North Face Tadpole 23 Lightweight Tent > Reviews > Durability Issues

Author's product rating:   

Waterproofing	Average
Durability	Starts to wear almost immediately
How easy is it to put it up?	Easy

Advantages:	Great wind resistance and great ultralight fly and footprint only pitching
Disadvantages:	seamtape on the fly peeled/crumbled and inside of the fly became sticky

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I bought my Tadpole 23 in 2005. I've been camping for more than ten years and owned and used many tents, including the 1999 Tadpole model. For me this tent is emblematic of the decline of The North Face's quality. I used it only one time and one time alone last year. When I inspected it before an upcoming trip I found the inside of the tentfly extremely sticky and the seamtape started to crumble and peel. This didn't happen to the other two tents in my closet. I put it away clean, dry and folded neatly and I can't think of a plausible explanation for it other than that the materials were hi-tech but of inferior quality. I also had problems with two other North Face products i had bought along with this tent: the Patrol Pack Duo and the Venture Hyvent Jacket.