No matter how state of the art your tent and camping equipment, it will need re-proofing at some point in order to keep it completely water-resistant. Some of the newest technology will last for longer but nothing yet has been put onto the market that is permanent. There is no need to explain the importance of effective water-proofing. Camping in a leaking tent and sleeping in sodden bedding has to be one of the most miserable things you can do.

 If you have just bought a lovely new tent and are thinking you don’t need to read any further then think again. Unless you are the proud new owner of a super-duper, expedition quality tent then your new purchase may not be up to the job you had hoped.

Tents come with a rain resistance rating called hydrostatic head. If you know exactly what this is and checked it carefully before making your purchase then you are excused from reading any further. On the other hand, if you are some-one who sees ‘fully guaranteed water-resistant’ and thinks that’s all you need to know (that was me once by the way) then you could be joining the soggy campers club if it should tip it down on your next camping trip.

Explaining Waterproof Ratings on Tents

A word of clarification on the water-proof/water-resistant thing. Many manufacturers prefer to use the term water-resistant even if their product is actually water-proof as it is a little more open to interpretation. It means less returns or claims on guarantees on their products. In many cases it is marketing speak and the terms water-proof and water-resistant will very often  mean the same thing. For the purposes here I will use the words as interchangeable.

Water-proofing is measured using a method called hydrostatic head which is the highest column of water a material can withstand for up to one minute before the water starts to penetrate. In other words, the amount of rain resistance it has.

As a general guide:

• 1000mm or less is considered shower resistant and will soak up rain and get damp after a heavy shower
• 1500mm is considered the realistic minimum requirement for summer (and mainly dry) camping
• 2000mm is the recommended minimum if you intend camping in your tent year round
• 3000mm is mainly used on family tents so they can withstand a couple of weeks of rain!

However, there are other things to be taken into account. A tent may have a 2000mm rating but have a poor design and badly completed seams which will render its water resistance rating useless. Cheaper tents save money by not stitching seams properly, not covering the seams with a waterproof backing and using inaccurate cutting which means when a tent is erected there will be sagging areas which create pools of water which when it rains will then leak.