What Are “Hydrostatic Head” and “Sun Protection Factor”?
When you are searching the internet or browsing through camping shop brochures for tents you may well find reference to a tent’s “hydrostatic head”. In layman’s terms this is basically a number that indicates how much rain a tent can withstand before it is likely to start leaking. The higher the number the greater a tent’s waterproofing qualities. Look for tents that have a hydrostatic head rating of 2,000 or more and you are pretty much guaranteed to stay dry even if we see a repeat of 2005’s torrential downpours. Some tents are also supplied with a sun protection factor. Technically it is possible to get sunburnt inside a tent & much like the stuff you slop all over yourself on the beach this gives an indication of how many more times longer you are able to lie there without getting burnt than you would do in direct sunlight. To be honest I’ve never seen the point of this because if the sun is beating directly on your tent in late June then it becomes virtually uninhabitable by 8am s
