The Armour Archive

I have seen this term used quite a bit in threads talking about tents, what exactly is this type of canvas?

Sunforger is a brand name for a variety of treatments for cotton canvas - which include water resistance and mildew resistance. You can also order fire-resistant Sunforger as well.

This is very nice stuff. I own 6 different tent/pavilions made with the stuff - some by commercial vendors, some made by my own hand.

After having a massive pavilion fire in the camp next to us one Estrella, I am more than ever a firm believer in the fire resistance of this stuff.

The company that makes it is ITEX in Colorado, though there are a variety of vendors. If you are thinking of making your own structure, let me know and I can point you at some sources.

does it work on hemp canvas as well as cotton?
What are the preferred materials for tent-age?

Sunforger is a treatment that is only be applied at the mill - it is NOT available as an aftermarket item like CanVac or StarBrite.

The pavilion fire a couple years ago was kind of a weird freak accident. I happened to be camping right across the street myself. They have a brand new viking A frame from panther and inside a propane tank with a stem style heater on it and a clothing rack next to one of the walls. It was a bit windy and if I'm not mistaken the tent wall bumped the clothing rack, which fell onto the heater and snapped the stem causing the propane in the tank to vent out and catch fire. (My understanding of what happened anyway). There was a ba-WHUMF sound and it went up like a torch. Even a fire treated canvas under those conditions would go up.

Isabella E wrote:The pavilion fire a couple years ago was kind of a weird freak accident. I happened to be camping right across the street myself. They have a brand new viking A frame from panther and inside a propane tank with a stem style heater on it and a clothing rack next to one of the walls. It was a bit windy and if I'm not mistaken the tent wall bumped the clothing rack, which fell onto the heater and snapped the stem causing the propane in the tank to vent out and catch fire. (My understanding of what happened anyway). There was a ba-WHUMF sound and it went up like a torch. Even a fire treated canvas under those conditions would go up.

Ya know... "weird freak accident" applies when something happens that couldn't be easily foreseen... Winds at Estrella ? Expected. Billowing tent walls when the wind blows ? Expected. Things getting knocked over by tent walls ? Expected if you keep things close to the walls that can be knocked over.

Things like this are why there are so many rules about what one should and should not do. Many people see the situation and recognize the risk - but not everyone does.

Gavin

I'm not saying it wasn't a preventable accident, just that I wouldn't call that the normal conditions that fire retardant is meant to protect against.

It takes a special kind of person to store a lit propane tank inside your tent.

hrolf wrote:It takes a special kind of person to store a lit propane tank inside your tent.

Erm.. quite a few of us use propane heaters and the like in our tents. I, personally, use a propane stove outside the tent, yet under a sunshade that is connected to my ridge pole.

Fire safety is just that.. being safe with fire.

It's my understanding that the occupant was getting ready for bed and was warming the tent a bit before hand. The weather that year was just terrible.