That time my tent zipper gave out during a storm in the Adirondacks

I was camping near Lake Placid last fall when a surprise rainstorm rolled in around midnight. The main door zipper on my 3-year-old Marmot tent completely jammed, then the slider came off in my hand. I spent a cold, wet hour using a carabiner and some paracord to jury-rig the door shut from the inside. Has anyone found a reliable way to fix a busted tent zipper in the field, or is it just a sign to replace the whole rainfly?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_parker24d ago

Man that sounds brutal. Did you at least have a good sleeping bag to stay warm while you were fixing it? I had a zipper fail on an old tent in a downpour once, ended up just using a bunch of safety pins from my repair kit to hold the flaps together. It was a mess.

the_elizabeth23d ago

Ugh, that safety pin story gives me flashbacks! Honestly, the real killer in those situations isn't just the cold, it's the humidity that soaks into everything while you're fumbling around. A good bag helps, but if your clothes are damp from the rain and the fix takes forever, you're starting your night chilled to the bone. That damp feeling sticks with you and ruins the whole next day. I'd take a dry, crappy bag over a wet, fancy one any time.

ryanc7124d ago

Oof, that sounds miserable, but the carabiner trick was smart. Just a heads up, jury-rigging from the inside like that can put a lot of stress on the tent fabric and make a tear way more likely. For a field fix, a paperclip or a keyring through the zipper pull tab usually works better than trying to close the whole door. Honestly though, once the slider comes off, it's pretty much toast and you're looking at a new rainfly.