Hey friends- I have searched GFC site and this forum and have yet to find any specifics on the V2 tent material. What is it? Is it heavy enough to be considered 4 season? Thanks!
I’ve slept in it through 60 mph winds, snow, rain, sleet, 11°-90° and it’s always been fine. And that’s only been 6 months in New England! Haha.
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No idea how GFC rates it but it is 100% 4 season. When you look at how gnarly the tent material is compared to a 4 season tent, its not even close to the same. I have a friend with a V1 and he’s used it in sub 20 temps, crazy wind and snow (same storm) and slept fine.
This is all rad to hear but I really would like to know what the material is so I have a sense of long-term durability.
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One thing to know about gfc is they change the materials used over a relatively short time period. At least this has been the trend over the last few years. Sometimes the change of the tent has been to a different fabric, a different color, a different design, but it does seem to always be for the better.
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Giving GFC a call or email would probably be best to get it specifically. I know they mentioned it somewhere in a video or instalive but I cannot remember where. Let us know when ya find out.
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This video talks bout it at the 6min mark.
It’s a 600D honeycomb rip stop
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Epic…knew I had seen it somewhere but in no way was I gonna go back and retrace all the youtube videos I had watched. Was right there in front of my face the whole time. Thanks for sharing.
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I have an email out to GFC asking. I would love to have more detail than “600D honeycomb rip stop”. Nylon? Polyester? Is it coated and with what? As someone who has camped for many years and owned tents through their entire lifecycle all this matters for short and long-term durability as well as ability to customize or repair yourself. I’ll post here when I find out more
600D is going to be a polyester fabrication. This is a far heavier denier used in any traditional tent fabrication as well as heavier than used on modern packs. Ripstop is a misnomer, that honeycomb pattern is generated on a dobby loom and is just a visual pattern, there is no larger ripstop thread offering actual “rip-stopping” functionality. That being said there is no need for “rip-stopping” capability for fabric this heavy. If you don’t believe me take any JanSport backpack (95% of them are 600d poly) use a knife to cut a 1" slit in it and try to continue to open this slit with your fingers… good luck. For reference if you have ever owned a Big Agnes tent most of their tent FLOORS are 20D material yes they are nylon not poly. 20D vs 600… you do the math.
Coating looks like standard PU coating but who knows how many coats or weight, likely 2-3. PU lasts for about 10 years before it starts to degrade but this doesn’t mean loss of functionality. With a standard tent this is a big deal as its your roof and receives direct impact from the rain. The GFC roof is solid panel so this is of no consequence imo. Most modern tents use silicone coatings, these are totally impracticable for fabrics this heavy, it would be insane cost and weight even if you could find someone to do it.
Additionally it will be face coated with a DWR face finish, this is standard and basic with any supplier who produces poly fabrics like this. Personally I’d like to know more on DWR. Serious environmental consequences here, standard DWR’s are C8 or C6, these are very effective at shedding water and dirt but contain gnarly long chain carbons that absolutely do not break down and impact fisheries. Today manufacturers can pony up a bit more for C0 DWR which has no long chain carbons at all. Performance on for dirt and oil resistance isn’t as good but water repellency is fine and I personally could care less about dirt, dirt and overlanding go together like white on rice.
GFC should consider more transparancy on materials for these issues alone. They should also consider moving from virgin to recycled yarn on their main material. This is possible for close to cost neutral for Poly at this point.
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This is awesome, thank you. And yes, I had a Janspot for 20 years before it was stolen at a bar so understand the durability, ha
NP. I didn’t mention it but I would also not be concerned at all about repair. Any standard equipment repair system like gearaid will work just fine on any 600D.
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I got a reply from Collin at GFC, “The tent material is 300D ripstop polyester with a TPU coating (fully waterproof).”
@Tomjoad curious what your thoughts are on this given you seem to have pretty deep textile knowledge
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@TearingOut55 I am looking forward to @Tomjoad 's response as well (definitely smarter than me on this) but the 2 cents I can throw in is the custom built truck camper in Africa I’ve rented from Bushlore advertised 400D tent fabric and 120D screens at the time (2019) and I was always worried about critters and myself messing up the fabric but even at 120 that shit is so strong all my worries were unfounded. Just my experience utilizing a similarish custom build. Ymmv🤙
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@TearingOut55 I did receive my sample pack and it does appear to be a 300d. This is of no concern on my side personally, strength is going to be much higher than traditional tent fabric.
As for the coating I believe GFC is misinformed. It is a very heavy PU coating, looks like a 1500mm spec (water column test) but it’s not a TPU (laminate material). I was pleased by this, as the 1500mm coating will retain its WP rating significantly longer than a simple 2x coating. Additionally TPU laminate causes a pretty dramatic loss of tear strength: the same exact fabric with PU will tear much easier laminated with TPU.
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