New Tadpole

[Bic]

There's no need to seem seal the tadpole. The way he does the ridgeline it acts kind of like a shingle on a house. As long as you set it up with the label on the outside you shouldn't get wet. You might want to hit the pull outs, but the ridgeline shouldn't get you wet. I never sealed mine and have been through many good storms and stayed dry. I've only heard of a very few rare occasions where users got wet, but I'm of the belief that it may have been user error. (but that's just me)

The tadpole is my favorite tarp and I carry it on almost all of my backpacking trips. You got a great piece of gear.

I got drops from my old man winter tarp during an all day storm. After that I sealed all my wilderness logics tarps

[Caveman]

I got drops from my old man winter tarp during an all day storm. After that I sealed all my wilderness logics tarps

It can't hurt

[Bic]

after talking about this via Pm with Caveman... I felt I should clarify that I was using a CRL under the tarp. I had thought of this as the possible point of failure (i.e. me getting dripped on) but I couldn't pin point the problem. Either way, like Caveman said above me.... "it can't hurt"

[Gravity]

When I received my tadpole with pull-outs, I emailed Marty and asked if I needed to seam-seal. Here's his response verbatim:

"I WOULD DO THE PANEL PULLS, AND IF YOU DO THOSE, YOU SHOULD GO AHEAD AND DO ALL. WE HAVE HAD ONLY 4 TARPS LEAK, AND 3 WERE AT THE PANEL PULLS. THE RL IS 99.9% WATER TIGHT, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW. TO HAVE PEACE OF MIND, GO FOR IT."

I hung my tadpole and dutifully sealed the pull-outs and the inside of the ridgeline. Used 'Permatex Flowable Silicone Windshield and Glass Sealer', available at your neighborhood's friendly auto-parts store (or wallyworld).

[Nclarkii]

My brand new camo Tadpole is currently pitched in my yard in a sustained rain and it has developed a drip leak along the center seam. So, another vote for seam sealing here.

[Caveman]

My brand new camo Tadpole is currently pitched in my yard in a sustained rain and it has developed a drip leak along the center seam. So, another vote for seam sealing here.

Just for my own records.... Are you using a CRL... and if so, is it running under the tarp?

[Mountain Gout]

Just for my own records.... Are you using a CRL... and if so, is it running under the tarp?

I'm betting yes on this.. Or at least the shingle was tweaked a little..

[Nclarkii]

I had a CRL underneath initially but repitched it with it above the fly once I noticed the dripping. It helped with dripping near the ends but a drip point remained in the middle for the duration of the deluge even though I kept wiping it down with a towel.

[Nodust]

I just received my new Tadpole (brown with side pulls). Quality is amazing, which was expected but the Turn around was unreal. I ordered it Wed afternoon and it was in my hands Sat morning. I did some googling and I found some contradicting advise on whether or not the tarp needed to be seam sealed but the most recent I found was in 2011.

So......... To seal or not to seal. That is the question

Jon

I had to seam seal mine. My son has one that isn't seam sealed and no problems. But he hasn't been in a hard rain yet.

[Gravity]

When I received my tadpole with pull-outs, I emailed Marty and asked if I needed to seam-seal. Here's his response verbatim:

"I WOULD DO THE PANEL PULLS, AND IF YOU DO THOSE, YOU SHOULD GO AHEAD AND DO ALL. WE HAVE HAD ONLY 4 TARPS LEAK, AND 3 WERE AT THE PANEL PULLS. THE RL IS 99.9% WATER TIGHT, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW. TO HAVE PEACE OF MIND, GO FOR IT."

I hung my tadpole and dutifully sealed the pull-outs and the inside of the ridgeline. Used 'Permatex Flowable Silicone Windshield and Glass Sealer', available at your neighborhood's friendly auto-parts store (or wallyworld).

And if you want to have some fun and see the Tadpole in action during an AT thru-hike, point your browser to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sTft2mLI0k