Warning: spent 3 whole trips thinking my tent leaked, but the real problem made me feel dumb
Bought a 4 person Kelty at a garage sale for $40. First trip in the rain, woke up with wet feet. Figured seams were bad so I spent $18 on seam sealer and did the whole thing. Next trip, same water. Bought a footprint, still got wet. Finally on trip three I sat in it during a drizzle and watched the water come up through the floor exactly where my sleeping pad pressed down. Turned out the floor was just worn thin, no leak at all, just condensation from my own body heat pooling under the pad. Took me about 6 weeks and $50 in gear I didn't need to figure that out. So here is the debate: is a worn out floor worth patching with a tarp underneath, or do you just call it and buy new? Half of my camping buddies say a $10 tarp fixes everything, other half say a 10 year old tent is just done. Where do you all land on that?