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That $140 ultralight tent lasted one night before the zipper gave out
Last summer I hit the Colorado Trail near Durango with a new ultralight tent I ordered online. It weighed just over two pounds, and the reviews raved about it, so I dropped $140. First night out at around 11,000 feet, the main zipper started catching. By 2 AM the pulls had split apart, and I had to rig the fly with spare cord just to keep the door shut. The wind came up and the whole thing collapsed until I propped it with my trekking poles. I finished the two-week trip but slept half the nights under a tarp I bought in Silverton for $18. The tent company offered a warranty replacement, but shipping back was $25 and they wanted a receipt photo, which was buried in an old phone. Has anyone else had a lightweight tent fail this fast, or did I just pick a bad budget brand? What do you trust for high alpine routes now?
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miller.eva9d ago
Oh man, that zipper thing is rough but the altitude probably wasn't helping like you think. Zippers don't fail because you're at 11,000 feet, they fail because UL tent makers use tiny #3 coils to save weight and those things just can't handle grit and tension. A #5 zipper weighs maybe an ounce more and would've held up fine, that's the tradeoff nobody mentions in the reviews. So it's less about the budget brand and more about what spec they cut to hit that $140 and two pound number.
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