1. Cotton Fabric
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What material is tents made of? Once upon a time, tents were quite simple. Almost all the tents were made of canvas. This traditional cotton fabric has many holes on the surface. They are able resist to water after some special processes.
And canvas is easy to get rotten. But after some dealing with it, it can also avoid getting rotten and moldy. That is why when you didn’t completely dry the tent but collected it then, the tent would get dark.
Because the cotton fiber has the ability to absorb the water, the wet tent is heavier than the dry one. And the wet cotton tent cloth is easy to go shrinking. Thus, when people use if as the first time, they will spray some water. They keep spraying water until the material get expanded. The expansion means the tent gets resistant to water then.
Cotton fabric is quite rough. But it also does well in the performance. We know that the superior refined cotton is the best material to make tents with high levels, even it has one limitation.
The best fabric material is the cotton fabric with acrylic coating. Many French manufacturers, such as Cabanon, are using it. And some superior trailer tent manufactures are also applying it for producing.
Cotton fabric has some distinct disadvantages. If you want it a longer service life, you should maintain it carefully. And you need to make sure to keep it out of the disturb from the environment. Besides, the cost for cotton fabric is a bit high. All these make many designers to search for other substitute materials.
2. Polyester Cotton
100% pure cotton tent cloth are made of a mixture of polyester cotton. This kind of polyester material is lighter than natural cotton. While, it is as strong as it. Moreover, its price is cheaper.
Compared with natural cotton, polyester cotton can be used directly after the waterproof processes. But polyester is weak in resisting to burning. It is very easy to be burnt.
Today, most of the tents we have seen on the market are made of polyester fabric with different coatings. The best coating is to resist water and let the air in. It is called as the breathable material. Make it out of the tent for dews, which is so cute and comfortable.
Many manufacturers have their own different coating arts and names. Compared with tent, you are easier to find the ventilate materials in outing clothes.
3. Nylon
Small type tent usually are made of nylon materials. Nylon is one of the byproducts of coal chemical industry. Some nylon fabric will not absorb water. This means that the nylon tent will be much lighter than pure cotton or polyester cotton tent.
What a funny thing is that the cheap and simplest tent is made of nylon, while the most expensive tent in the camping is also made of nylon. The differences between them are the coatings and the way they use of the fabrics.
Although nylon material without any processes is also able to be used for making tents, people will usually deal with its surface for waterproofing. The coating can be acrylic, PU or polysiloxane. Different coating are various in the quality and durability.
Of course, a better coating will require a higher price. Acrylic coating is the cheapest. And the polysiloxane is the most expensive one. But the latter has a disadvantage. It is easy to go burnt.
Generally, nylon tent will be strengthened by large fabric net structure. This special nylon is initially designed for parachutes. Its tension is very high. It is an anti-tear material with high tension.
When the nylon tent gets damp, the nylon fiber will get loose. Now you need to pull the rope to keep the tent in good shape. One of the most obvious defects of nylon tent is that its nylon fiber is easy to be rotten by the UV light. That means the strong sunlight will shorten the service life of tent.
Nowadays, most coatings have the function of filtering. They can effectively reduce the damage of the UV light. But the long time of exposure in the sun will still reduce the service life of the nylon tent.
4. Polyester Material
Another kind of man-made material is polyester. Compared with nylon tent, we are easier to find the polyester tent on the market. It is more durable than nylon. Polyester tents are welcomed on the market. It is difficult to shrink after going damp. And the sunlight has little influence on them.
Big frame tents and many trailer tents are still using the canvas. But now they will add a heavy coating of PVC on the roof. This will make the tent with higher tension and waterproof resistance. However, the mere disadvantage of PVC coating adds the weight of the tent. The surface of the coating has some slight condensation.
Any coating always has condensation. That is why ventilation for tent is so important. Many beginners mistake the condensation as the leakage. But if you have a tent with a good ventilation, and use it correctly, your tent will keep dry and cozy.
5. Fireproof Material
In fact, there is not material to be fireproof on the market. Today many tent manufactures declare that their tents are fireproof. But actually, all the tents are still easy to be burnt. And some will be burnt quickly. That is why you mustn’t use the equipment producing flame in the tent. And you mustn’t use candles in the tent to make it more romantic.
If your tent goes burnt accidently, what you need to do is to ask all the people to run out. And you need to make all the equipment out of the tent as fast as you can. Of course, the first thing you need to do is to protect yourself first. Then it is your tent.
Experienced campers have a good habit. They will fetch a full pail of water outside the tent. If the tent gets burnt, the neighbors can pull out the fire together. That is more effective than any other methods.
