Packed 47 nights in one tent this year and the rainfly zipper finally quit on the last trip

Terry Jenkins · 2026-10-21T13:40:09.130834+00:00

I keep a little log of every night I sleep outside, mostly to justify the gear money to myself, and last week I counted 47 nights in the same 2 person tent since March. That's way more than I guessed, and the funny part is the thing held up fine until a random Tuesday at Lake Wenatchee when the rainfly zipper split right at the curve. I sat there in the drizzle holding two zipper halves like a guy with a broken jacket, trying to remember if I had ever once cleaned the sand out of that track. My guess is no, because I found about a year of grit packed in there. It rained all night and I stayed mostly dry with a rock holding the fly shut, which felt like a win and a joke at the same time. Now I'm wondering if 47 nights is a normal run for a cheap tent or if I just got lucky, so how many nights do you all get before a zipper goes?

🐿️Pinecone Attack

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Packed 47 nights in one tent this year and the rainfly zipper finally quit on the last trip | Camping Gear Reviews - Pinecone Attack