Tent Hardware Metal Types
Anodized versus Galvanized – The Great Metal Debate
A lot goes into every tent site. There’s the tent fabric, the guy lines for anchoring, the stakes. And connecting to it all is the tent supports. Poles, tubing, and fittings (depending on your tent style, of course) that keep your top lofted and anchoring lines tied to something beyond the ground. With so much riding on your tent pieces, how much do you really know about the different types?
Celina offers two different materials for our tent supports. Every customer has the choice of either anodized aluminum or galvanized steel. Before we get into the differences, we should mention that not every tent piece is available in both – all keder poles, for example, are made from anodized aluminum only. If you don’t see the option to change the material for your tent hardware, it most likely is offered in the listed material only.
Aluminum – Pop Cans to Tent Poles
To create anodized aluminum, each piece undergoes an electrochemical process to convert the outer layer of aluminum to aluminum oxide. Because it’s a chemical change in the material’s outer layer itself, the protective layer can’t be chipped off or begin to peel on its own. With its new protective skin, anodized aluminum resists corrosion and has an increased resistance to everyday wear.
All of Celina’s aluminum pieces – from medium to heavy duty center poles to side poles and frame tent tubing – are anodized to increase the life of each piece and provide the highest-quality product for all of our customers.
Steel – A Construction Standard
Everyone knows that steel is strong. It’s used in skyscrapers, to make cars and boats and structures the world over. We’ve all see rusting steel as well, and it isn’t pretty. That’s where the galvanizing process comes in.
Most commonly occurring in the hot-dip process, galvanization is the process by which a layer of zinc is adhered to the outside of steel items. The steel is lowered into a tank of liquid zinc, coating the outside of the steel and causing a diffusion reaction between the two metals. The metals meld, with the final result being a gradual change from steel to zinc if observed in a cut cross section.
Comparing Apples and Oranges
You now know that all of the metal pieces you buy from Celina are protected in some way from corrosion, wear, and everyday bumps. Hurray! This makes either choice a good choice then, since both are quality metals. The final step is the choice – do you go with steel or aluminum?
- Aluminum pieces are in general slightly lighter than their Steel This difference in, overall, negligible, so the only time weight is an issue is when dealing in large amounts of each.
- Steel hardware is more cost effective, making it the preferred choice for smaller tents because of the increased amount of savings.
- Aluminum is more resistant to rust over time, even though the Steel is zinc coated.
- Steel tubing has a smaller diameter, making it easier to carry and transport.
We hope this sheds a little more light on the choices we give when you purchase full tents and tent pieces from Celina Tent. As always, we welcome any and all questions by email, phone (866-258-1041), or through our chat window on every Celina website. Contact us today!