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Hi All, I'm new here but been reading lots of tips for a number of weeks now, just wished I had found this site before I purchased our first tent. A Rage Bergen 8, the tent is really easy to put up and really spacious for my family of 2 adults and 4 children. We went for our first camping trip on 11th aug had a fantastic 2 evenings and days and really started to get into camping, really spent quality time with the kids.We were having a problems with the bedrooms the elastic was really pulling and by sunday night 2 had snapped off and the rest were looking that strained they were starting to tear the material, I used some guy ropes cut up to extend them which made it easier to open and close the zips which were really under alot of strain before, could that be how we put up the bedrooms? Or a fault with the tent?  Then tues night the heavens opened and gale force winds arrived! The tent managed to stay up ( lots of other tents gave up up by about 2 am and people sat in their cars and drove the front wheels over the tents to keep then there!) But we had a swimming pool in the living area and by 5 am the bedrooms started to leak. I moved all electrical items and all bedding into the car and started the clean up! I used all our bath and beach towels to mop up which was 12 of them! We we too scared to leave the tent as it was still raining and very windy so stayed around,well in the car ( warm and dry!) The weather improved by the afternoon so I took a trip to the sites launderette to wash and dry our towels ( very expensive, 15.50!)  unfortunately we had a repeat of tuesday night on wed and decided after hearing the weather for more storms every night and day we gave up and packed up! I hope you dont think we we're whimps! Its not put us off but would just like slightly better weather next time. Is it normal for the tent to leak so much? Was it a faulty tent or could the weather have been that bad that most tents wouldn,t have coped? Some were staying on the site but lots had given up before us. I have emailed the company I purchased the tent from but not had a reply yet. Any advice would be appreciated, Should I attempt to repair it myself or ask for a refund?

Thanks

Two thoughts as to why your tent was leaking....the stress of the bedroom toggles on the sewn in loops could have opened the stitching holes where the loops are attached to the flysheet (as you say, the fabric there was starting to tear) and the rain came in that way. You can avoid this excessive stress by making sure the doorways to the pods are zipped up before you hang them, then moving the poles inwards a bit to ensure things all toggle up. I also find in my Oregon that if I tension the ring straps right down, the inner toggles are stressed because that pole bows out, so I try to only pull the tensioning straps half way. If all else fails then I`d rather just let some toggles dangle loose and have a floppy inner than stress the flysheet seams. Of course, it could be that the weather was just so poor that no tent could have coped. But it doesn`t sound promising about the toggle/flysheet seams.

Having said that, the feedback on this site about Rage tents is that the quality is extremely variable, to put it politely. It`s very possible that you`ve got one of the less reliable ones. if it was me I`d be after a refund. (You may have to be persistant on this....) Then buy something which is a bit more reliable.

Tip for mopping up things...go to the local charity shop and ask them if they have some old towels. Mostly, they don`t put out old towels because they`re a bit scruffy but they usually have some in the back. At 10p or 20p each, they`re fine for cleaning up and you can bin them without a pang.

Thanks for your reply but the rain was leaking through the windows and air vents, well the seals around them, should have mentioned that. But the advice on the the position of the poles is worth looking at, and definately the towels idea, that would have been better!

Thanks Jennie

WELCOME!!

Newspaper is a good mopping up tool too!  We went through tonnes of it when we had our first tent!

Our Vango Vista 800 is the same layout as your tent (see gallery) we paid £240 for it.  It's fantastic!!  Vango are an exceptionally good make - it might be worth looking around again at other more reliable makes.

Others we looked at were:  Sunncamp Haven 800 and Outdoor Revolution

Quote: Originally posted by coyjenhands on 18/8/2007

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Thanks for your reply but the rain was leaking through the windows and air vents, well the seals around them,

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In that case it`s definately faulty. Send it back.

Hi

Now im bound to say this as a camping retailer but " you get what you pay for" I know its hard some times to visit a good tent display but i say it all the time "vist your local camping retailer who has a display".

I know it might be an hour away but do not buy a tent without seeing it and if your new to it even more reason to do so.

As far as i know Tentastic do not have a tent displays and you cannot buy Rage tent anywhere else, tells you something.

Now as far as i can see these Rage tents are well priced but price isnt everthing when your talking about the home for your holiday. Most camping retailers have a few of last years tents nocking about and this is a great way of getting a good quality tent at a reduced price.

Regards

Gary Cross

I have never owned a Rage Tent but there seems to be a lot of varied reports about them both good and bad. It certainly looks likes yours may have been faulty.

I may be repeating what someone has said before but I can't see past Vango. I have owned thre Vango tents to date and all have been excellent (recently bought the Oregon 600) which is the tent of my dreams.

I would go back to the company you bought it from and ask for a refund and then go and buy a Vango.