problem

Maybe call Black Diamond tech support Perhaps they had a bad batch of material in 2011 that they know about and they will replace it.

+1 try for a warranty claim. Apples to oranges, but Mountain Hardwear sent me a gift card for the value of a new tent (+ footprint) when I sent mine in for a defective fly coating, and I’ve heard that MHW is pretty finnicky on warranty claims for coating failures. My tent was made/bought in 2008. For a tent like yours (higher quality and newer than my MHW) I’d bet Black Diamond will make it right.

+1 try for a warranty claim. MSR replaced mine.

Jeff,

Warranty for sure, in my opinion.

About half my tents have the sticky fly problem.  A year of airing them on an interior clothesline helps some but isn’t a cure.  Seems to hit the urethane coated fabric.

My current guess is that having them packed in their stuff waterproof stuff sacks, regardless of environment, is sufficient to cause the stickiness.  One of my REI tents had never been used so moisture is an unlikely suspect but it was in the original stuff sack.  The  Rubbermaid storage containers would be similar to a waterproof stuff sack in their lack of breathability.  Who knows.  I’m just guessing and rambling. .

Black Diamond has offered me 50% off one of their current tents.  Far from a warranty replacement, and disappointing.  Plus, I’m not in a position at the current time to spend $350.00 out of pocket for say, an Black Diamond Eldorado, which is a dramatically different design than the StormTrack 2 was.

I posted this before but maybe worth posting again.

After seeing many comments along the line “it was always fully dry when stored” it seems to me that those that think the fabric needs to breathe might have a point.

The coating gives off a gas that if contained may cause the coating itself to decompose (or simply accelerate the process) .

So I would suggest to store PU coated tents loose and not in their stuff sack.

I think it’s almost scandalous to state that a tent can’t be stored in its stuffsack, or in a bin, otherwise it will destroy itself.

I own 5 tents, and 2 or 3 tarps.  Fortunately, only two of the tents are PU Coated Nylon.  One tent is DCF, one is Silnylon.

One of my PU coated nylon tents is a 2007 REI Quarter Dome that is stored in the same bin as the Black Diamond.  I checked.  It’s doing just fine.  No signs of issues with it.

I’m affiliated with an outdoors club that owns like 15+ tents, as well as backpacks, sleeping bags, stoves, water filters, and all sorts of other gear that paid club members can borrow for no cost.  It’s all kept in a climate controlled storage facility, but all the tents are kept in their stuff sacks.

Can you imagine how difficult it would be to store all those tents outside their stuff sacks?  Even if they were each moved to a larger cotton storage sack like sleeping bags are stored in, it would significantly increase the amount of space required.

I now keep my tents loose and yes it takes up a lot more space; about tent times more but those of us who grew up in the cotton tent era already knew that tents kept better loose and hung We just din’t think it applied to synthetic fabrics

Absolutely: store the tents in loose bags, with mesh (like basket ball duffles) to minimize the stickyness. I also bought a couple of MSR tent bags, that have mesh on the sides.

my 2009 REI Quarter dome became completely sticky stored in the its stuff sack.

my Mountain Hardwear tent Room with a View ( circa 2000), abused and stored compressed, no stickyness so far (I have now moved it to an aerated duffle). Its seam tape seems to be disintegrating.

Most REI tents seem to have the sticky fly problem.

My Walrus Rapeede 1998 tent… abused, no stickyness. recently moved to aerated bag.

Ditto on Mountain Hardwear Skyview (circa 1998)……

“abused and stored compressed, no stickyness so far (I have now moved it to an aerated duffle). Its seam tape seems to be disintegrating.”

There are many plastics, foams and coatings that are failing over time. The light trap foam in all the old cameras is turning to goo. Many surface coated consumer electronics  are getting sticky. I have plastic tool boxes that smell like puke when opened. Older Eagle Creek Packs and luggage are getting sticky inside. I had to threaten an Attorney General consumer complaint to get them to honor their “lifetime” guarantee. Outdoor Research on the other hand replaced a sticky bivy with no question.

+1 for loose storage. One folk remedy is to spray it with silicon shoe waterproofing. My success rate was 50-50. I hung one tent that had a hint of stickiness and that worked.

It sees there should be some chemical approach. I’ve tried baking soda or vinegar (base vs acid) with no change. I wonder if something like a clear acrylic spray would work.

The threads about this tacky or sticky problem puzzle me.  There is silnylon stored on rolls in my basement that go back over a decade.  Also, there are rolls with PU coating, such as White Widow spectra gridstop used over ten years ago for a pack.  None of it has deteriorated in any way.  Yes, there has been a dehumidifier in the basement to prevent mold.  There are SilPU coated fabrics as well, but they are too recent to show possible tackyness from aging.  But I have seen PU coatings peel off on tents and other gear that go back decades.  The only tacky problem was on some silnylon bought from Stephenson’s Warmlite a long time ago, and it was sticky when I got it.  Obviously defective, but used it anyway for a vestibule added to Eureka tent mod.  The peak of the tent eventually began to leak in very heavy and lengthy downpours, and resealing did no good, so replaced the tent – but there was never any stickiness.

So I think these problems arise from defective materials used in manufacture, and agree such products should be covered by either express  or implied warranties.

The rainfly on my 2003 Eureka alpinelite 2XT delaminated almost two years ago. I cleaned it following these instructions.http://www.eurekacampingctr.com/eureka/text_1.asp?tx_id=61. Then coated it with this.http://www.starbrite.com/item/waterproofing-with-ptef. It has held up well so far but that has only 7 nights with 3 of them involving rain and two with snow. At 7+ lbs this tent only goes out when I am pretty positive I will be dealing with heavy rain, wind or snow.