Thursday 3 January 2019

HOW STRETCH TENTS ARE MADE

Stretch tents – also known as Bedouin tents, free-style tents and Aladdin tents – are the ideal covering solutions for a variety of outdoor events. If you’ve been to a wedding, birthday party, or anniversary bash hosted outdoors in the past few years, you’ll have more than likely sat under a stretch tent. This article takes a look at the three main components of most stretch tents, as well as how the tent itself is manufactured to keep all underneath it protected from the elements…

The Covering

The main component of a stretch tent is the actual fabric covering the specific area. The materials used are treated with waterproofing and, often, antimicrobial finishes. For events including open flames in some form placed under the stretch tent, coverings featuring flame-retardant finishes can be deployed.
The most important characteristic of the stretch tent covering is retractability. Because these materials are, well, stretched – they need to be able to return to their natural state once the tent is taken down. Most stretch tent coverings form bubbles on the surface after being stretched and retracted a few times, but good quality fabric can completely recover after each function.

The Support

If you’re anything like us, you’ll have thought about a tortoise when looking at a domed stretch tent. This appearance is caused by the pointed protrusions along the covering’s surface. These humps are where support poles, usually steel or wood, are placed to prop up the tent. Smaller stretch tents can get away with one single support pole in the centre, but larger, sprawling stretch tents will require more support.

The Tension

Like dome tents that use criss-crossing arched rods to create enough tension to hold the structure up, stretch tents use tension – in conjunction with support poles – to keep the tent off of the ground. Ropes are attached to all four corners of the covering, and along the edges for larger tents, which are then attached to tent pegs. These are hammered into the ground, after which the support poles are placed as and where needed to lift and hold the tent up.

Stretch Tent Fabric in South Africa

Reliable manufacturers of stretch tents, like Tentickle Stretch Tents, use the strongest, most versatile stretch fabrics on the planet!