Best Material for Tents: Nylon, Polyester, Canvas or DCF?

The short answer

No fabric wins on every count, tentmakers say. Nylon is stronger for its weight than polyester but sags when wet; polyester holds its pitch and costs less; cotton canvas breathes but is heavy and must be dried; Dyneema (DCF) beats both synthetics on strength for weight but is costly and easily scuffed.

Tentmaker SlingFin sums up the choice as a triangle: “Do you want it to be light, strong, or inexpensive? You can pick two”. It also points out that “your fabric of choice will almost certainly be pre-determined by the kind of shelter you plan on buying”, so the useful question is what each material gives up, and which real tents use it.

Tent fabrics side by side

Material	What it is	What it gains	What it gives up	A real tent (maker’s listing)
Nylon	Woven synthetic, usually ripstop, coated with silicone or PU	The most strength for its weight, per SlingFin and Seek Outside	Stretches and sags when wet; UV resistance vs polyester disputed (see below)	Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2: 15D nylon with 20D ripstop, 1,500 mm rating
Polyester	Woven synthetic, coated with PU or silicone	Holds its pitch when wet; cheaper, per Seek Outside	Lower tear strength at the same weight, so it is used thicker	The North Face Stormbreak 2: 75-denier polyester fly, canopy and floor
Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF)	Dyneema fibers laminated between two films	Waterproof with no coating; almost no stretch; the highest tear strength per weight, per SlingFin	Poor abrasion resistance; far pricier per yard than nylon	Zpacks Duplex: DCF canopy and floor
Cotton canvas	Tightly woven cotton duck	Fibers swell shut in rain; breathes, so less condensation	Heavy; must be fully dry before storage	Kodiak Canvas Flex-Bow Deluxe 10 x 14: 100% cotton duck canvas, 79 lb packed
Poly-cotton (“technical cotton”)	Cotton-polyester blend; the ratio varies by maker	Lighter than canvas and more mildew-resistant, per Kodiak	Heavier and bulkier than all-synthetic tents	Robens Klondike: 65% polyester / 35% cotton

Nylon vs polyester: strength, stretch and sun

Both are synthetic fibers woven into thin fabric and then coated to keep rain out. In the accounts of SlingFin and TheTentLab, nylon is the usual fabric for light tents and polyester for big ones, for three reasons.

Strength for weight. SlingFin writes that “Nylon has a much better strength-to-weight ratio than polyester, which is the main reason it is usually the fabric of choice for tents”, and that “Polyester generally has a lower tear strength when compared to similar weight nylons.” Seek Outside agrees: “Nylon is Stronger than Polyester. Polyester is cheaper and generally heavier.” Big Agnes lists the Copper Spur UL2’s fly and floor as HyperBead 15D nylon with 20D ripstop, rated 1,500 mm, while The North Face’s Stormbreak 2 uses 75-denier polyester in the fly, canopy and floor, the heavier, tougher route that GearLab rewarded with its top durability score in our comparison of 2-person backpacking tents.

Stretch when wet. Nylon absorbs water. TheTentLab, which builds its MoonLight tents in polyester, says “when nylon gets wet, it absorbs water and expands 3.5% in length” (2% for high-tenacity nylon 6,6), while “Polyester absorbs just a few tenths of a percent water”. In practice, SlingFin notes, “a nylon fly will sag when exposed to moisture”, and TheTentLab says that is why backpackers re-tighten a nylon rainfly in the night. SlingFin adds that “flies made of polyester pitch well due to its stability.” TheTentLab’s maker argues the stretch is the reason “almost every quality manufacturer of large tents uses polyester for the majority of their tent fabrics”: a large tent has more fabric to grow.

Related guide: What Is a Rainfly on a Tent?

Sun (UV). Here the sources disagree:

Kodiak Canvas, which makes canvas tents, says “Polyester handles UV better than nylon”.
Seek Outside says polyester has “some subtle advantages in UV performance” but that silnylon is “stronger and has a better lifespan”.
SlingFin ran its own rooftop test of tent fabrics and concluded that “polyester is not necessarily more UV-resistant than comparable weight nylon, at least at the weights and with the coatings typically found in tents”; in its results, the coating and the fabric’s weight mattered more than the fiber.

What all of them agree on is Hilleberg’s point that “Extended exposure to UV diminishes any fabric’s tear strength”, whatever it is made of.

Reading a spec line: denier and ripstop

Denier (D) is the weight of the yarn. SlingFin explains that “10D means that a 9000 meter length of one of the individual yarns weighs 10 grams”, so “a small denier means a lightweight fabric and a larger denier is a heavier fabric.” A 15D fly is far lighter and thinner than a 75D one.
Ripstop is a weave, not a fiber, so a “ripstop nylon vs polyester” choice is really nylon vs polyester. SlingFin explains that “Ripstop fabrics have a grid of larger denier fabrics woven into the fabric to stop tears from propagating through the fabric” and that “Almost all tent fabrics are ripstops.”

Floors

Floors take the abrasion and the pressure of your knees, so makers often use a heavier fabric there. MSR’s Access 2, for example, pairs a 20D ripstop nylon fly rated 1,200 mm with a 30D ripstop nylon floor rated 3,000 mm, per our winter tent guide. TheTentLab notes that “Some polyester tents still use nylon for the floors with the explanation that it has higher tear strength”, and questions whether floors need it. For very thin floors, makers often suggest a groundsheet: the Copper Spur’s fabric is 15-denier nylon, “which GearLab calls substantially thinner than many other tents it tested, and Big Agnes recommends a footprint (sold separately)”, as our 2-person tent comparison notes.

Coatings: PU, silicone, silnylon and silpoly

Woven fabric has gaps between its yarns, so nylon and polyester are only waterproof once coated. Two coatings dominate:

Polyurethane (PU) is cheaper and can be sealed with factory seam tape. Its weakness is age and damp: MSR warns that “prolonged exposure to moisture can cause hydrolysis—the premature break down of the waterproof coating—in even the most waterproof tents”, and Seek Outside says PU hydrolysis “causes a foul odor and peeling of the waterproof coating.” SlingFin adds that “PU and PE coatings actually decrease the tear strength of a fabric”.
Silicone works the other way: SlingFin says “Silicone coatings increase the tear strength of a fabric”, and Seek Outside says silicone coatings “strengthen the fabrics they are applied to”. The catch, per Seek Outside, is that “PU coatings can be seam taped while silicone coatings require seam sealing”.

Silnylon and silpoly are simply silicone-coated nylon and polyester. Many fabrics mix the two coatings: SlingFin explains that “Sil/sil means the fabric is coated on both sides with silicone”, unlike sil/PU or sil/PE fabrics with silicone on one side only, and that in its UV test “sil/sil coatings perform better in UV than PE or PU”.

What the waterproof (mm) rating measures

The “mm” figure is the hydrostatic head. SlingFin defines it this way: “Hydrostatic head measures the pressure required to force water through a piece of fabric”, read as the height of a column of water the fabric holds back. Hilleberg says its fabrics are “measured with the industry standard ISO 811 test”. A 1,500 mm rating means the fabric held back a column of water about 5 ft tall (1,500 mm is 4.9 ft, worked from 304.8 mm per foot).

How much is enough? SlingFin writes that “a fabric is generally considered waterproof if its hydrostatic head is greater than 1000mm”, that “The lowest water column we use in our flysheets is 1200mm”, and that “floor HH ratings above 1500mm are plenty for normal use”. Floors take point loads: SlingFin notes that “Kneeling directly on your tent’s floor fabric can exceed 10,000 mmH2O”.

A higher number is not automatically a better tent. SlingFin notes that “PU fabrics require higher HH ratings to function well in extended wet use”, because PU slowly absorbs water and silicone does not, and that thicker coatings add weight. Our waterproof family tent guide lists each pick’s fly and floor ratings next to its fly coverage and seams.

Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF)

DCF (formerly Cuben Fiber) is not woven. SlingFin describes it as “made by sandwiching Dyneema fibers between two layers of film (similar to Mylar)”. “No other material currently used in tents comes close to the tear strength of DCF on a per weight basis”, per SlingFin, and SlingFin adds that “DCF is inherently waterproof and doesn’t absorb any water” and that “Despite its strength, DCF has almost no stretch.” Zpacks builds its Duplex from “waterproof, durable, PFAS free Dyneema® Composite Fabric”, with “a 1 oz/sqyd DCF floor”, and lists the Duplex Classic at 17.8 oz (504 g), pitched on trekking poles.

The trade-offs, from the same makers:

Abrasion. “From a functionality standpoint, DCF’s Achilles heel is abrasion resistance,” SlingFin writes, because the outer layer is film.
Price. SlingFin says “At wholesale, $5/yard is considered expensive for high-quality nylon. For comparison, DCF rarely costs under $20-$30/yard.”
Wind and heat. Seek Outside says DCF’s lack of stretch “will also stress stakes, stake loops, and poles more than a silnylon in heavy wind”, and that “Dyneema has a lower melting point than silnylon, so in a hot tent application ember holes will be bigger.”

Cotton canvas and poly-cotton (“technical cotton”)

Canvas keeps rain out with its fibers rather than a coating, though many canvas tents add a water-repellent finish. Kodiak Canvas explains that “When cotton fibers absorb water, they swell and physically close the gaps in the weave”, and Robens describes the same effect in its poly-cotton: the fibers “swell and tighten, closing the tiny gaps that naturally exist between yarns in the weave.” Kodiak says of its Flex-Bow Deluxe that “The tight weave and silicone finish make the canvas watertight yet breathable”, and both Kodiak and Robens say the breathable fabric cuts condensation.

The costs are weight and care. Kodiak lists the 10 x 14 ft Flex-Bow Deluxe at “Pack Weight: 79 lbs.”, on a frame of “1-inch, galvanized, steel tubing”, and warns that canvas “must be completely dry before storage or mold will set in fast”. Kodiak also claims canvas lasts “15 to 30 years with proper care, compared to 8 to 12 years for poly-cotton blends and 3 to 7 years for most nylon tents”; those are a canvas maker’s own figures, not an independent test.

“Technical cotton” is not a fixed recipe. Nordisk says “Our technical cotton is 65 % polyester and 35 % cotton”, the same blend Robens uses in tents such as its Klondike (“made from 65% polyester and 35% cotton”), while CanvasCamp uses the name for “technical cotton (approximately 95% cotton / 5% polyester)”. Check the blend on the spec sheet. Kodiak says poly-cotton blends “resist mildew better than pure cotton”.

So a canvas tent and a “regular” nylon or polyester tent suit different trips. Kodiak’s own advice is that “Nylon belongs on a backpacking trip, not at a base camp where the same tent will be pitched season after season.” Our winter tent guide covers a cotton canvas cabin next to backpacking domes for that reason.

10 oz vs 12 oz canvas

Canvas is sold by weight, not denier. Colorado Tent explains that “The weight is ounces per square yard. The 12.63 oz fabric is about 25 percent heavier than the 10.10 oz.” For its wall tent, “A 14×16 Colorado Tent in 10.10 oz canvas weighs about 85 pounds without the frame”, and “The same tent in 12.63 oz weighs about 105 pounds.” It reports that “Most hunters and outfitters running fixed basecamps go with the 12.63 oz”, while “Most customers who break camp often go with the 10.10 oz.”

Makers frame the weights differently. Elk Mountain Tents writes that “10 oz is the industry standard, 12 oz is considered heavy-duty”, but adds that “one company’s 10 oz may be as strong as another company’s 12 oz”, so ask for break and tear strength figures. Kodiak’s wall tent guide goes heavier for winter: for four-season use with a wood stove, it says “a canvas weight of 15 to 18 oz per square yard is the most practical range”. Montana Canvas, for one, builds its Premium wall tent from “grade-A, 12 oz. cotton duck treated canvas”.

What tent poles are made of

Pole material	Used on	What makers say	Trade-off
Aluminum alloy	Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 (DAC); Hilleberg Allak 2 (DAC Featherlite NSL)	DAC’s poles are “TH72M – an aluminum alloy”	DAC chose it over carbon to avoid brittle failure
Carbon / composite	MSR Access 2 (Easton Syclone composite)	MSR: “Advanced composite materials resist breaking in challenging winter conditions.”	DAC warns of “dramatic brittle failure (characteristic of carbon fiber)”
Fiberglass	Coleman Sundome 4	Skandika: made from epoxy resin, suited to places “not too windy”	Testers flagged the Sundome’s thin fiberglass poles
Steel	Kodiak Flex-Bow canvas tents	Skandika fits steel to large family and canvas tents	Skandika: “heavier than aluminium or fibreglass tent poles and more bulky to transport”

Hilleberg says of its spare poles that “All the poles listed below are our current DAC Featherlite NSL poles.” On the Coleman Sundome 4 in our festival tent roundup, GearLab and CleverHiker both flagged the thin fiberglass poles, and GearLab’s tester had a pole cord snap on the first pitch.

Does tent color matter?

Hilleberg says that for its own tents, which have a yellow inner, “The colors do not make a difference on temperature in the tent or the amount of light it lets through”, and that “Customers often pick red to stand out and green or sand to blend in.”

For sun damage, color does matter. SlingFin says “darker fabrics tend to be more UV-resistant because they’re less penetrable to light”, and Seek Outside warns that “Bright nylon colors like pink, yellow etc can degrade very quickly in high UV environments.” Blocking light is a fabric treatment rather than a color: Coleman says its Dark Room fabric blocks 90% of sunlight, as noted in our festival roundup.

Which material fits which trip

Trip	Fabric in these examples	Example
Carrying the tent, every ounce counts	DCF or 15D nylon	Zpacks Duplex; Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2
First backpacking tent, rough use	Thick polyester (75D)	The North Face Stormbreak 2
Family car camping	Polyester, PU-coated, with taped seams	Tents in our waterproof family tent guide
Winter backpacking	Ripstop nylon on aluminum or composite poles	MSR Access 2; Hilleberg Allak 2
Basecamp, hunting camp, wood stove	Cotton canvas or poly-cotton	Kodiak Flex-Bow; Robens Klondike

Whatever the fabric, the sun and storage decide how long it lasts. Hilleberg suggests “pitching your tent in the shade, putting a tarp over it, and not leaving it set up during the day when you don’t need it”, and MSR’s tent care guide says to “avoid packing or storing your tent if it is wet, damp or dirty”, noting that “It can take as few as 24 hours for mildew to start forming on a wet, crumpled tent”. Our guide on how to clean a tent covers washing and drying each fabric.

Ready to buy?

For two people on foot, our 2-person backpacking tent comparison gives each pick’s fly and floor ratings, from the 15D nylon Copper Spur UL2 to the 75D polyester Stormbreak 2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What are camping tents made of?

Usually coated nylon or polyester on aluminum, composite or fiberglass poles; ultralight shelters use DCF, and basecamp tents cotton canvas or poly-cotton, often on steel frames.

Q. What is the strongest tent fabric?

For tear strength by weight, DCF: SlingFin says no other tent material “comes close to the tear strength of DCF on a per weight basis”. For scuffs, SlingFin ranks nylon first among nylon, polyester and DCF: “Nylon is the most abrasion resistant of these fabrics.”

Q. Is a canvas tent better than a nylon or polyester tent?

It depends on how you camp. Canvas breathes and, per Kodiak, outlasts synthetics, but Kodiak also says “a family-sized canvas tent typically runs 30 to 60 pounds” and must be dried before storage, so it suits drive-in camps; nylon and polyester suit tents you carry.

Q. Is a higher waterproof rating always better?

Not by itself. SlingFin’s lowest-rated flies are 1,200 mm; SlingFin says a higher rating on PU fabric mainly buys time before the coating wets out, and notes that thicker coatings add weight.

Q. Do I need a footprint with a thin tent floor?

Makers of thin-floored tents often suggest one: Big Agnes recommends its footprint to extend the life of the Copper Spur’s floor.

Q. What shape is a tent?

Shapes range from domes and tunnels to cabins, bell tents and wall tents; our guide to the types of camping tents explains each one.

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Outgearly Team

Written and reviewed by the Outgearly Team. See the About page for how we work.