The Best Canvas Tarps
Cotton canvas tarps breathe. They do not trap condensation underneath like polyethylene tarps do. They sag under morning dew, which is how water runs off rather than pooling. They can be re-proofed with wax or silicone when their water resistance fades. They smell like canvas in the rain, which is one of the better smells available outdoors. A heavy cotton duck tarp is the correct tool for a permanent or semi-permanent camp shelter.
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How to Choose
Weight is measured in ounces per square yard: 10-oz canvas is the minimum for a tarp that will take weather; 12-oz is the right weight for a camp shelter that will be pitched season after season; 16-oz is for permanent installation. Grommets should be brass, not zinc. Hems should be double-stitched. A tarp that has been treated with paraffin wax is stiffer but more waterproof than an untreated tarp; a silicone-treated canvas is more flexible and equally waterproof. Re-proof every three to five years depending on use.
Duluth Pack Canvas Tarp 10x12
Duluth Pack has been making canvas goods in Duluth, Minnesota since 1882. Their canvas tarp is 10-oz cotton duck, hemmed on all four sides, with brass grommets on all corners and at mid-span. The canvas is treated with a water-repellent finish that can be refreshed with Camp Dry spray. Available in natural tan and forest green.
Duluth Pack has been in Duluth since 1882. This is not a heritage story they invented -- it is the actual history of the company.
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Frost River Canvas Tarp
Frost River in Duluth makes their tarps from waxed 15-oz canvas -- paraffin-impregnated at the mill. The wax treatment makes the tarp stiffer than an untreated canvas but waterproof from day one without a break-in period. Brass grommets, double-stitched hems, and a finish that can be refreshed with any paste wax. For a camp kitchen fly or a wood pile cover that will last twenty years, this is the right material.
Waxed canvas does not require a break-in period and stays waterproof in heavy rain without the chemical smell of polyurethane coatings.
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