Different Types Of Party Tent Fabrics: What Are Tents Made of?

Different Types Of Party Tent Fabrics: What Are Tents Made Of?

What material is a tent made out of, you ask?

Well, there are plenty of materials available, and it can be helpful to know the differences when planning an event with a commercial tent. All have different qualities, and all serve different functions suited for various applications. Here are some of the pros and cons of different types of material so you can find the best fit for your occasion.

Nylon

Nylon is a lightweight fabric popular for backpacking tents. While nylon can be susceptible to rips from wind and debris, backpacking tents are small enough to maintain strength. Nylon offers enough stretch to allow for stress distribution on the small tent panel, making it less likely to tear. Overall, nylon is a good material for small tents but is not a strong choice for larger commercial tents.

Polyester (PVC)

Like nylon, polyester has a slight stretch; however, it is a stronger material. This strengthened ability to stretch makes it more resistant to the outdoor elements. While polyester is relatively durable, you will still want to think about waterproofing and thread count options based on your planned use. Luckily, these setbacks can easily be solved by coating polyester in PVC (also known as polyvinyl chloride), a protective layer that increases the tent’s protective capabilities.

Ripstop PVC

Ripstop PVC is typically seen in commercial tents because it is one of the toughest materials on the market. The scrim fabric is woven together, creating material reinforcement and making ripstop PVC a reliable party tent fabric that will keep everybody at your event protected.

Additionally, the polyvinyl chloride coating increases weather resistance and creates a nice shiny seal, more so than polyethylene tent material. Polyethylene (PE), while a common tent material coating, is lighter weight and does not protect against UV rays as well; that being said, PE is considered a safer plastic environmentally.

Coated Vinyl

Vinyl is probably the most commonly used commercial tent material. Coated vinyl results from dip molding, which forms the protective layer over the vinyl with corrosion resistance and greater stability. Vinyl is most often coated in either PVC or PE. Compared to other fabrics, it is the most waterproof option making it ideal for tents to stand strong through inclement weather. While coated vinyl is a pricier option, it can be worth it if your tent will be exposed to the outdoor elements for the long term.

Laminated Vinyl

Laminated vinyl is exactly what it sounds like —  vinyl covered in a laminate. The scrim is placed between layers of PVC film then fused together in a laminating machine through heat and pressure. This lamination process increases material weight, UV protection, abrasion resistance, and glossiness. It is fire retardant, water-resistant, and is less costly than coated vinyl. Because of these incredible qualities, laminated vinyl is the most common material you will see used at American Tent.

Cotton Canvas

While cotton canvas was relevant years ago, it is far less common to find this material being used in commercial tents today. Cotton is natural and more environmentally friendly than other synthetic materials. The thickness of the cotton creates insulation against outside sounds; however, untreated cotton is not weather resistant, requiring additional precautions. Untreated cotton is a dense, heavy option that can make your set-up and transportation process a bit more difficult than lighter fabrics, but if that is not an issue for you, then the rustic charm of the cotton canvas could do the trick.

Coated Cotton

Coated cotton, also known as polycotton, has a lot of the same qualities as regular cotton. It is thick and durable, with added insulation and waterproofing capabilities from the coating. Woven cotton is coated with a protective layer either during the creation of this material or afterward. This is a heavy-duty tent fabric, making it much heavier (like untreated cotton) and, though the coating offers weather protection, it is still less water-resistant than other options.

Which Fabric Is Better For Your Tent?

It is important to do your research when thinking about what material will best suit your tent needs. The lifespan of tents can depend on the materials used to create them, so knowing the options can be crucial! If you are looking for a good backpacking tent fabric, nylon will be just fine!

However, if you are looking for a commercial-sized tent, you will want stronger material for its larger size. Though strong, uncoated fabric, like cotton canvas, is more susceptible to weather damage. So, if you need your tent to withstand wind and rain, you are definitely going to be best off choosing a coated or laminated material.

How To Take Care of Your Tent Fabric?

Of course, you want to keep your tent in tip-top shape. Make sure you save the box in which your tent came for easy and safe storage later on. At American Tent, we send tents in a special bag for this very purpose!

When you are setting up your tent, lay down a drop cloth to avoid rips from dragging on the ground. Once your tent is up, check the panels for any pinholes or snags. If you notice one, don’t fret! American Tent will send a free patch kit for any blemishes that catch your eye.

Keep your event tent fabric looking meticulous by keeping it clean. Lay your tent down on the dropcloth to brush off dirt and debris, and then simply hose it off! You can create a DIY cleaning solution by mixing four parts warm water, one part vinegar, and light soap as needed.

When your tent is out of commission for a period of time, roll it up like a sleeping bag to slide right back into the protective bag in which it arrived — easy as that! Make sure your tent is completely dry before putting it away for safekeeping, and you are sure to see positive impacts on the longevity of your tent fabric.

Why Choose American Tent?

Quality is of utmost importance when you invest in an event tent. The materials used for your tent will determine how well your tent works, how it looks, and how long you will be able to use it for events. At American Tent, we use the highest-quality fabrics to ensure our party tents are the perfect choice for whatever event you are planning. Buying your event tent from American Tent means you will be getting a high-quality tent that will last years, and you will be able to work with our team to find or create your perfect, custom event tent.

Conclusion

Now that you know more about what a tent is made of, you’ll want to keep your options in mind when purchasing for your next event. If you want to know more about the material offered by American Tent, visit our website and get in touch with us! We can send a Sample Material Kit of our vinyl, colors, graphics, and finishes so you can see for yourself!

 

Outdoor textiles & Tent fabric

AAA-quality tent fabric, tarpaulin, boat canvas and much more

You want waterproof cloth. Here you will find the largest assortment of waterproof fabrics, and at the lowest price:

Also important for the do-it-yourselfers: we supply all the necessary accessories such as durable and water-repellent sewing thread, reinforcement tape, eyelets, clamping materials, etcetera. Click here for everything you need.
 

All from the European online market leader in waterproof fabrics - at the keenest prices

ESVO has international success with its webshop. As Holland's largest tent factory once started with tent cloth, we now have the most extensive range of tent canvas and waterproof fabrics that you can find in many, many colours. And, compare the prices! 
The range has now grown to a selection of a.o.tent canvas, boat canvas, awning canvas, sun screen canvas, inner tent fabric, mesh fabric, glass clear sheeting, ground sheet pvc, tent accessories, etcetera. All tent fabrics and materials in AAA-quality, from our own plant or famous European manufacturers. Because of our large-scale purchasing, you can benefit from our low prices in tent canvas, just compare! You buy from 1 metre and then per every 10 stretching cm. 

An eminent range of waterproof textiles 

Our huge range of especially waterproof cloth can therefore easily be called 'outdoor textile'. The choice was made for the very best European suppliers, with the Dutch company Ten Cate being our absolute main supplier.
So, for tent fabric, tarpaulin material and other waterproof fabrics you need to be with the specialist. ESVO is the largest tent factory in the Netherlands and can also call itself the online market leader in waterproof fabrics and outdoor fabrics. Besides Ten Cate, we also have the famous KS-202 tent cloth in our assortment. 95% of our fabrics are waterproof fabrics. Almost all weights, colors, colors and designs on canvas, name it and ESVO has it.
 

Also for all tent accessories such as sewing thread, eyelets, reinforcement tape, rings, etc., the best address!

Click here for all you need in case of your own finishing and manufacturing.

Further information about our tent cloth, boat cloth, sailcloth and waterproof cloth
And if you would like to read general information about tent canvas or waterproof canvas, we have very extensive documentation for you. Also with regard to the use and cleaning of your tent. We supply even the smallest métrages to both private individuals and intermediaries. You are most welcome.

Do-it-yourself tips: 1. Click here for sewing a felled seam. 2. Click here for 'how to put eyelets/grommets into cloth' 

Tent canvas or any other tent fabric, we deliver by the roll - from 1 metre

We deliver tent canvas worldwide by the roll, from 1 metre. We try our best to have a wide selection of our tent canvas and fabrics available to buy online. If you want to buy bigger quantities of fabric, e.g. from 100 metre tent canvas or when you need a big party of tent fabric and you can’t find the correct fabric that you are looking for please phone up our head office on 0031299363695 or email us on [email protected]
and we will do our very best to find what you are looking for. By the way, we sell tent canvas to both private persons and business.
 

Which tent canvas or tent fabric can you buy by the roll?

We have over 270 kinds of tent canvas and fabrics. Some examples of what we have available for you when it comes to tent canvas and fabrics:
- tent canvas cotton 
- tent canvas heavy duty cotton 
- tent fabric lightweight cotton 
- tent fabric lightweight ripstop nylon 
- tent canvas Ten Cate All Season 
- tent canvas polyester-cotton 
- fire retardant tent canvas
- sun awning canvas
- boat canvas
- inner tent canvas
- remnants in tent canvas and various outdoor fabrics

As said, you buy our tent canvas from 1 metre / meter and then every 10 stretching centimeter longer. 

What Are Tents Made Of? Helpful Guide With 10+ Materials Compared

Tents are one of the most important pieces of camping gear. They protect us from rain, wind, and animals when we sleep in the outdoors. So it’s perfectly reasonable to ask: What are tents made of? Are they reliable? How do different materials perform? What is the right tent material for me? I’ve asked all those questions myself.

I spent 8 hours looking at the specs sheet on my tent and doing research online to answer these questions. Here’s what I found:

Most modern camping tents are made out of nylon and polyester. Cotton or canvas tents still exist but are much less common due to their heavyweight. Tent poles are most commonly made out of aluminum and fiberglass.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of material, and they are suited for different types of camping. Moreover, the qualities of tents can vary greatly even if they are made from the same material. The coating, seams, and density of materials all have an impact on how durable and waterproof the tent will be.

What Are Tent Fabrics Made of?

The big distinction here is between man-made synthetic fibers and cotton or canvas. Polyester and Nylon are both synthetic fibers, so they share many common characteristics. 

Polyester Tents 

Polyester is probably the most common material for tent fabrics. It can be found in almost all affordable car camping tents but also in some backpacking tents. 

It is much more lightweight than cotton or canvas. This makes polyester tents much easier to transport but also flimsier and noisier in windy conditions. They are also easier to maintain than cotton or canvas. But you’ll likely see more condensation build up in your tent since the material is not really breathable. You can pick tents with good ventilation to mitigate this issue.

Another downside of polyester is that it provides minimal insulation, so don’t expect a 3-season polyester tent to keep you warm and cozy on a 30-degree night. You’ll need a heater in that case. During the summer, don’t be surprised if you feel warmer inside the tent since the small space traps heat and the fabric won’t help block the heat.

While polyester is generally durable, fabric strength varies at different deniers. Denier is essentially a measure of how thick or dense the fabric is. A higher denier usually translates into stronger fabrics. Most tents will be in the range of 75D to 150D.

Polyester also doesn’t absorb water, so it won’t shrink or expand in heavy rain. But that doesn’t mean it’s waterproof by itself. In fact, rainwater can still seep through the gaps between those fibers, which leads me to…

Polyurethane (PU) coating is usually applied to polyester tents to make them more water-resistant. It is the cheapest coating and therefore the most common in budget-friendly tents. Many brands have cool names for their coated polyester, like Coleman WeatherTec and Outwell Outtex Select.

But this water-resistant coating can deteriorate over time due to exposure to the sunlight. To make it last longer, you can collapse your tent every day after you get up in the morning and set it up again when you get back to your campsite. But I know we all get lazy sometimes, and even I myself haven’t been doing this every time. 

Nylon Tents

Nylon tents are also very common. As a man-made fabric, Nylon has a lot in common with polyester and has similar advantages over cotton or canvas. It’s lightweight, easy to pack, and easy to maintain but not insulated or breathable.  

But nylon is more lightweight than polyester and thus more common among backpacking tents. Nylon is generally stronger and stands up better to wear and tears. This means a nylon tent can have the same durability and strength as a polyester tent but with less material, making it lighter. Take these Naturehike tents for example. The 3-person nylon tent weighs about half a pound less than the polyester ones.

Nylon is also not waterproof by itself, but it can be mixed with silicone (the technical word here is “impregnate” but who knows what that means) to create something called SilNylon. The silicone makes the fabric highly waterproof and stronger. This treatment is not available on polyester fabrics. 

Due to these differences, nylon tents are usually more expensive than polyester tents. Again in this Naturehike ultra-light series, the price difference is about $50. 

Cotton or Canvas Tents

To make things clear, cotton and canvas tents are essentially the same since the canvas is mostly made from cotton. After reading about nylon and polyester, you can probably guess what the pros and cons of the canvas are. Canvas tents are mostly used for glamping or “luxury” camping nowadays due to their great comfort but heavyweight. 

Canvas offers much better insulation than synthetic fibers. It actually keeps you warm on a cold and windy day but cool on a very hot day. It’s significantly more comfortable than most tents for this reason alone. 

The bulk and weight of canvas tents make them harder to carry around and practically useless for backpackers. But you can’t deny that they will be more sturdy on a windy day — no more bent poles or annoying noises from flapping tent fabrics.

Poly-cotton Tents

As the name suggests, poly-cotton combines polyester and cotton. The Roben HydroTex Polycotton fabric is an example of this, with 65% polyester and 35% cotton. It’s marketed as something that has the best of both worlds, but I think it’s more of a compromise in the “middle”. It’s more insulated and breathable than a regular polyester tent, but it would also be bulkier. 

Cuben Fiber (DCF) Tents 

This is the most advanced of all tent fabrics and pretty much only used for ultra-light backpacking tents. It combines extreme lightweight with high tensile strength. Some say it’s stronger than steel, but I’m a little skeptical of that. It’s also very water-resistant and can be used in a variety of weather conditions. For all these advantages, be prepared to pay a pretty penny for a tent made from Cuben fiber. 

Which Tent Fabric is the Most Waterproof? 

This was the first question that came to my mind when I started looking into what tents are made of. After all, being soaked during my sleep doesn’t sound like a pleasant experience. 

The answer is that the fabric itself doesn’t determine how waterproof it is — the coating and seams do. Let me explain. 

There’s a waterproof rating measured in millimeters universal across all tents. Here’s an idea of what you can expect at each rating:

1000mm, lowest level to be considered waterproof, best used only in rain showers

1500mm – 3000mm, most appropriate for summer camping, can handle most wind and rain

3000mm+, usually on 3- or 4-season tents that can withstand substantial snow and heavy rain. This Coleman tent is right at 6000 mm.

While one layer of PU coating is 100% waterproof, tents with higher waterproof ratings have at least 2 – 3 layers to account for potential wear and tear. They are also more reinforced at the seams so that there’ll be fewer leaks.

What Are Tent Poles Made of?

Ok, now we get to talk about tent poles. It’s interesting that when I first started researching what tents are made out of, no one mentioned tent poles — every page was talking about tent fabrics. But poles are very important because they hold everything together. So I want to quickly fill in that gap in this article. 

Tent poles are most commonly made out of aluminum and fiberglass, although carbon fiber, steel, and composite materials are also used. And you have something called “air beams” for inflatable tents. There are pros and cons of each when it comes to strength, durability, flexibility, weight, and price. 

Fiberglass Tent Poles

This is currently the cheapest material for tent poles, and it’s used mostly in affordable car camping tents for mild weather. Fiberglass tent poles can be quite long-lasting with the proper handling given that they don’t corrode. They are also safe in a thunderstorm as they don’t conduct electricity. 

But a key downside of fiberglass tent poles is that they can be heavy and bulky. Due to its low strength to weight ratio, it takes more material to provide the necessary strength for a tent to withstand the winds. 

Fiberglass is also less flexible than aluminum, so it’ll snap more easily in strong winds or under pressure. Make sure you handle fiberglass poles properly so that you’re not putting unnecessary strain on them. They may also splinter in colder weather, so think twice about winter camping in a tent with fiberglass poles.

Aluminum Tent Poles

Aluminum tent poles are commonly used light-weight backpacking tents, though they are also available in some more expensive car camping tents. They are stronger than fiberglass at the same weight, so less material is needed for the same strength.   

Aluminum poles are also more durable and stronger than fiberglass ones in windy conditions. They are more flexible, so they will bend instead of breaking or snapping even in cold weather. You can repair your tent poles if they get bent by strong winds, and manufacturers will likely send you replacement poles. 

Due to the lightness and strength, expect to pay more for tents with aluminum poles than those with fiberglass poles. But keep in mind that there are always exceptions. 

Aluminum tent poles do have some minor downsides. It corrodes. Manufacturers try to slow the corrosion by anodizing, but it’s still recommended that you dry the poles when you store them. In addition, aluminum poles are more dangerous during a thunderstorm since they conduct electricity. To be completely honest though, I’ve never had these issues myself. Corrosion generally takes a long time to be noticeable, and thunderstorms are rare given I check the weather forecast. 

Other Materials for Tent Poles

You are unlikely to get tents with these pole materials if you’re just a casual camper like me. So I’ve only included a brief description for each. 

Composite materials are equally lightweight as aluminum poles but are more flexible. They will bend but get back in shape without repair.

Steel poles are quite heavy and are commonly used in large car-camping tents. They can be used to support the canvas or the roof. Canvas tents usually have steel poles due to their heavyweight. 

Carbon fiber tent poles are known to be extremely lightweight and strong. They are typically used on long backpacking expeditions by experts and are generally quite expensive.

Which Material Is Right for Me?

That was a lot of information to take in. You might have come for a simple answer but now feel you’ve got some decisions to make. Don’t worry, I’ve summarized the best tent material for each situation below. After all, no material will be perfect for all types of camping. 

Car Camping on Warm and Sunny Days

Any affordable polyester tents with fiberglass poles will do just fine here. They are by no means the strongest or the lightest, but you won’t be pushing the limit of these materials. Of course, you can still purchase aluminum or nylon tents if you have the budget.

Car Camping in Unpredictable Weather

It’s better to upgrade to aluminum poles for more protection against strong winds. Also, make sure the waterproof rating is high so that you’re prepared for a sudden downpour. Both nylon and polyester will be fine here.

Car Camping in Cold Weather 

I rented large canvas tents with steel poles for the few times I went winter camping. It’s worth it for the additional insulation. That being said, you can do just fine with nylon or polyester tents with a heater. Aluminum poles are also suitable since they remain strong in low temperatures, but I won’t risk it with fiberglass poles. 

Backpacking, All Weather 

Weight is the most important factor here given you’ll be hiking miles to your campsite. I’ve always used my Naturehike tent with nylon fabrics and aluminum poles for the most lightweight combination. Aluminum poles are also weather-resistant.

There you have it. You now know what tents are made out of, as well as how to pick the right materials for your next adventure. If you want more information on how to choose a tent, here are some more guides.