Debate: Does a polyester tent really breathe worse than canvas or is that old info?

I used a canvas tent for 5 years and switched to a polyester one last season. The polyester tent had way less condensation inside, so I'm wondering if the old rules about breathability still apply or if fabric tech changed that.

2 comments

2 Comments

noah_palmer422d ago

Hang on, you saying the polyester tent had LESS condensation is huge and goes against what most people will tell you. I think that difference might be less about the fabric itself and more about the coating. A lot of modern polyester tents use a silicone or polyurethane coating on the inside that actually blocks moisture vapor from getting through, which sounds bad but can be good. When you have a double-wall tent, the inner tent fabric is what's supposed to breathe, and many polyester mesh inners are now WAY more breathable than a dense canvas fly would be. The real trick is that the outer fly on a polyester tent just sheds water better and faster, so less moisture is trapped in the first place versus canvas which soaks up the humidity before it even reaches the inside.

lee.cole2d ago

You know @noah_palmer42, I just realized I've spent more time arguing about tent fabric breathability than I have actually camping this year, which is pretty embarrassing. The coating thing makes total sense though. I had one of those older polyester tents with the sticky PU coating and it felt like sleeping in a plastic bag, but my buddy's newer one with silicone coating was way better. Canvas is honestly just heavy and slow to dry out, like it holds onto moisture like a grudge. I still love the smell of canvas tents though, reminds me of boy scout trips where we'd wake up soaked anyway.