A wide range of tents are available today for the camper to choose from. Although tents made of synthetic polyester or nylon have come to dominate the tent market, the more old-fashioned canvas is available in a variety of tent models. Should you consider going with a canvas tent rather than synthetic?
Canvas tents can offer advantages in comfort, durability, and protection from the elements. Because canvas is heavier than synthetic materials, they can be a good option for campers who are driving to the campsite.
Canvas Tents: the Pros and Cons
Pros:
- sturdy construction protects from wind and rain
- blocks the hot sun
- durable
- easy to repair
- lasts for years
Cons:
- much heavier
- more expensive
The History of Canvas Tents
Canvas tents have been in use since cotton was first spun into a thread and used to make fabric, so for the last 5,000 years or so. That makes canvas material old fashioned, but today’s canvas tents have modern designs for modern times.
One of the most storied tents in the United States is George Washington’s campaign tent at the Museum of the American Revolution. His tent was used for shelter and councils of war such as Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River in December 1776. Canvas tents provided shelter as settlers crossed the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. The bonnets that covered Conestoga wagons on the Oregon Trail were canvas tents.
After World War II, nylon became readily available on the consumer market, and nylon began to replace canvas as the material of choice for most recreational tents. A mixture of canvas and nylon tents can be seen in photos of the iconic music festival at Woodstock in 1969.
While most of the recreational tent market went to nylon or polyester, canvas tents lived on for certain uses. Summer camps for kids and scouts used canvas “wall tents” pitched over permanent wooden frames. Canvas was the best fit for this use because canvas would withstand months-long UV exposure and the permanent frames were adequate to support the increased weight of canvas tents. The U.S. military has continued to use “GP” (General Purpose) canvas tents for temporary shelter for large numbers of troops and equipment.
Modern Canvas Tents For Recreation
While canvas has endured as a material for tents for thousands of years, the design of canvas tents has evolved with modern times. Some canvas tents are small, single-person designs. Canvas tents such as the Dream House Family Camping Bell Tent are beautifully designed intricate structures. Canvas is not cheap nor inexpensive, and a tent made of canvas will cost more than a comparably sized tent made of synthetic material. Regardless of shape or design, canvas tents have characteristics that make canvas the best choice for certain purposes.
Rain Protection
Tents repel water because of their shape, not the material. Just like a steep roof causes water to run off of a house, a sloped or curved roof on a tent is designed to force water to run away from the occupants and outside of the tent. A dome-shaped tent will repel water in the same manner, regardless of rather the dome-shaped tent is made of canvas, nylon, or polyester.
The material the tent is made from does affect the tent’s ability to maintain its shape. Nylon is notorious for changing shape when it gets wet. As nylon tents get wet the nylon expands, causing formerly taught surfaces to become loose and pool water, and therefore the tent loses its shape and its ability to repel water.
Canvas tents have superior rain protection because canvas maintains its shape and strength when wet, and since canvas is heavier it uses stronger support poles or a wooden frame. These stronger supports keep occupants dry because the tent maintains its shape.
Canvas tents may be treated with products such as Kiwi Camp Dry Water Repellent or Scotchgard but be sure to check your tent manufacturer’s recommendations before using these products. Many canvas tents are pre-treated with a water repellent product, so you need to make sure that you are applying a compatible product.
Canvas tents do not require any special products to make them waterproof, because it is the shape of the tent that keeps occupants dry. However, untreated canvas tents are likely to be wet to the touch, which means that even though it is dry inside the tent, anything such as sleeping bags that rubs against an untreated canvas tent could get wet.
Regardless of a tent’s shape, size, design, color, or cost, even the best tent in the world will not keep occupants dry if runoff comes in from underneath the tent. Great tents have become soaked because of flooding from underneath, so be sure to pitch a tent in a high and dry location that will allow for water to run away from the tent and not pool.
A waterproof tent in a downpour would keep the occupants dry, but tents do not have gutters, so the water the runs off the tent’s shaped roof must continue to run downhill on the ground, otherwise, a dry tent will just soak occupants from underneath.
Breathability
A completely waterproof tent could also fail to keep occupants dry if the tent cannot breathe. It is not the tent that breathes, it is the people inside the tent who breathe, and that is where the moisture comes from. Two or three sleeping campers in the tent at night produce warm, moist air while breathing. If the tent cannot “breathe” then that moisture condenses when it touches a cooler surface, such as a tent’s fabric that is cooled by the outside air. That condensed moisture (condensation) creates the effect of rain inside the tent.
Most tents are properly designed with enough ventilation to let air and moisture out without letting rain in. Polyester is inherently not breathable, but a polyester tent should have vents built-in under the cover of a fly or eves built into the tent. Canvas seems to allow moisture to escape better, but a canvas tent should still be well-ventilated.
Temperature
Canvas tents have a couple of advantages when campers are trying to stay cool in the heat or warm in the cold. The temperature advantages of a tent are marginal, if it is 100 degrees outside it is going to be 100 degrees in a tent, or close to it. On hot-weather days the advantage of a canvas tent is that it makes shade, blocking the sun and making occupants less hot. Even if the air is still 100 degrees inside a canvas tent, blocking the sun will keep people from getting sunburned and gear from getting even hotter than 100 degrees.
Polyester and nylon tents are very thin, thin enough that they are translucent (they let light through). A thin, translucent tent will not block the sun and therefore these tents do not create shade.
Canvas tents have special advantages in cold weather too. The wind is the enemy of comfort in cold weather, and canvas tents with thick walls are your best bet to block the wind and achieve real comfort. Polyester or nylon do not stand much chance of blocking the wind. Not only is the wind likely to come through synthetic tents, but wind also makes lightweight tents rattle and lose their shape, which compromises their ability to keep campers dry.
Canvas tents are the only tents designed with vent holes for stoves. On a cold day, nothing in a synthetic tent could beat having a wood stove in a canvas tent.
Construction, Assembly, and Care
Canvas tents require much stronger frames to support the heavier weight of canvas and maintain their shape. Canvas tent frames are either aluminum poles, wood poles, or a solid wooden frame of studs built on a wood platform. Canvas is heavy, thick, and resilient and unlikely to be torn easily. If a canvas tent is worn over time, it can be repaired with a needle and thread. For more thorough repairs, a special waxed thread should be used, which creates a watertight seal around the threads.
Synthetic tents are lightweight, but the reduced weight comes with reduced durability. Polyester and nylon tents are made of very thin material that is usually double or triple stitched at the seams and reinforced with stronger materials at the corners where poles or stakes connect with the tent. The seams and corners are the highest-stress points on the tent, and if they become damaged there is enough material to repair the tent by stitching and gluing with a silicone sealant.
If a nylon or polyester tent is torn in the middle of the fabric, away from the seams, the material is so thin that there is not enough to work with to effectively stitch a repair. Instead of stitching, a torn synthetic tent should be repaired with a special clear tape designed for tent repair. Duct tape would work in an emergency, although it would be an unsightly repair.
Synthetic tents also use very light poles which are plastic and bendable. The advantage of these lightweight poles is that they collapse to a small size and they are very lightweight. These poles are more likely to wear out for a few reasons. The plastic frame of the pole is easily broken.
The poles are also linked together by an elastic string that runs through the middle of the pole. These strings can break or lose their elasticity. Plastic tent poles can be temporarily repaired if necessary using tape and even twigs, if necessary.
Canvas Tents are Heavier
Discussion of lightweight poles brings us to a comparison of the weight differences between canvas and synthetic tents. Canvas tents are heavier than synthetic tents. For comparison, the Kodiak Canvas Flex-Bow 4-Person Canvas Tent weighs 54.5 pounds. The comparable 4-person Coleman Sundome Tent weighs 9.3 pounds.
Canvas Tents for Glamping
Glamping is a mix of “glamour” and “camping” which has become a popular offering at many campsites. A glamper wants to experience the great outdoors but not leave behind all the creature comforts of home. The combination of durability and comfort that a canvas tent can offer make canvas tents a popular choice glampers. For example, your family will enjoy style and comfort in the Dream House Luxury Outdoor Waterproof Four Season Family Camping and Winter Glamping Cotton Canvas Yurt Bell Tent with Mosquito Screen Door and Windows.
Canvas Tents Cost More
When you browse the listings for canvas tents, you notice the canvas tents tend to be more expensive than synthetic tents. The Kodiak Canvas tent described above is listed for $469.99 for a four-person tent. The 4-Person Coleman Sundome Tent is listed at $99.99. That is a significant price difference. However, because canvas is thick, durable material, the canvas tent will last for years, which can help balance out the expense over the long run.
Canvas Tents for Car Camping
The difference in weight makes weight a decisive factor for backpackers. Weight is critical for backpackers even on a short hike to their campsite. Expedition trekkers such as those who hike the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail shed all unnecessary weight. Unless a horse or mule is carrying the tent, backpackers are going to choose lightweight, synthetic tents.
After considering cost, weight, and a tent’s ability to protect occupants and gear from the elements, canvas tents are a great choice when the tent’s weight is not a consideration and when the tent will be used for a long time. For the 50 pounds of extra weight to not be prohibitive, those who buy canvas tents are most likely car camping or using pack animals.
Long-term use is relative to the camper, but certainly, anyone who plans to pitch a tent for a week or more should consider a canvas tent. Car campers who use a tent for a week or two each year, and who plan on owning their tent for five years or more should consider a canvas tent for comfort and durability. Bad weather days may be rare, but when they hit, the added protection of a canvas tent will be worth the investment.