My first tent worked really well until the duct tape became dry and brittle from age.
I was helping a buddy move and he was going to throw out the tent because he didn't think it was usable anymore. I snagged it. It was a 2-4 person dome that was easy to set up. It fit well on the back of the bike. It worked in many rain storms along the way. After the duct tape dried out I had to carry a role of duct tape on camping trips to reapply and 're-water-proof' and plug the holes. Still a fine little camper.
I loaned it to my brother, who loaned it to a friend to shoot a movie.
My wife and I planned to take a camping trip and I couldn't find my tent. I finally remembered my brother had it, but when I called he didn't have it. So we took off camping without a tent! ??? On the way up to Virginia we stopped at a Wal-mart and bought the cheapest one. That was my second tent.
When we got home with a brand new tent my brother had gotten back my tent. Or rather he had gotten back pieces of my tent. I think all he had was the rain fly and the poles in the bag.
Now we've got two tents, different sizes, and different venting for different type of trips and not a lick of duct tape on either of them.
I think that we can break a drought with our tent camping. We always seem to get rained on when we camp. That is part of the fun of it.
