Camping tent inspection requirements and methods

Camping tents are portable shelters designed for outdoor adventures and leisure. They are made of high-strength waterproof fabrics and wear-resistant aluminum alloy brackets, which can remain stable in wind, rain and harsh weather conditions. The tent has a reasonable interior layout and spacious space, which is suitable for family camping, solo hiking and team outdoor activities. The breathable and insect-proof mesh window design effectively improves air circulation in the tent, while preventing insect infestation, providing campers with a safe and comfortable resting environment. In addition, the tent is easy to install, light to store, and easy to carry.

Camping tent inspection requirements

General requirements

Fabrics and related requirements

Tear strength, tensile strength, water resistance, weather resistance

Fabrics and their related requirements shall comply with regulations.

Dimensional stability

According to ISO7771, with a test period of 2h, the dimensional change should not exceed ±3%.

Flammability

Overview

If the manufacturer claims that the tent fabric is flame retardant, the new fabric should be tested and should comply with the relevant requirements. The note to Table 2 gives information on the use when chemical coatings are used to achieve flame retardancy.

Flying sheet material

When tested according to test procedure A in ISO 6941:2003 (using 10 s ignition time, surface ignition), there should be no burnt-out of the marking line, no burning debris, no flame appearing on each vertical side of the specimen, the afterflame time of each sample should not exceed 10 s, and the average afterflame time should not exceed 6 s.

Inner tent material

When tested according to test procedure A in ISO6941:2003 (using 10s ignition time, surface ignition), no marking line should be burned, no more than 2 samples with burning debris should be present, no flame should appear on each vertical edge of the sample, the afterburning time of each sample should not exceed 20s, and the average afterburning time should not exceed 12s. If a sample fails the test, the test should be repeated once. If the second test still fails, it means that the fabric has failed the test.

Ground cloth

Tested according to ISO6925, the burning radius should be less than 35mm.

Ground fasteners

At least one ground fastener shall be provided at each corner and a minimum of 4 ground fasteners shall be provided if the tent is not rectangular.

Protective measures

The contact area between the ground cloth and the tent frame should be properly protected.

ventilation

Overview

To avoid suffocation, tents should be designed to maintain continuous air circulation and minimize the dangerous level of accumulation of harmful gases in the sleeping area.

Closed tent

In order to maintain continuous ventilation, the tent should provide at least two vents, at least one vent with an area of ​​100 cm2 per person. These vents should be designed so that they will not be closed by normal weather conditions after opening.

Note: In order to maintain fresh air circulation and prevent the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the lower area of ​​the tent, it is recommended to set one of the vents at a height less than 1/3 of the total height of the tent from the ground, and the other vent at a height greater than 2/3 of the height of the tent. If it is a double-layer tent, 2/3 of the inner tent area (excluding the ground cloth) should be made of breathable fabric.

Double layer tent

By selecting appropriate materials and product design, continuous air circulation in the tent should be ensured to reduce the accumulation of exhaust gas.

Tent export

For tents with a sleeping capacity of more than 4 persons, the exit area should be at least 0.9m2 and at least 50cm wide. For tents with two exits, this size requirement applies only to the first exit. If the exit height of the tent exceeds 100cm, the exit can be closed by zippers or other means, as long as it can be easily opened from the ground.

Note: Escape routes should be provided for children.

Anti-mosquito

All doors and vents on the inner tent should be insect-proof when closed.

If an insect screen is used, the maximum mesh size should be 1mm x 1mm.

Rain protection

When the rain test is carried out according to 8.3, the tent should be rainproof so that rainwater will not penetrate into the tent except within 2 minutes after the start of the test.

A slight mist will appear.

The outer tent fabric should not come into contact with the inner tent fabric unless it is designed to do so, such as the pole sleeves of a dome tent.

If the fabric requires pre-conditioning (due to soaking of the seams), this should be carried out in accordance with 8.3. If the manufacturer recommends additional pre-treatment work (e.g. seam sealing), these should be carried out in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions for use.

Parts Requirements

Tent stand

Overview

All metal parts shall not show any change other than slight discoloration after the test in 8.2. If the bracket parts are plated or coated,

After the ISO9227 test, the corrosion penetration below the paint surface should not exceed 0.5mm.

The support parts should be clearly marked to facilitate the erection, unless the tent support can only be assembled in one form or a detailed structural diagram is provided.

If two bracket parts need to be combined together, the lower part should not separate when it is subjected to a load twice its own weight in the vertical position.

The bracket parts are connected together by tubular joints, the minimum length of which should be twice its outer diameter.

Edges and corners

Accessible edges and corners during installation shall not have sharp corners and/or sharp edges. Test in accordance with 8.6.1.

Tubular parts, holes and slots

Tubular parts, holes and slots accessible during erection, dismantling and use shall be covered and protected if they can be inserted in either direction to a depth of more than 10 mm with a 7 mm or 12 mm probe when tested in accordance with 8.6.2.

Shear and squeeze points

Shear and crush points that occur only when unfolding and folding are acceptable, provided that the user can control his or her movements and stop the force immediately when being squeezed. The edges of shear and crush points should be rounded or chamfered. When assembling tent stands using mechanical devices (such as springs, air impulses, etc.), there should be no accessible shear and crush points. When loads are applied during normal use, there should be no accessible shear and crush points (this hazard is best avoided by using automatic locking devices).

zipper

Overview

The slider, chain teeth and tape should not be the same color, unless the pull tab connected to the slider has a very obvious color to distinguish it.

In order to be able to open the door from both the inside and the outside, the zipper on the door should be equipped with double pullers.

Zipper's flat pull strength

The flat pulling strength of the zipper should meet the requirements.

Rope system

A single drawstring assembly (including eyelets, upper and lower connectors and tension adjustment device) should be able to withstand the minimum tensile force specified in Table 4.

Tent and pole bag

The tent should come with at least one packing bag.

The tent bag material, except for its rainproof performance, shall at least meet the requirements of the outer tent fabric (coated or uncoated) in Table 2.

If applicable, separate bags should be provided for tent stands and ground pegs.

Camping Tent Inspection Test Method

Tension force of the rope system

Set up the tent according to the manufacturer's instructions and close the tent doors and windows.

Remove one drawstring and apply the corresponding tensile force to the drawstring system along the direction of the ground fastener according to the different performance levels of Class A tent or Class B tent in Table 4 for 1 min.

Reinstall the guy ropes. Repeat this test for each different type of tent connection.

Corrosion resistance of tent frames and metal eyelets

The tent support is subjected to a 36-hour salt spray test (NSS) according to ISO9227, or a 192-hour base metal corrosion (red rust) test according to ISO2081.

Rain test

Overview

The requirements of 6.1.7 shall be tested according to the procedures given in 8.3.2, 8.3.3 and 8.3.4.

Preconditioning and test preparation

If the instructions for use of the tent require the consumer to seal the seams before using the tent, the test should be performed in accordance with the instructions for use of the tent.

Tents containing uncoated flysheet materials shall be subjected to a preconditioning procedure consisting of a single rain exposure test followed by a drying cycle of at least 24 h under ambient conditions.

NOTE: Taking into account the regional conditions and weather in the laboratory where the test is performed, the drying period may exceed 24 h.

Test requirements and test setup

The tent should be tested on a permeable surface, such as a grass or artificial turf surface with an appropriate drainage system to prevent water from accumulating at the tent opening. In order to save water, the test water can be recycled. However, care should be taken not to allow the reused water to be mixed with impurities to avoid clogging the spray system. The water pressure should be maintained at 300kPa~450kPa. The water should be sprayed evenly on the test area from a height of 4.5m~5m above the ground. The flow rate of water sprayed to the test area should be at least 60L/(h·m2). A water supply system including a water supply loop or similar design can be used to achieve the desired water pressure, flow rate and uniformity.

The sprinkler system should be able to uniformly cover the entire test area by swinging in the manner of Figure 4 or installing the sprinklers in a grid pattern as shown in Figure 5 or other installation methods.

NOTE 1 This document does not specify the diameter of sprinkler system apertures because apertures are not generally used to deliver water in overhead sprinkler systems.

The rain should be in the form of dripping drops rather than large beads, because for tents with poor drainage or poorly placed positions, continuous moderate rainfall is more likely to penetrate than heavy rain during use. Test devices and equipment can be of various forms as long as they meet the requirements of this clause. The static device of the wall sprinkler system shown in Figure 4 is more practical, or other devices that meet the requirements of the standard can also be used, such as the overhead sprinkler system for building fire sprinklers shown in Figure 5.

In addition, the test device used may require manual rotation of the tent when necessary to ensure that the different entrances are facing the sprinkler system, or the sprinkler system itself can be reset, or the tent itself has an intermittent mechanical rotation system, or the tent has a fully automatic rotation system.

Note 2: For large tents, it may not be possible to manually rotate the tent due to its weight when wet and the need to reassemble it correctly.

If different openings face the sprinkler system, the sprinkler system position can be reset.

Test steps

The tent shall be erected in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. During the test, the vents shall be kept open as specified in the instructions and the tent door shall be kept closed.

All types of inlets, vents or openings should be rain tested.

Water should be able to reach the roof area of ​​the tent (including all ventilation openings) and flow down the sides of the tent and at least 50 cm from the flysheet and any vestibule, or extend to the ground (see Figures 4 and 5).

If the test apparatus is designed so that the entire tent can be tested in one go (e.g., using an overhead sprinkler system on a static or fully automatic rotating base, as shown in Figure 5), the complete test time should be 30 minutes.

If the design of the test device allows the tent to be tested only in parts (as shown in Figure 4), and the tent needs to be rotated manually or semi-automatically, the main entrance should face the sprinkler system A in Figure 4. After testing for 15 minutes, the tent should be rotated about 90° and tested for another 15 minutes, so the test time is at least 30 minutes, and all different types of entrances, vents or openings should be tested facing the sprinkler system A in Figure 4 for an additional 15 minutes. For fully automatic rotating test devices where water is sprayed through a wall-mounted sprinkler system rather than a fully overhead sprinkler system, the entire test phase should be at least 30 minutes, plus an additional test time of 15 minutes for each different type of entrance, opening or vent. The test should be carried out at ambient temperature.

NOTE: The ambient temperature may vary depending on the region of the laboratory and the season in which the test is conducted. However, the amount of water sprayed onto the tent and the type of spray are the important parameters for this test.

After all tests are completed, leave the tent for 2 minutes to allow excess water to drain from near the door before opening it to check for water infiltration.

The test report should include whether the inner surface of the tent is wet or has water, whether there is water accumulation on the tent floor, and the location and severity of the water accumulation, etc.

For tents that are manually rotated for testing, they should be observed every 15 minutes until the end of the test to correctly determine the penetration point. In addition, the type of test device used should be given, including details such as manual rotation of the tent, position resetting of the sprinkler system, intermittent mechanical rotation system, or fully automatic continuous rotation system.

Zipper's flat pull strength

Zipper's flat pull strength

The clamp pulls the zipper open horizontally from both sides at a speed of 15 cm/min (see Figure 6). Before testing, the zipper should be conditioned in the test environment for at least 48 hours.

Performance test of zipper under continuous reciprocating motion

The device shown in FIG7 was used to carry out performance testing under continuous reciprocating motion conditions.

From the middle of the upper and lower stops of the zipper, apply force F1 in the horizontal direction to the tapes on both sides of the zipper, and apply force F2 in the vertical direction. F1 and F2 are calculated according to formula (1) and formula (2) respectively.

F1 =3×w……………………(1)

F2 =2×w……………………(2)

Where:

F1——horizontal force, unit is Newton (N);

F2——Vertical force, in Newton (N);

w——zipper width, in millimeters (mm).

Note: Use the value of w only as a multiplier, not a size.

The test load is set and applied to the zipper pull and bottom stop and remains unchanged during the entire test.

Make sure that the opening angle of the pull tab is about 30° when the slider is at the top reversal point and about 60° at the bottom reversal point. When the zipper is open, F1 can be 0.

The slider test length is 7.5cm, the test speed is 30 times/min, one opening and one closing counts as 1 time, and the zipper is opened and closed 200 times.

After the preload test, the maximum horizontal pull strength of the zipper should be determined according to 8.4.1.

Fading resistance test of plastic floor coverings in humid environment

According to the requirements of ISO105-B04, the plastic floor cloth is subjected to a 24-hour fading test. Afterwards, the sample is placed under standard atmospheric pressure for 24 hours according to the requirements of ISO554. The gray sample card (according to ISO105-A02) is used to evaluate the fading.

Component testing

Edges and corners

Inspect all parts visually and feel them for sharp corners and edges.

Tubular parts, holes and slots

When setting up, dismantling and using the tent, check whether a 7mm or 12mm probe can be inserted into a tubular part, hole or groove in any direction with a maximum insertion or withdrawal force of 30N and a depth greater than 10mm.

Shear and squeeze points

Assemble the tent according to the manufacturer's instructions and ensure that the tent frame does not create accessible shear and crush points when operated by mechanical means (such as mechanical springs, air impulses, or loads during normal use). Visually inspect the edges of any shear and crush points and check by hand to ensure that they are rounded or chamfered. If an automatic locking system is used, ensure that it can prevent shear and crush points that may occur when loads are applied during normal use.