Colorado Tent Company opened its doors in 1890, when Denver was still a frontier town with dirt roads and horse-drawn wagons. This company’s high-quality craftsmanship of canvas tents provided shelter for ranchers, prospectors, and anyone venturing out into the wilderness west of town.
Today, Colorado Tent Company upholds the same craftsmanship that defined its beginning.
“We've had four owners in 135 years,” company president Harlan Hummer told City Cast Denver. “The thing that's passed from one to the next isn't a logo. It's the standard for how a tent should be built and how long it should last.”
From glamping tents for hospitality businesses to backcountry hunting setups, they’ve got a canvas shelter for everything. Colorado Tent Company has held partnerships with the YMCA and Scouting America, keeping troops safe and secure out in the wild.
The biggest selling point? Colorado Tent Company makes tents designed to last more than 20 years — making them a solid investment. There’s also a lifetime warranty on everything they make.
“We fix tents we built 20, 25, 30 years ago. Some come in from folks who got them from their parents. When you buy a tent from us, we'll repair it for as long as you own it,” Hummer says. “That was the promise in 1890, and it's the promise now.”
In 1940, Colorado Tent Company also created (and later patented) a new type of fishing canvas called ArctiCreel, which keeps ocean catches fresh through evaporation, without the need for ice. “Soak it in water, and as that water evaporates from the linen, it pulls heat out and keeps the contents inside cool.”
This innovative design was once carried by L.L. Bean and Orvis, and Colorado Tent Company is the only brand making this product in the US today.
“We're the oldest continuously operating canvas tent manufacturer in the country, and we're right here in Denver. Local isn't a marketing angle for us,” Hummer says. “It's where the cutting tables are, where the sewing happens, and where your tent comes back when it needs work decades from now.”
