So i'm about to seal my Integral Designs silshelter, after doing a lot of research on the forums. I'm still confused about a couple things though. I'm using the ID silicone sealer that came with the tent. i went on the website and it said this seal is of the McNett silnet brand. the website said nothing about diluting and said to seal the INSIDE of the fabric....

the forums tell me i should dilute... but is it necessary for this product? also people recommend sealing the outside on the forums (sometimes??)... but the website says inside... What do you all recommend?

There is silicone sealer that is intended for sealing seams of tents. It is ready to use.

There is also silicone sealer that is not primarily intended for this. It is more for general household sealing. It is rather thick, so it needs to be diluted for seam sealing of a tent.

--B.G.--

with your experience did you seal the inside or outside of your tents?

Yes.

In some cases, I seal the outside. In other cases, I seal the inside. On some, I do both.

If you seal the outside, more sealant is likely to leak out and be visible, which is not so good. If you seal the inside, it won't be visible. If you seal only the inside, and if enough rainwater can seep into the seam, it will be caught there. That might lead to a mold problem.

In some cases, I have just lightly smeared the stuff on. That isn't very neat at all. In some cases, I have used a plastic syringe to inject the sealant more directly into the middle of the seam. That works good. In some cases, I have just applied dots of sealant into the needle holes.

--B.G.--

After seam sealing my tent for 2 hours i feel like i was just painting 50 high school girls toe nails. one for the similarity in the task (don't ask how i know) and two because of the amounts of volatile fumes i've just inhaled...

I need a breather

" If you seal the outside, more sealant is likely to leak out and be visible, which is not so good"

B G why is visible not so good? Surely not aesthetics.

Tim, use some common sense.

The more goop you have visible on the outside of the shelter, the more goop will be cooked by sunlight, and that tends to make it separate from the material, so it won't be doing much good. Stuff on the inside doesn't get cooked.

--B.G.--

Bob.

Are you saying UV degrades silicone rapidly,
But the silicone in in fabric, assuming it is silnylon, degrades much more slowly?

In some cases, I have just applied dots of sealant into the needle holes.

Whoa! For a whole tent or tarp? You must have the patience of a saint!

Tim, stuff that is mostly transparent, like most seam sealer, allows sunlight to penetrate into it rather completely if it is directly exposed, so it can all degrade. Stuff that is rather opaque, like 1.5 ounce silnylon does not allow sunlight to penetrate very deeply. So, only the topmost coatings will be degraded, and the sealer down inside the seams will be unaffected.

--B.G.--

I don't really want to encourage a debate about UV degradation. I just thought I'd share what I recently read, in case it helps anyone to decide what to do with their gear.

I read that silicones are among the most UV resistant polymers used in outdoor gear. They are far more UV resistant than sensitive materials like kevlar and urethanes, much more resistant than nylon, and a bit more than polyester. In direct sunlight, the silicone coating on a silnylon fabric should outlast the nylon fibers underneath.

http://sixmoondesigns.com/faq/seam-sealing.html

Great link^ wish i had that earlier.

the shelter has been drying formore than a day now and is losely folded up. the seamsare still stlightly taky but i guess thats the nature of the silicone sealent. anyway hopefullynext weekend i can take it out and see how well it works, should be lots of rain coming my way in the next week or so