Lanshan 2 Pro tent failed after 13 nights of use

[solitone]

3F UL GEAR Lanshan 2 Pro trekking pole tent failed after 13 nights of use:

https://youtube.com/shorts/BT8uyDs-v7w?feature=share

[Dan]

I’m really not that eager to watch a video. Maybe you could post your concern here on BPL.

[John S.]

It is a dud video with annoying music and typing a few words about what happened. Not worth watching.

[solitone]

thank you 😊

[solitone]

anyhow, here’s a picture, for those who dislike videos:

[Dan]

“Failed” is a pretty extreme word, but it certainly could be a defective seam. I guess it’s not terribly surprising that a budget item might have more QC issues. Or it could have been damaged by handling. Who knows.

I’m pretty sure I’ve repaired every tent I’ve ever owned. In the field, I would probably sew it up, and maybe reinforce the repair with some tape.

[solitone]

Ok, since I’m not a native speaker, could you please suggest a better word?

And how handling might have damaged it? I want to know, so that I don’t handle the next tent that way.

[Bill Budney]

I would call it a “leak” rather than a “tent failure”.

Maybe a “minor seam failure” since it didn’t compromise the integrity of the shelter (much). I think of a “tent failure” as when the pole or fabric breaks catastrophically; severely enough that the shelter will not stand. In a pinch, you can wrap the fabric around you like a burrito to make it through the night.

To prevent a repeat, some folks add elastic to their guylines. The idea is to automatically take up slack when the nylon stretches, without putting too much strain on the fabric (and the stitches).

[solitone]

Thank you for the clarification.

Regarding the use of shock cords, it seems counterintuitive to the principle of maximizing panel tension for optimal tent stability in windy conditions. If shock cords are attached to the four corners, I believe it would hinder the ability to apply adequate force to properly tension the tent panels. This was highlighted in Ryan’s recent ‘Pitching an UL Shelter’ webinar. Heeding Ryan’s advice, I even swapped out my Mini Groundhogs for the standard MSR Groundhog stakes to enhance tension at the corners.

Dan Durston’s response to a Reddit post I made seems to resonate with this concern. He pointed out a potential flaw in the seam design. The seam appears to tear because the design exerts all the force on a single row of stitches. A folded or rolled seam would distribute the force along the folded edge, as opposed to concentrating it on individual stitch points. Typically, quality tents don’t feature non-folded seams for their canopies. He suggested that the seam is repairable, but inherently lacks robustness.

[Terran Terran]

That’s for looking out.

A failure in the field can be dangerous.
Lanshan does keep their price down, though they’re no a cheap tent. Quality control might be lacking a bit to cut costs.

Always expect failures, be prepared. Be aware of the tents limitations.

often companies have excellent customer service to correct any lacking in quality control. It looks more annoying than dangerous. You may have got the one that slipped through.
I’d contact them. You’ll hopefully have a new tent in a few days.
 

[Terran Terran]

When the wind blows, somethings going to give. A tight pitch is good for deflection. Tight is tight. Too tight is too tight. I don’t over tension my lines.

[solitone]

I didn’t either, I just retentioned them after rain caused some sagging in silnylon.

[solitone]

I did contact them, I sent a photo, and didn’t expect anything. They replied and told me they would refund me. Next, they said they couldn’t since my order was older than 6 months. They suggested they would try and send a new tent. but in the end they didn’t.

[Monte Masterson]

3F UL  Gear has a good reptation for cranking out pretty decent tents for the money. I’d have to see exactly what kind of seam it was that failed. The rip might have simply been due to sloppy sewing. Also the 20D silnylon they use is a cheaper, lower quality sil/PU and not a high end sil/sil nylon 6.6 like Hilleberg or the 20D silnylon MLD used before Ron went to silpoly.

I just look at cheap Chinese gear as a gamble you take for the super low price you pay. If it was me I’d just suck it up and move on to something like Tarptent, which only costs a little more but has superior materials and build quality.

Of course a home repair wouldn’t be difficult and done properly it would be just fine.

[solitone]

yes, I might successfully repair it, or perhaps they would one day send me a new tent. But I don’t trust it anymore. I was on a 2 week hike in the Italian Alps, and that leak was a bit concerning to me.

I bought it last year. I was new to backpacking and didn’t want to spend too much. And for a one or two nights out in mild conditions it was good. But for longer trips I think you need pretty reliable items, although they cost more.

I chose the X-Mid 2 as my next tent, which now is finally in stock, and is not super expensive.

[solitone]

hopefully the single row of stiches is now visible in this zoomed in pic:

[Jerry Adams]

Thanks – one row of stitches is not good, much more likely to fail

A flat felled seam is stronger

It looks like the fabric tore along the seam.  Like a perforated paper that you can then rip open.  A flat felled seam would be less likely to do this.

Maybe this fabric is not as good and more likely to rip.

I thought your non native english speaker description was fine and understandable : )

[solitone]

Thanks, Jerry! The confusion arose from my use of the word “failure,” which some people perceive as an overstatement of the damage I encountered. 😅

Regardless, I have a feeling that the canopy fabric is quite delicate. I’m not sure if this is pertinent, but one day while I was packing the tent, a gust of wind blew it onto some rocks, resulting in several small tears. I was able to repair them from the inside using Tenacious Tape.

[Monte Masterson]

Actually solitone your English is better than many native born Americans.

Yea, Dan and Jerry are right, it doesn’t appear to be a felled seam. That takes a lot more time and even with the low wages in China they don’t want to spend too much effort. Crank em out is the name of the game.

This is how I do my seams

[Terran Terran]

That is pretty poor service. I wouldn’t gamble on buying one. If they do send another, I’d consider taping it or something.

You should get better service from Durston or TT, but then again I’ve never had to ask.
I found that in the end it’s cheaper to buy a quality tent.

[Jerry Adams]

when I do a flat felled seam, the first row of stitches takes longer because I have to align the two pieces of fabric together.  The second row of stitches is quicker – just sew.

But, labor is expensive so anything they can do to cut time is important.  A more expensive machine would do both row of stitches at the same time which would cut labor cost.

Treat the tent delicately and it will last longer.  A better tent would cost more.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

As I mentioned on reddit and was reposted here, this is a single line of stitching on a canopy seam which is not ideal because the strain ends up applied to the individual stitch points rather than across a folded edge. A tent would normally have a felled/folded/rolled seam that is much stronger.

A single line of stitching is probably workable in most parts of the canopy, but here it is near the corner so you have a major stress line coming from the corner that runs across the seam. This puts most of that corner tension on a dozen or so stitches, which have then torn. Basically it’s only as strong as the dozen pieces of thread whereas a felled seam is as strong as the fabric. Aside from being weaker, a single stitched seam is more prone to stitch elongation so it is harder to reliably seam seal (e.g. you seal it but then the holes stretch open).

All of this is weird because they have a folded/double stitched edge on the main panel (less important) but then this seam to the extra flap (more important) is sewn on with a single stitch. It’s also not really any slower to do a proper seam because the industrial double needle machines can do all the folding and double stitching in one step, so it’s baffling why the more important seam is the weaker one.

[Alex Wallace]

Yikes! That’s bad and definitely not something I’d want to deal with during a trip. I’d actually be more upset with the manufacture’s response or lack thereof!

I recently purchased 3F UL Gear’s Lanshan 1 (not the “pro” model, so double-walled) and have been overall happy with it. However, compared to high-end cottage makers like MLD and Locus Gear you can immediately see and feel the difference.

Anyways, I’ve had my Lanshan 1 out for about 12 nights now, some moderate wind and a sprinkle of rain, but nothing too harsh. No concerns to speak of, but I’m definitely going to inspect the seams before my next trip.

 

 

[solitone]

Dan, that’s a super deep technical analysis, thank you!

[Sam Farrington]

So this is just another cheap A-Frame, and we should know better.   And the race related remarks are unpleasant.  All that was needed were the helpful referrals to better products that some provided.  Enough said.

[Author]

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