Glamping tents - also known as cotton tents - evoke the romantic notion of camping, which for many dates back to a bygone era when the American expression "a night under canvas" referred to the material from which the old-fashioned tents were made - canvas.
If you were to go camping today, it probably wouldn't be in a glamping tent, but in a polyester tent, which is today's standard tent material. Polyester tents have the advantage that they are very light. They are perfect for protecting yourself from the forces of nature in places that are difficult to access and often spectacular.
The advantage of a polyester tent is its weight and ease of use. On the other hand, you'll have a hard time arguing for comfort. Unless you love waking up in a humid room waiting for the sun to warm up the tent to a tropical climate. If you get too hot, you'll have to crawl to the exit and struggle to put on your clothes and shoes.
This is probably the main reason why more and more people choose cotton or glamping tents . Not just for nostalgic reasons, glamping tents are great in their own way and they outperform polyester tents by a mile in some areas.
What is a glamping tent?
Glamping tents come in different sizes and shapes. Most have in common that they are circular and the structure is supported by a central pillar and a V-shaped pillar at the entrance. The canvas itself consists of two elements. The wall, which is often relatively low, and a conical roof fixed to the ground and stretched with a series of ropes.
The first patented cotton tent was made during the American Civil War, inspired by the teepees you know from the Native Americans. However, the history of cotton tents goes back even further, so it can be said that they have been tested over generations.
What are glamping tents made of?
Glamping tents are made from cotton or polycotton (a blend of cotton and polyester) with a strong PVC floor. You can also find some glamping tents made from pure polyester, but these are rare as durability and comfort are more important than weight and pack size with cotton tents. Cotton is heavier than polyester, but also much more durable, breathable, insulating and UV-resistant.
The advantages of a glamping tent
1. Plenty of space
The simple design with a center pole that supports the whole tent offers plenty of freedom of movement. And the low wall on the sides, which raises the roof slightly, allows you to set it up right up to the wall without worrying about bumping into the canvas. In many ways, the tent resembles a loft apartment with high ceilings.
This makes a glamping tent perfect for longer camping trips where you want to spend a lot of time in or around the tent, which the changeable summer weather often forces you to do. The glamping tent is also perfect for permanent installation in your garden as an additional guest room or bedroom.
You can read more about thedifferent sizes of glamping tents here.
2. Fresh air
A cotton tent, or a cotton blend tent like ours, is far more breathable than a polyester or nylon tent. The breathability is due to both the cotton material of the tent and the large ventilation holes on the side, which are of course equipped with a mosquito net.
The tent's breathability means the inside is almost always dry, and you avoid mold and fungal spores often found in polyester tents. All in all, a night in a glamping tent is a much more natural experience and you wake up to the smell of weed instead of hot plastic and stuffy bedrooms.
3. Pleasant room climate
Cotton is an insulating material, so glamping tents keep you warm when the temperature drops and vice versa stay relatively cool during the day. This will help you sleep better at night, but it also makes the tent a place you'd want to be during the day - which most people don't want to do in a polyester tent.
The glamping tent is cool and comfortable on hot summer days and warm and cozy when the weather turns colder.
4. Protects against sun exposure
Sunlight is harmful to almost all materials that are exposed for a long period of time. One of the many amazing properties of cotton is its resistance to UV rays. Cotton is not as damaged by UV rays as polyester, making it a better material if your tent is going to be permanent.
5. Built to last
The thick cotton material that glamping tents are made of is very resistant to hanging branches and sharp objects in the ground.
Our glamping tents are designed for quality. The cotton and the bottom are thick. The zippers, pegs and poles are sturdy. All of this contributes to making the tent more durable.
6. Sturdy construction
It is no coincidence that cotton teepee tents have been used for centuries. This construction has proven its robustness against peoples since the time of Genghis Khan.
Thanks to the simple construction with a central pole connected to the ground by the strong cotton canvas, guy line and storm pegs, the tent easily withstands strong winds, rain and even snow.
The round shape of the tent means the wind veers away as it doesn't hit a flat wall. This way you avoid the annoying noises when the wind hits the tent, as you know from polyester tents.
7. An aesthetic gem
A glamping tent has many advantages when it comes to comfort and beats traditional tents by a wide margin. But when it comes to aesthetics, it's in a class of its own. Nostalgic, symmetrical and beautiful. A glamping tent ticks all the boxes, decorates many people's gardens and is sure to become a topic of conversation in your neighborhood.
8. A more sustainable solution
Natural materials cost more than lab-made materials. On the other hand, our glamping tents last much longer than most polyester tents. The longer service life is not only environmentally friendly, but also an advantage for your wallet. If we calculate a price per night, we think it will be worth it.
Waterproofing and glamping tents
Intuitively you would think that a nylon or polyester tent would be more resilient to a heavy downpour than a cotton tent. After all, most rainwear today is made of polyester, not cotton!
So how can a cotton tent remain waterproof? Two things play a role here. On the one hand it is due to the shape of the tent, on the other hand it is due to the water-repellent properties of the cotton.
A cotton tent is bell-shaped and water cannot settle anywhere. It will just drain right before the material has time to soak.
The cotton canvas of a glamping tent is incredibly tightly woven, but it is not waterproof. If you place a glass of water upside down on a cotton cloth, the water will run through. But cotton has a trick up its sleeve. When cotton gets wet, it expands. As the cotton expands, it closes the tiny gaps between the fabrics, sealing them tightly.
We wrote an article about why cotton tents are waterproof which you can read via the link.
Before your first trip
As described above, the waterproofing of a glamping tent improves when it rains. That's why we always recommend pitching your tent just before it rains, or giving it a good hose down before use.
Read more about how to maintain your glamping tent .