Tent Material

[khughes222]

I was wondering if someone knew why the type of material was selected for our quicksilver tents and how everyone feels about it? I understand its waterproofing abilities, but other tents and pop ups are also water resistant while still being an actual fabric right?

I have had so many struggles lately with my tent that my wife is now suggesting we sell before something really major happens to the trailer. We have only taken our trailer out 5 times since I bought it in November of 2015 and every single time I open it, something else has broken. I would say 95% of our issues are related to the tent being vinyl vs fabric and either shrinking with lowering temps or being more difficult to clean.

• We have lost 15 total snaps on the tonneau cover and tent and I use the tent snap tool every time.
• The tent becomes so tight if the temps drop below 65 that we have ripped 2 zippers off (1 door, 1 window) and had to hand stitch them back on.
• I have snapped 2 zipper pulls in half trying to zip up windows at night.
• We have black marks inside and out that will not come off with anything we have tried.
• Alot of our major seams look like they are stretched to the max and the thread holes are so big that we can see the color of the sky through them. One of these threads shares the awning zipper and I am stressed out about having the awning up every time in fear of a single gust of wind ripping the whole side of my camper off.

Top-Stitch just quoted me the price of 4 months of my trailer payment for a replacement tent so I am considering talking to my local boat canvas shop about a custom build at that price. Thats where my material research comes in. I am trying to understand the background on the choice of material. Was it to keep costs low? Is it improved over a quality canvas in some way?

I just don't get it. I love my trailer but its becoming really uncomfortable to open it up for a trip not knowing whats going to fail next.

Thanks,

[billandmissy]

About how much was the price quoted to you by Top Stitch?  We have a used 2013 8.1 and haven't experienced the problems you've mentioned with snaps or tightness (we've had it out 3 weeks this summer and travelled 6k miles), but I've also wondered why vinyl was chosen over other materials that would be better looking and longer lasting, and not that much more expensive.

[khughes222]

The tent was $725 with shipping.

[kybrowns1]

I bought my 10.0 in 2012. I agree with a lot you have said. The tent is to tight. It is almost impossible to put up cold. I'm thinking of lengthing one end somehow for cold weather. Like extra material with buttons that I could snap on for cold setups.

I have only had one or two button issues total.  I don't use the snap tool. I did have a zipper issue on day one of ownership that was taken care of by livin lite. Although I will say it took a lot of effort on my part to get it fixed. I have learned to ignore the black scuff marks caused by the bars. I believe the more you stuff into your camper the more marks you will get. Also, I had to fix some bad engineering on my ac  box.



Otherwise it has been very a very good camper. No other issues. We have got a ton of use out of it.


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