Hi everybody, I used advice I have found before but problem still exists.

I have a tarptent rainbow and am using the synmat ul 7 pad. When I seam sealed the tent I also applied 3 small strips on the floor of the tent to stop the slippage....but it hasn't worked. Even on a slight gradient I slip around in there.

What else do you guys do?

Thanks

Does it have sil nylon floor?

Did you put silicone strips on floor? Did you dilute with mineral spirits?

I went through the same thing with my first Tarptent. Henry Shires suggested more stripes! I suspect that your three small stripes are probably not enough. Try more--but do as circular spots rather than stripes (easier to clean trash off the floor). Also put a few spots or strips on the bottom of your sleeping pad (under the pressure points, hip and shoulder). Silicone sealer worked on my old POE Insulmat and my even older Thermarest, but it doesn't stick at all to my current pad from the late lamented KookaBay. I used urethane based seam sealer on the last after all the silicone peeled off after a couple of trips. I have no experience with Exped--you'll need to experiment.

Do note, however, that if you're on a slope, gravity will win every time. I've gotten used to it, although one time I woke up almost out the door (side-opening tent) with my dog (on the uphill side) sleeping on half my pad! I'm still not sure whether the migration was altogether due to gravity; part of it may have been my dog's seeking a more comfy bed and pushing me off the mat!

Yep. More strips of sil-net will do the trick. Given the tubular sections, I find it more efficient to apply the goo onto the pad -- along the convex of course -- rather than the tent floor.

I might suggest one of these under your mat. Can be trimmed down even more.

http://lawsonequipment.com/All-Products/EvaRest-1-8-Torso-Pad-24-x-48-p954.html

...multiple uses and serves many benefits.

HTH

KJ

I use a exped ul7 on silnylon floors. The thought of putting seam sealer on a $300 tent floor was unbearable to me. Plus I did not really want to have to deal with the dirt and debris it might collect. In looking for alternative ideas I tried hockey grip tape with great success. I made 4 elongated oval shaped patches and put them lengthwise on each corner on the outside largest baffle of my exped ul7. This has solved the slippage issue. I use to wake up jammed up against a side wall, but not anymore. If you really wanted you could run small perpendicular strips of it on your tent floor too. The best thing is that it is removable!

I'm a fan of putting the silicone on your pad instead of the floor. I'm using an Exped (Synmat UL7) and Tarptent as well, and with about 20 dots on the bottom of the pad, it stays nicely put.

The downsides with putting the silicone on the floor are:
1) Dust/grit etc is very difficult to clean out of the tent, as it sticks to the silicone areas.
2) You're permanently altering your expensive tent
3) You use more silicone doing it this way. 20 pea sized dots spread out on the bottom of a pad works better for less silicone.

Edited by dandydan on 12/02/2012 08:26:39 MST.