TL;DR - For the last several trips, I've had to lubricate the zipper on the @Cascadia Vehicle Tents tarp *every* time I close it up. That sucks.
I mentioned in a previous rig review that I was having trouble with the zippers. For a trip or two, some lubricant (water) worked just fine to get the zipper cleaned out and zippable when I put the tent away. However, that solution stopped working for some reason in January, and I've really been struggling to get the tarp to close. In fact, it was so hard that I just left it open several days when we were exploring the Mojave during the middle of winter.
It got so frustrating that I had several conversations with GFC - so sure was I that I was ready to make the jump. I still think I am, pending a few design issues with their v2 platform, but in the meantime, I figured out how to "fix" the zipper for just a little while longer - I used a pair of plyers to just slightly tighten the zipper mechanism - the thing that slides along the zipper - a little bit.
I did this after noticing that the plastic teeth of the zipper had worn away some of the paint and metal of the mechanism over time. I wondered if the decreased tolerance was just enough to mean that the mechanism didn't quite force the teeth together all the way, resulting in a "split zipper" situation. So far, after tightening the mechanism, it seems to be working again, though I continue to use water as lubrication every time I close the tarp.
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