Polyester Vs Poly cotton Blend.

[nomad1964]

:wings:
Here we go, I am sure this horse has been flogged to an inch of it's life, but that still leaves an inch left of flogging to be done!!

I have narrowed the endless search down to two RTT - TENTS, The Polyester Rip stop fabric CAMPING LAB tent, and the MOMBASA Poly Cotton. Both of which are within a couple of $$ of each other.

Here is what I will be doing:

Camping with a 4 yo and a 8 yo. = No extreme climates.

Places will be camping will mainly be: CO, CA, LA, FL, Utah, and the home state of MO, and surrounding states IL, AR. Obviously I will inevitably
, catch some unpleasant weather but will not be venturing out to find it.

So the Q? What is the better matterial: Waterproof, Wind resistance, Moisture wicking, Moisture build up in the tent.

I spent 36 days living in a North Face Tadpole tent in 1996 riding a bicycle accross country, it had a huge mesh roof panel to counter moisture, I just don't want to be damp in a tent when the other option was the way to go.

I appreciate chatting to Fernando at camping Lab and understand the FORUM is sponsored but needless to say I need a little nudging, I want to place my order tonight to get going on my project.

Cheers:coffeedrink:

 

[Lemsteraak]

Maybe I can help a little

I'm not familiar with either of the two tents you list or where they source their fabrics.

Here is what I've learned about these two heavy tent fabrics over the years.

Polyester (Acrylic) great material for tents. Fabrics like Sunbrella or Bayer's Dralon are made from pure polyester and I think they are great for high sun so you see a lot of boat covers in the tropics made of it.
Drawbacks: It isn't waterproof by itself so it will need some sort of treatment. Depending on its use it can either have a waterproof backing or have a DWR (durable water repellant) treatment. The DWR will wear away with age but it can be refreshed. Isn't so good with abrasion, in areas of chafe requires some sort of backing to keep from wearing through.
Advantages It is colorfast and handles the sun extremely well. Does not degrade or rot and can be put away wet without worry about degradation. Has a nice feel about it and can be made in a lot of colors.

Poly-Cotton Blend another great material for tents. Has more natural water-repellancy and can handle chafe well so it does well in higher winds and rougher conditions. You will see boat covers made of this in Northern Europe, more rain, wind and less sun.
Drawbacks: Not too many, tends to be a little heavier and does absorb more moisture so it may develop mold and mildew if packed wet and left for an extended period of time. I've found it tends to hold dirt and dust more than straight polyester.
Advantages: Kind of the best of both worlds. The cotton will swell when wet so it has a natural water repellency. Doesn't tend to rot or discolor like a pure canvas either because of the polyester content. Can take chafe quite well.

A RTT will be challenging for both fabrics. There is a lot of chafe when folded and you go off road. If the tent is single walled (without a rain fly) it will need to breathe but still have a high degree of water repellency or it will feel clammy to the touch and you may even get some weeping. You want low humidity inside the tent so you stay warm and dry. I've seen tents work well and have a great DWR finish but then leak when subjected to the pounding of a hard hail. So even a great fabric in the wrong place on a tent may not work well, so the tent design is a concern too.

I would suggest you ask each tent supplier for a sample of their fabrics. They may use different fabrics for the walls and roof for example. Then put the fabric to the test. See how much water it will absorb, then wash it and see if it is still water repellant. Take an area and rub it with a sharp knife to see how well it holds up to chafe. I would even go as far as take a small piece and burn it to see how flammable it may be, if that is a concern. You still may get water coming through seams and the like but that is left for another discussion.

 

[nomad1964]

Thanks

Feel like a pain in the tush.
Thanks for your very informative response.
Cheers
Trev

 

[fingas]

I don't have any experience with the polyester in the RTT but I do have experience with the poly-cotton and i have had no problems with it. The first time i used it we left our comforter at home so we ran the heater all night and had some condensation. This last trip we used two comforters and no heater and had no condensation problems even in cold rainy nights. It took a full day out in the sun after the trip to dry the poly-cotton fabric but i can live with that.

 

[nomad1964]

Thanks mate!

 

[coastie kyle]

I have the poly cotton Mombasa RTT. I have had it up in bright sunny days, and crazy wind and rain storms. It was so bad one time on the beach I decided to strap the whole thing down with tiedowns just because I though we would fly away. I can tell you from experience that this tent is amazing. The material held up, no rips or leaks. If you want a great deal on them, talk to Scott at Car Top Tent. I think its cartoptent.com.

 

[nomad1964]

Thanks Kyle
Nice set up with the Jeep.

 

[Martyn]

I wrote an article on tent fabrics that you may find useful.

 

[Mike S]

If these tents are your 'finalist' choices, I would first determine which has the best quality workmanship. All things being equal, in a conventional RTT I would lean towards the poly-cotton blend for it's durability and resistance to stretching.

The best fabric for any tent is highly dependent on the design of the tent and the intended conditions of use. We have put together an explanation of the features and fabrics used in our AutoHome tents here: http://www.autohomeus.com/details/anatomy.php

 

[nomad1964]

Thanks all.
Very informative
Very helpfull.