Tent restoration?

[azskyrider]

I was wondering if anyone has performed a tent restoration and what was your experience.

I have an old Montgomery wards Canvas tent that the canvas is in excellent shape.The only problem is that one aluminum tube is broken and the floor of the tent has lost its resistance. It is not punctured but it is very thin.Maybe the Canvas could need a coat of water repellent. I hate to throw it away because the canvas is in great shape. I have searched the net and followed leads that just lead to dead ends. Canvas tent mfg. would just sell you a new one than deal with working on a used one.

Am I wasting money and should just buy a new one? Does anyone know of a place in AZ that does this type of work?

Thanks,

 

[Uticon]

There is a place here in Ut that does those kinds of repairs.
Probably woul d cost more to ship it than repair it.
I believe they also sell replacement parts.
http://www.kirkhams.com/

You could also try a boat cover place or an upolstory (sp?) place.

Im on a mission to find a nice canvas tent but new ones from Springbar or Kodiak as so expensive. Wife doesnt want a RTT.
Good luck
:av-7:

 

[Moody]

For the water repellence issue, I recoated a 30 year old Springbar with a product called Camp Kote which is specifically for canvas. Worked great.
Might be spelled kamp kote...I can't quite recall.

 

[ntsqd]

FWIW I talked to a local marine canvas guy about a cover for what amounts to an RTT and he told me up front that he could do that, but was NOT interested in repairing or rebuilding the tent. Said that the material used isn't something he can easily get and fitting new panel(s) into old ones never works out as the new hasn't stretched and the old has making things not fit right.

 

[azskyrider]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[paulj]

For the floor I would recommend a tarp of some sort under the floor, and plastic sheet inside. The one underneath should not project beyond the tent sides, and serves mainly to keep the floor from getting dirty and torn on rocks and sticks. The one inside should extend up the sides 6" in a shallow bathtub fashion. This is the real barrier against moisture. 2 mil painter's plastic works well; 4 mil if there is going to be much traffic.

Here's a tent pole replacement source
http://www.polesforyou.com/index.htm

However for a tent like yours, you might be able find hardware store aluminum tubes that can fit over, or inside, the broken pieces, and splice any breaks. Or aluminum sheet can be wrapped around the break, and secured with pipe clamps.

paulj