Go Drive & Camp May 2019

http://www.weg.c o.za go! Drive&CampMay2019|^105

Whatis awater column?

With nylon tents, yo uusually getawater-co lumn number inthe

specificationlist .This“watercolumn”isani maginary tubefilled

with water.One open side of thetuberests againstthe tent’s

surface. Thewater-column numberist he amountofwater you

could tapintothe imaginary tubebefor ethe water is forced

throughthesurfa ce.

Take a1500 mmwater column as anexample: th is means that

the tube is filled with waterupto1500mmbeforeitstartstol eak.

Thehighe rthe figure,the morewaterproofthe material.

Do note that the water-co lumnrating does nottake into account

the tent seams.Ift he seamsleak,the rating isuseless .Canvastents

do notprovideawatercolumnfigure, and untreatedcotton leaks

likeawoolsweater.

“I wasalwaysinf avour ofnylon

tents, butnowadays Iprefer

canvas,”saysSamantha.“Canvas

tentshave durablesteel poles

versus easy-to-break fibreglass

poles.Theyusually alsohave

longer pegs thataren’teasily

dislodgedby the wind.

Forme, however, thebest

featureofacanvas tent is that

youcan sleep and lieini tall day

because they arecooler than

nylon tents.”

But whatabout theweight?

“You driveyour carto where

you’re goingto pitchatent.

So,weightdoesn’t matter.I

admit thatcanvastents aren’t

forhikers,but nowadays there

arehikers’huts on manyroutes,

and soyouwouldn’t be needing

atentanyway.”

Neel Britsis amanagerat

4x4MegaWorld and he sellsall

the differen tkindsoft ents you’re

readingabouthere.

“There’satime andaplace for

ever ykind oftent. My cust omers

usually buyadurablecanvas tent

forMom and Dadandanylon

tent forthe kids.The reason

is thatparents arelookingfor

adurabletent thatwill pr ovide

years of service.

They then chooseacheaper,

compacttentfor the kids,as

they’ll outgrowit and laterleave

the house.Idon’t know of any

customer who usesaroof tent

forthe parents andaground tent

forthe children. Either everyone

sleepsupstairsoreveryone on

the ground,” says Neel.

About durability, he says:

“Polyesterstaysclean longerthan

cotton.Many of ourtopseller sare

made ofapolyester andcotton

blend.Nylon will also keep many,

manyyears ifyoulookafter it.

Formy4x4 holidays, Iuse my

canvastent, but when Itravel

with my motorbike,Ipackmy

nylon tent.”

Polyesterrooftoptent

Some believethistentprovides

protection againstlions and

other beasts(as if ahungry

lion wouldn ’t climb ontopof

abakkie!),but formost people

it’s about theconvenienceof

foldingitinminut es.Itiscool

and waterproof,but ca nbe

apestifyou needaloo break

at nigh t...

Weight± 80 kg

Waterproofing

Sweat factor

Whobuysit?Dominic

and RoshaanWienand,

holi daymakers.

Cotton dometent

Most 4x4enthusiasts will

have oneofthesestalwarts

undertheiroff-roader’s

canopy. Thesmallerversions

areprettyeasytopitch, but

youneed awholeteam for

the biggerones. It’s dark and

cool soyoucan sleep late.

Weight20-60kg

Waterproofing

Sweat factor

Whobuysit?Johan

Badenhorst, author

and traveller.

HH 5000 mm

Tent Material

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

HH +Hydrostatic Head