I too remember waxed cotton tents from my early days of camping and backpacking in 1946 and 1947. Mostly what I recall is that the tents were heavy and smelly. They were, however, pretty much waterproof. Another coating for canvas tents in those days was unboiled linseed oil. This also added a lot of weight and odor. In fact, the typical tent in those days was made of uncoated, long- staple Egyptian cotton. When it rained, the cotton fibers would absorb water, swell and become waterproof as more rainwater filled the pores of the fabric. If one were to touch the fabric while it was raining the touched place would drip: it was considered poor form for a tent dweller to touch the tent walls. Lightweight backpacking tents were made of a cotton fabric called Shirley cloth which was later replaced by 60/40 cotton/nylon fabric. Tents made of these fabrics were single-wall and a two person tent would weigh about 6 pounds. They would also drip where they were touched.


Edited by Pika (02/14/13 08:08 PM)
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May I walk in beauty.