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Hi

Just a quick note re polly cotton tents, i think most people accept that a thick cotton/canvas fabric that you find on say Cabanon frame tents will last for a very long time, say 20yrs or more with say 4 weeks camping a yr.

Polly cotton tents are pretty new to market and so we do not have the 20-30yrs of info the way we do for canvas frame tent. What i can say is the Outwell lake range of tents that i have pitched at my shop are now 36 weeks old and feel nice and soft and are still keeping the water out. So if you take the 4 weeks rule (my rule) as normal camping for say a family it looks like you should get 9 plus years out of an Outwell polly cotton. They have faded but they faded within about 6 weeks and have not got any worse after that (well a bit but not much)

I really think looking at the condition of these tents 15yrs looks about right. A pollyester tent could be as little as 4yrs but they are far cheaper and even if you spent £400 on a pollyester tent that breaks down to £100 a yr. I feel in the long run the polly cotton tents will work out far cheaper per year in the end.

Im not sure about any other makes as i still feel that Outwell make the best polly cotton fabric. Most of the other brands use a polly cotton with a far higher pollyester content which cuts down on the breathability as they need a thicker coat of proofing. Im sure the other makes of polly cotton will last well but as i say i cannot comment on that.

I hope this helps.

Gary Cross  

Hi Angela

Re the fading, full pollyester tents fade, canvas tents fade, they all fade. Im not sure why but some colours fade quicker than others, someone im sure will know the reason for this. Possibly down to some colours reflecting light and others not. Saying that we had a black pollyester tent pitched this year and i thought that would fade very quickly and in the end it was one of the best at keeping its colour.

Gary Cross