Quarter Dome UL

TLDR - Old nylon tent seam repair advice? Context - I recently read A Walk in the Woods and have been inspired to get back into backpacking (which lead me to this subreddit). Its been several years and I am assessing all my gear. I have the "quarter dome UL" tent from REI which I purchased back in 2006. Heavy by today's standards at over 4 pounds... but I am hesitant to get rid of it. I pitched the tent in my basement and noticed the glue on all the seams is flaking off. Has anyone on here gone through the trouble to clean and reseal an old nylon tent? How long did it take? Any tips? I am trying to decide if its worth the effort. It would still work great for car camping, and some backpacking if I can't decide on a replacement (I am experiencing analysis paralysis on my UL tent purchasing decision).

After spending some time with chatgpt, I am not too optimistic that using this tent ever again is a great idea. Apparently the PU coating on my tent has likely degraded considerably over time and it probably is going to have a hard time keeping water out even if I repair the seams... oh well.

It's gone, not worth it. I had this too, realized it was futile.

All these "3p or you'll regret it" people are blowing things out of proportion in my opinion. 2p is totally fine as long as the tent has sufficient vestibule space for your gear. You only need to go to a 3p tent for two people if you want to keep your packs in the tent. My wife and I have always used a 2 person tent when backpacking (Cabela's XPG2 IIRC, followed by an REI Quarter Some T2). I have used the same tents with various friends, plus a 2 person North Face Lenticular in winter. The only one that has ever presented a challenge was the North Face because it narrows significantly at the foot end and I brought a long wide NeoAir Trekker pad, so our air pads overlapped at that end. Even then, it was fine. In snow you can get bonus vestibule space by digging a hole underneath the vestibule. Then you can store an 80L pack *vertically*.

Sierra backpacker here. That's a tolerable summer loadout, and not far off from what I use on some trips. Disclaimer, I am the last person to talk to if you're interested in ultralight anything. Short rundown: The tent will be "heavy" by most standards, but they're solid tents and will perform for many years if taken care of. I have a Quarter Dome T2 and an Arete, and I have used them both for many years. I'm a big fan of a freestanding tent because around 50% of my excursions are to destinations and not thru-hikes. I want to setup my camp, and still be mobile for the daytime The bag is not the lightest, nor the warmest, but it will work okay in a lot of conditions. I've transitioned to more of a bedroll setup, as I find that's more adaptable for my particular needs. Pads, you can ask 10 people and get 11 opinions. I use a z-pad and a basic Thermarest doubled up if it's cold-cold. I think every single person here has changed their mind on a pad situation at least once, if not five times.

Have a few and have learned a little from each. As mentioned, you’re generally paying for ounces, materials, packability, and weather resistance. I have the previous gen REI Quarter Dome. It has been good and have already replaced the shock cord on poles, a common issue for REI tents. But I’m always jealous when looking at my friends MSR Hubba Hubba. I also have a Durston Xmid 2. An amazing tent and design, but requires a little more work to learn how to pitch and takes up a little more space. Also needs good ground to secure to. They also have a freestanding option that looks real nice. And then I have an old 3P Mountain Hardware. Not something I use other than for car camping. Materials are thicker and more resistant to having a kid and dog inside. More space for all our stuff, traditional air mattress, etc. dumb vinyl windows on the fly failed years ago and I’ve been running with it taped ever since.