Gear

I have a Lightwave g2 ultra xt. It's leaked from the day I bought it. No sealant sticks to the seams (3 different types tried so far)

I agree with a comment above. Like buying an unfinished product. You don't buy a new car with out the doors.

I wouldn't buy or recommend a lightwave tent to anyone. It's ruined 5 out of 5 cycle trips so far.

 A lot of money for a leaky tent.

Kale Hawkins wrote (see)

I have a Lightwave g2 ultra xt. It's leaked from the day I bought it. No sealant sticks to the seams (3 different types tried so far)

I agree with a comment above. Like buying an unfinished product. You don't buy a new car with out the doors.

I wouldn't buy or recommend a lightwave tent to anyone. It's ruined 5 out of 5 cycle trips so far.

 A lot of money for a leaky tent.

Where are you pitching it - in the sea?

With very few exceptions, high-end tents are made of siliconised nylon, as it's far superior to a PU coating. By it's nature, siliconised material is difficult to tape (or seam-seal) so most manufacturers don't bother. It's not poor finishing, it's common practice. I have owned and used numerous 'unsealed' tents in some horrific conditions and never had any problem.

Kale,

have you tried contacting Lightwave about this? In my experience, they take 'getting it right' with the customer very seriously.

I own a lightwave tent but it's only had a few nights out so far and - being in the South of France - no rain! I can't tell whether it will or won't leak but I wouldn't have bought it if I had found negative reviews or user feedback saying they are leaky. In fact, the opposite is true - almost all the feedback I've found suggests that people find them to be watertight without seam sealant. 

If you have a problem with a Lightwave product, first try to take it back to the place where you bought. It is my personal experience that both distributors and Lightwave themselfs take service very serious (after talking to them both for quite a long time). If the product is faulty, they should help you out.

Further, I admit that my siliconised tent does start to leak but the tent is perhaps 7 or 8 years old and has seen a lot of use. So not that uncommon. It is indeed common for siliconsed tents not to have seamed seals. First because there is very little that sticks to it. Second because the tent would become a lot more expensive than they already are because sealing that thing is a time consuming experience (and that counts for both the sealer in a tube stuff as the number of not-always-so-easy-to-find tapes that do stick to the stuff).

I'm sure that the seams are folded in a certain way then stitched but i can't remember where i read that.

Mines OK anyway

Hi,

I bought a T0 Trek recently and it was pitched for 3 very wet days in a Glencoe campsite and it did not leak one bit.  I had some concerns about the lack of seam sealing and I contacted Lightwave and they sent me out some seam sealer, if it starts to leak I will apply it to the seams.

Cheers,

Stephen

G2 Trek here, now 6 years old and never leaked - although I did put a smear of sealant on it when it was new

My new Terra Nova Voyager Superlight is also not taped, no sealant, and was dry on the only rain its been out in so far.

You'll be fine!

Ta for all the advice (Apart from simplesimon.......  must rememeber not to put my tent up in the sea. Probably explains why my lungs are full of salty water every morning)

 Emailed suppliers and lightwave a week and half ago. So far, not even a reply from either.

 It's not even been harsh conditions. We are talking july and august in the Lakes (Not literally Simon- camped on high ground next to the Lakes)

Leaks in through the centre seam. All in the porch area, also onto the inner, then it runs down the inner to the vent mesh material, passes through that and onto your feet/sleeping bag.

When the rain does get heavy it then leaks through the seams all above the inner door, which then drops onto your head/pillow area.

 Will give lightwave another week to reply, otherwise will just send them the tent back. I am not interested anymore. Will go and buy a cheaper tent with sealed seams.

It might just be bad luck that I had a bad tent, but so far the tent or customer service has not been worth a single pound of the £500 that it cost.

I've been meaning to post about Lightwave’s excellent customer service for sometime now, but have just never got round to it.  Seems a good place as any to do so.  I purchased a t0 trek last year in a clearance sale in Blacks.  The tent was a bargain, but when I got it home, it had no pitching instructions, and I was also worried about the seams not being taped, as the only tent I’d ever had before without taped seams leaked horribly.  However, that was some cheap nasty tent from Halfords!

Anyway, I emailed carol at Lightwave who responded the very next day offering to send me the pitching instructions along with some seam sealant free of charge.  He also explained, as above, that the due to the construction of the fly that it is difficult to tape the seams, but that I shouldn’t have any problems with the seams leaking anyway.  Therefore, I decided to pitch it in the garden and give it a test, only to find I didn’t have enough pegs (probably why the tent was such a bargain)! Another email to Carol, to which he responded quickly, and again offered to send me some pegs free of charge. Brilliant customer service. 

As for the tent, well it passed the garden test with the hose pipe left on it for an extended time.  It has also performed well on the hills since in some nasty weather with no leaks, and without me ever sealing the seams.  Overall, a cracking little tent that I’m really happy with.

Kale, hope you get yours sorted or at least get another tent that you’re happy with.

Kale,

did you try phoning the number in France for lightwave?

0033 965 27 48 58

It might cost you an international phonecall but you'll know straight away if Carol is around and if you explain your problem reasonably  I'd expect to hear a good outcome.

I've had exceptional service from Crux / Lightwave, through which I have come to know Carol personally so I can't be entirely objective on this matter. But I really do feel that this is a brand (or pair of brands in fact) that stand behind their guarantees. Nobody can hope for a perfect production line with zero defects but they can plan to do something about it on the rare cases that a problem is identified.

Good luck!

John

Interesting timing with this one   Had my T0 in the hills last weekend and it leaked non stop.

 It's a year and a half old, and has been in some *serious* weather without leaking before. I guess its possible that the seams can become less waterproof as time goes on.

When I got home I tested it in the bath by pouring water over the leaky area (just at the end of the sheath where the brow pole goes in) and indeed it started dripping right away.

I fixed it with some SilNet.  Once cured I left some water lying on the area for about ten minutes and nothing dripped through; problem apparently solved.

I'll be testing it properly pitched next week, although I'm hoping it doesn't rain of course.

FYI my Lightwave G1 Ion flysheet developed a pinhole and started leaking as well.  A liberal squeeze of  SilNet on both sides seems to have patched it up, although I'll need to try it properly pitched to know if it holds.

Edit : Kale, the G2 is a cracking tent, and it should be 100% waterproof, but the seams do appear to be the weak point in all siliconised tents. Give the silnet a try (Lightwave might send you some out for free, they used to do so anyway).  FWIW 4 other tents around me (brand new) also leaked last weekend, it's not just a Lightwave issue.

D