I bought a Big Agnes Copper Spur 1 person tent in 2010, and am happy with most of the features... except for the main door zipper in the inner part of the tent (across the mosquito netting).

In 2012, less than two years after the tent was purchased, the zipper started separating (when zipped shut) at the top. At first I was able to re-zip it, but the problem got worse and worse. I sent the tent back to BA, and the zipper was repaired (I think replaced) for free.

Last week, less than 2 years after the repair... the exact same thing started happening, so I will likely send the tent back for repair in a few days.

Is this problem familiar to you folks? The reviews don't mention it, but reviews are typically written after just a few weeks of testing. I have a BA seedhouse UL1, purchased in 2005 or 2006, and it has never has a zipper problem. I know zippers do wear out; the zipper on my TNF June Bug started separating after about 25 years of use.

I tend to think this is a design flaw; you can't set up the tent (so it holds up in a wind) without putting a lot of tension directly across the zipper. The folks from BA said the separation likely happened because I go camping/packing in dusty areas, and the dust wears out the zipper. I guess that's true, but I take the older UL1 in the same areas. In 2012, the BA folks said they would return the repaired tent with a zipper lubricant they recommended, to prevent the problem from recurring. They forgot to send such a lubricant, and I'd forgotten the exact name from our telephone conversation, so I just used some other zipper lubricant.

This has happened several times on all of my BA tents, on both the tent body and the fly zippers. Unless you can see that the coils themselves are damaged, the problem is the slider. A zipper slider is very cheap and easy to replace yourself with this kit:
http://zipperrescue.com/outdoor.html

BA tents rock, despite the zippers.

Have also used these on sleeping bag and other zippers as well.

MoapaPk wrote:I bought a Big Agnes Copper Spur 1 person tent in 2010, and am happy with most of the features... except for the main door zipper in the inner part of the tent (across the mosquito netting).

In 2012, less than two years after the tent was purchased, the zipper started separating (when zipped shut) at the top. At first I was able to re-zip it, but the problem got worse and worse. I sent the tent back to BA, and the zipper was repaired (I think replaced) for free.

Last week, less than 2 years after the repair... the exact same thing started happening, so I will likely send the tent back for repair in a few days.

i have the exact same tent and have never had the issue you describe. it's been a great tent for me, and i've had it for a couple years now. you may be rougher on your tent than i, however. i tend to do more overnight or weekend trips in pretty mellow areas.

Zipper sliders wear out more quickly in dusty areas. Fact of life. BA could use a more durable zipper slider but it would either cost more or weigh more.

Can't have it all.

Lubricant (or candle wax) and a pair of pliers will add a decent amount of life to your zipper. But consider the problem to be the price of owning a 3lb tent.

The reason I question that the problem is the zipper slider: typically the top of the door separates in the middle of the night, long after it has been zipped totally closed. As for this being a fact of life for light tents -- I do think it depends on the design, because my older UL1 has never had the problem; it also doesn't have such a tight stretch across the zipper.