Why canvas is still cool

COMMENT

Curled up under a doona in the roof-top tent on top of my camper trailer, I wake to an eerie silence. It’s daylight but the usual cacophony of bird calls is missing, and lifting the canvas window I’m met with an image you might see on the front of a European Christmas card.

The snow is four inches deep, bending down the branches of distant trees and the paddocks are caked in a white blanket. Looking up to the canvas roof, it’s also heavily sagging under the weight of the night’s snowfall. A quick push up from inside jettisons the burden down onto the Fox Wing awning and over the other side.

Now this situation might be common in the winter snowfields of Australia’s high country, but it’s October and I’m camping at Neerim Junction just uphill from Warrigal; an hour and half drive from Melbourne!

A month later, I watch the mercury on the thermometer reach 51.5 degrees Celsius parked up under a gum tree on the Bollon-Mitchell Road in western Queensland… Talk about extremes!

On both occasions, I was glad I was under traditional canvas as it offers superior protection at opposite ends of the weather spectrum, unlike some of the latest, lightweight polyester materials that radiate external summer heat into voids and allow internal heat to escape in colder climes.

But wouldn’t one of the latest hard wall ‘hybrid’ campers, which mostly ditch canvas for the security of solid walls and roof, be a much better option, I hear you say…

Not necessarily. Canvas cools quickly when the sun goes down, whereas in a hard wall camper interred heat can be an issue until the walls and insulation cools down.

What’s more, ventilation can be maximised in a canvas construction out to a full wall size, whereas most hard wall campers are restricted to smaller factory- fitted windows so as not to interfere with the integrity of the strength of the super structure.

Canvas is also cheaper to use and especially so when you want to add awnings and other rooms to increase indoor living space.

But -- and there is always a ‘but’ or two -- there is good canvas and then there’s the rest. Quality Australian-made canvas from the likes of Bradmill and Wax Converters is generally a better option than cheaper overseas imports which have a reputation for lacking in quality and workmanship.

With similar conditions to Australia, South Africa is also known for its quality camp gear and I can vouch for the Howling Moon brand that made the roof-top tent that I’ve been using for the past nine years.

The canvas weight of mine is 380gsm (grams per square metre, or around 17oz in the old scale) which is a popular weight with trailer manufacturers. Howling Moon also has a military specified (mil-spec) poly cotton canvas with fluoro carbon waterproofing and anti-fungal treatment to repel black rot.

Dampness from morning dew on the outside, and condensation from human breathing inside, is one of the downsides of living under canvas, particularly when it comes to early get-aways.

Dampness and canvas don’t go together well and thorough airing and drying is required before packing away for more than a day or two, so you might not be cutting out of camp as early as you planned.

A combination poly-cotton canvas with all the cosmetics as utilised by Howling Moon might make life a little easier due to the extra treatments it has, but it still shouldn’t be stored damp for more than a couple of days.

Hard wall campers don’t get off scot-free here either. While outside dampness is no big deal, internal condensation on soft furnishings and bedding can encourage mould and musty smells that are hard to remove from mattresses and the like.

On the positive side, hard wall insulation and smaller windows are great for late-risers, as you might get to sleep in longer with less early morning sunlight filtering through along with surrounding animal noises.

Running a tent-based fishing camp throughout the Northern Territory for 14 years, I didn’t have the luxury of lightweight polyester tents so heavy canvas was it. Before a tent was put into service it was erected and water proofed with Scotchgard fabric protector.

Re-waterproofing was undertaken every two years, or earlier if leaks were detected. This is required to swell the canvas to block tiny holes in the cotton weave that can let in water.

I also rubbed beeswax over all the cotton stitching, which melted into the material. It did leave a stain along the stitch line but I never had stitching give way due to rot.

So before you get dazzled by the latest-and-greatest hybrid camper, don’t forget that quality canvas still has a lot to offer Australian campers.