Hi all.
It looks like the tent industry as realised that the camping public have now realised the benefits of a cotton canvas over nylon based sheets.
So we are going to see Far more Polycotton tents in 2008.
But is there an advantage of using Polycotton over Natural cotton canvas. They are both breathable but the natural canvas breath better. Cost. Good polycotton canvas is about 30% less per meter than good all cotton canvas, but this is only an estimate I have come up with and may not be accurate.
Polycotton will brake down with long exposure to the sun,
cotton will not,it may fade but will stay strong.
Ease of use in manufacturing tents. This I have no Idea
and would appreciate help to answer this.
Strength both materials are more that adequate for family
tents.
They are both heavy but the polycotten is lighter than cotton, but very little in it.
Some of the top tent manufacturers like Cabanon and Relum
have moved over to a polycotton weave for some of their new tent designs. But the traditional tent makers are still sticking to cotton,
So why are tent manufactures using Polycotten in preference to the tried and tested cotton canvas.
Does any of our member know the answer to this.
I can only guess.
Regards
Rex.
------------- "Be the person your dog thinks you are" (BM)
The main reason for using polycotton over the full cotton/canvas fabric is cost. A good polycotton is more than good enough for most family campers. It will last for many years and far far longer than the polyester fabrics. If we want tents that are made out of full cotton/canvas we would be looking at a cost of about £1500 for a good family sized tent. Most of the canvas/cotton fabrics are still made in europe which increases the cost but thats a good thing as the cotton/canvas fabrics coming out of the far east are still not top quality. The polycotton fabrics coming out of the far east are ok though.
If you like the full cotton/canvas tents then look at the costs of tents like the DeWaard brand from Holland.
Some of the uk brands who are putting polycotton tent in the range are missing the point though. They are putting to much waterproofing solution on the fabric which then reduces the breathability and causes condensation just like the polyester fabrics. Make sure if your looking for a pollycotton tent that the fabric feels the same on the inside as the outside, if it feels and looks shiny on the inside in my opinion it has to much waterproofing.
This is only my opinion so please do not take this as gospel.
Well I would welcome seeing more Cotton/Polycotton tents on campsites, as we use an Easy Camp Kos 6 we always feel in the minority when we pitch up and I must admit that we get some strange looks as if to say 'Look at that old outdated frame tent', point is it we have only had it for 5 years (so not so old) and at a quick count have spent about 90 plus nights in it.
Good points about it are it has never leaked, though did reproof it this year, it never feels like it's going to take off in the wind, great for cooking inside as the material is breathable and fire retardent, never any condensation as in polyester tents and the head height in constant throughout the tent.
Bad Point, Heavy at 47Kgs, but we do use a trailer.
Have I sold it yet, sorry but we may me old fashioned but we love it and would never swap it for a Polyester Tent.
Hi cross camping.
As you say it could be and I also believe this. But Cabanon one of the worlds top tent makers make a biscaya 370 from 100% Cotton canvas and it retails for less than the Cabanon Biscaya 370 polyester canvas as Cabanon like to call it but it is a heavy duty polycotton, they also make a 370 biscaya from polyester just to confuse maters worse, for slightly less than the cotton. The pole system on the cotton biscaya are steel so this could account for a slightly cheaper price. So this is were the theory of cost may not be the only reason.
Reading about the breath ability of polycotton the polyester is treated before it is woven, I think the polyesrer is the warp and cotton the weft this then acts like cotton for the waterproofing and breath ability Once any type of cotton is treated It then looses it natural waterproofing, and as to rely on the coating and as you say this stops the water droplets leaving the tent, and condensation will result.If your cotton tents waterproofing starts to let in water the chances are that it is dirt in the cotton weave so that the cotton can not
then swell and stop the water, a good wash with the correct solution will put the waterproofing back in your tent.
Regards
Rex.
------------- "Be the person your dog thinks you are" (BM)
I think the Biscaya is a slightly different situation. The all season polyester is more expensive than the traditional cotton yes; but on paper the Ten Cate all season polyester is superior. They haven't waterproofed with a polyurethane coating on the inside like ordinary polyester. It's a polyester/PVA weave (all synthetic) where the PVA fibres swell up and make it waterproof. So this fabric is behaving like cotton/polycotton but has no natural fibre content:
If you compare the technical specs on the Ten Cate website you can see that for equivellent fabric weights it is stronger and more waterproof than cotton yet is breathable and won't shrink.
The downsides are cost and a question as to how long it will last.
Hi stevie.
Thank you for clearing that up, I am a bit lost with all the new materials now on the market.
I did not think after all these years Cabanon would change to an inferior material
Thank you again.
Rex.
------------- "Be the person your dog thinks you are" (BM)
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Topic: Cotton or Polycotton
