Waterproof.
Rather important this one! The tent is made for 3 seasons and
we are talking about spring, summer and autumn (fall) for this
highly flexible bit of kit. So you expect to get rain and if you
expect rain then you expect the tent to be ready for that, right?
Of course you do and so this tent is marked up with a 4000HH
(hydrostatic head) outer and 10,000HH on the sleeping bay
floor. Important to note that the sleeping bay is separate fitting
and has a factory fitted seams for the base.
What is a hydrostatic head? Good question and looking around
it shows that for something to be legally classed as
‘waterproof’ not resistant or replant then it must have a HH of
1000 min. What they do is have a tube of a set diameter and
then stretch fabric over one end. Then fill the tube with water
until it begins to come through the fabric. 1000HH means that
the water was 1m high in the tube before it had enough
pressure to come through the fabric. Most decent tents are
around 2000 – 3000HH, so 4000HH is a damn good rating for a
tent skin. Both are made from ripstop nylon. The sleeping
section floor is graded at 10,000HH and is a 'bathtub' meaning
that the sides come up in one attached section. This will afford
you over 6" of surround waterproofing when you sleep.
Note here that the garage does not have an attached
groundsheet or any ground sheet for that matter – you can buy
one if you wish but it’s assumed you will use this area for the
bike. Common sense in camping also assumes that you do not
pitch at the bottom of a hill. Water runs down hills and if you’re
at the bottom of a hill and it been lashing it down with rain
then there is a chance that you will wake up with your very
own water feature running through your tent. Camp on high
ground or flat ground (away from a hill) if possible to reduce
the risk of waking up to find the Amazon river running through
your gear.
Along with the waterproofing is the UV protection. The outer
shell is graded to 210T while most tents are around
190T, in fact the waterproof base on the tent is 190T.
It just means the density of the fabric but being a
higher grade means it takes much longer for the
sun to degrade the material. The outer fly is also
treated with silicon for added protection. This
kind of stuff isn’t cheap and you will begin
to understand the price tag and that you’re
actually getting something for your
money – not just a brand label!