Question:
Have just bought a fantastic 2-berth tent from a car boot sale, thankfully it's all intact and complete :-). However one of the zips that opens the outer front door has a few sections of 'teeth' missing along it's length which prevents it from zipping properly.
I don't have a problem getting it sewn because my mum is a fantastic seamstress, but my question is, is there a specific type of zip for tents and if so, where can you get them?
Thanks...
Answers:
I have an idea that you can sometimes buy them at ships chandlers. Worth a phone call to check!
Otherwise, if the zip is one of the sort which zips up from either end, I would just zip it as far as the faulty bit and leave a small gap.
Is it a straight zip? How long? (I have a cunning plan if it's the sort I think it is)
Answers:
A tent zip is just a very long zip, you will be required to make it waterproof before putting it in and then waterproof the seams after as you will be making a load of holes in the canvas/flysheet. finding a source for the zip could be tough, just find one that has a similar size of teeth and that it can be used from both sides as you will need to open it from both inside and outside.
No matter how good a semestress your mum maybe remember the size of flysheet and she will be moving around to put the zip in it.
Any tent repairs we have had done have been done by they are local to where I live and easier for them to do it than it was for my mum who is also a good seamstress who worked for the family business when younger making dressess amongst other things.
Answers:
The zip affected is on one side of the flap on the 'porch' area, which you crawl through and then open the zipped main door to the tent. There are about 3 parts where a couple of the teeth are missing, it can be zipped down to about half way.
It is only the porch hood area and we're not planning on major camping expeditions in the mountains where we need a good protective seal against the elements! The main door to the tent zips fully. It was merely a cheap boot sale purchase (i.e. money-saving!) to enable us to go off camping for the odd weekend, when the weather starts improving.
I don't really want to significantly pay more sending it away for repairs otherwise I may as well just go and buy a brand new tent.
Thanks for your help, guys!
Answers:
The porch area is made up by the fly sheet and that is the bit that protects the inner which are usually not waterproof. so the outer shell needs to be waterproof. I know you want to go camping in fair weather but it doesnt always stay that way you can buy proofing stuff in a spray can I think it was called Fabsil. Unless the tent is huge you will be leaving stuff in the porch and you dont want it getting wet.
If the zip is 1 of a pair that go from the bottom to the top then they may be easier to find as they wont be too long if it is a curved zip they are longer and could be hard to find.
Answers:
As the ultimate Here idea I did wonder if 2 shorter zips might do the job as well as 1 long one. Heavy zips are REALLY expensive IMHO. What I would do (yes I know it sounds bizaare) is to buy 2 really cheap zipped tops from the market - the sort that you can undo the end of the zip - and use these - if it's the 'A' shaped tent or bell tent with a straight zip I am visualising, this will work. And stupidly, it's cheaper to buy a whole top from the market than to buy a zip - at least in John Lewis.
Another idea is to ask your local charity shop if they get donated a tent, and to cannibalise the zips from that. When I ran Oxfam shops we often got tents and they were difficult to sell because it was so difficult for us to check they were complete!
(Lidl had 2 person tents for £9.99 last week if you give up )
Or you could dispense with a zip for that area possibly and install a length of velcro if there is enough material beyond the zip to make this possible (some higher quality tents actually have a velcroed flap which shuts over the zip once it's done up. This should be waterproof enough for a porch in most conditions)
Enough ideas? Lol I'm a bit obsessive about camping!