Different Camping Tent Materials

A tent for hiking must be made in a way that it can be very lightweight while maintaining the highest standard of durability. This is because hikers, mountain climbers and campers carry a lot of things and need to have a lot of space on their bags. They also have to be prepared for extreme weather conditions, which means that they want to be able to rely on their source of shelter. These needs have led to advanced technology in the tent-making industry.

A tent is composed of poles, walls and a cover. When it comes to tent fabrics, nylon is most widely preferred for camping. Nylon is lightweight, which makes it ideal for carrying around in a backpack. It is breathable, which means that it can allow air to ventilate throughout the tent during warm weather. Still, when it rains, it does not allow water to leak through. Nylon is woven in a rip-stop manner in order to prevent it from tearing easily. The tent can also be coated with polyurethane coating to make it more waterproof and durable, although more layers of coating can add to its weight. Windows, doors and skylights are often made of clear film or mesh material in order to let air pass through the tent while blocking out bugs and flies.

Poles can be either rigid or flexible. Rigid poles are used for big camping tents that allow its occupants to have sufficient headroom. They are very strong but are also too bulky for camping. Flexible poles are more ideal for small camping tents, which usually come in curved shapes like tunnels and domes. A small tunnel tent typically houses at most two people, while a small dome tent can accommodate at least three. Cheaper flexible poles are made of fibreglass, which is less durable but more heavy. Due to this, many campers prefer poles made of aluminium alloy. Aluminium is sturdy yet lightweight. However, there is another material that is fast becoming a popular choice for tent poles. This material is carbon fibre. It is very flexible and ultra durable. At present, though, it is more normally used for expensive technical tents.