[pct-l] Tents and Ants: a Cautionary Tale

[Robert Henry]

Here's a follow up on how I repaired the tent  The manufacture sent me
swatches of original silicon-nylon material to patch the top and
bottom of the tent.  Per their recommendations, I bought sil-net
adhesive made by "Gear Aid", as sold here by REI
http://www.rei.com/product/705425/gear-aid-silnet-silicone-seam-sealer-15-oz

I cut by hand round patches about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter.  I set
up a work table on some sawhorses, including a light table from an old
window, illuminated from below.  Working from the inside of the tent,
I painted one side of a patch with the silnet, and then glued the
patch to the inside of the tent right over a hole.  I'd swab the
excess glue up with a paper towel. The glue had a working life of
several minutes, and a dry time of about 4 hours.

It took my brother and I about 12 hours of work to patch all the
holes.  The slowest part was cutting the round patches.  The material
doesn't unravel, and we had a good sharp pair of scissors.

On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 4:21 PM, Robert Henry <rrh.henry at gmail.com> wrote:
> Last Friday (yes, it was Friday the 13th) I camped in the
> oak/ponderosa forest about 8 miles north of Burney Falls State park.
> I hauled into a campsite at dusk, gave it a perfunctory once over, set
> up the tent, and went to sleep.  I awoke wondering if it was raining
> out, and a quick glance showed stars, so went back to sleep.  When I
> got up to go p** later that night, I was beset by ants, and got
> stung/bit many times.  I suspect ants were dropping off of the trees
> overhead.  I crawled back into bed.  I got up at dawn, was again beset
> by ants and now mosquitos, packed up the tent quickly, and headed off.
>
> That night I set up the tent and noticed about 50 holes in the tent,
> each about 2mm in diameter, with a small cascade of live and dead ants
> coming out of the tent.  The ants had either chewed or stung or burned
> (with formic acid) holes in the tent, either during that night, or
> when trapped in the rolled up tent.
>
> Shake out your tent before packing it up, and don't camp under
> oak/ponderiosa trees.  Better yet climb into the higher life zones
> where there is fir, as that doesn't seem to host these kinds of ants.
>
> The culprit ants are black, are about 5mm long, and will bite/sting at
> the slightest provocation.  The big black carpenter ants, 10mm long,
> have never been a problem for me, and crawl over me without concern.
>
> I'm now faced with a tedious repair, as the holes are widespread.