Springbar

• Comment: The submission is still exceptionally promotional. There is a reason WP:COI editing is strongly discouraged. Greenman (talk) 22:20, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

• Comment: A lot of advertising verbiage about quality and other promotional tones is still in the article. Needs to be rewritten neutrally by someone not associated with the company.
  Whole sections of the article remain unreferenced and seem to point to website's Our History sections rather than independent coverage by external news sources. AngusW🐶🐶F (bark • sniff) 18:19, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

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Springbar canvas tent in the desert

Springbar's Vagabond model tent.

Springbar is an American brand of canvas tent. The original Springbar tent dates back to 1961, when Arthur Jack Kirkham Sr. created the original Springbar tent design, which he sold through his company AAA Tent & Awning Co. — renamed Kirkham’s Outdoor Products in 1979. The Springbar tent design has remained largely unchanged over the years and was intended to allow for easy setup and enhanced durability. It is defined by a support system that combines tension and flexibility, which includes pole reinforcements and tension rods made with spring steel, and a 100 percent cotton duck canvas exterior, a heavy woven fabric known for being more tightly woven than plain canvas.

Springbar tents are hand cut and sewn in the company’s Salt Lake City, Utah, factory as well as its partner factory in China. The Springbar brand has been owned by Dwell Outdoors LLC since 2019 — when the company name was also changed to Springbar. It is one of the oldest canvas tent manufacturers, as well as one of oldest outdoor equipment manufacturers in Utah. The company, which operates on a direct-to-consumer model, now manufactures and sells 11 different tent styles based on the original Springbar design and construction.

History

Early History

Springbar began as AAA Tent & Awning Co. in 1944, when Arthur Jack Kirkham Sr. purchased the company upon his return to Salt Lake City after serving as a Naval draftsman in the U.S. military during World War II. The storefront was originally located at 140 E. 200 South Street in Salt Lake City, moved to 24 W. 5th S. Street in 1967, and incorporated in 1960.

Manufacturing and innovation

In the 1950s, as car camping began to grow in popularity, Kirkham Sr. began working on a tent design that would be easier to set up than the traditional pole-and-rope style tents of the time. He invented the original “Springbar” canvas tent in 1961, which was defined by a support system that combined tension and flexibility — a design he patented in 1964. The first Springbar tent model, which is still known as the “Traveler,” was 10 by 10 feet, weighed 60 lbs and cost $83.

Vintage Springbar catalog page from the 1970s, featuring the Springbar Modular Tent system.

Vintage Springbar catalog page from the early 1970s. The Modular Tent system allowed additional rooms to be added to create separate sleeping areas.

Original 1964 patent drawings for Springbar Tent design by Jack Kirkham Sr. with photo of Kirkham Sr.

Original patent drawings for Springbar Tent design by Jack Kirkham Sr., 1964.

The next year, AAA Tent & Awning began selling Springbar canvas tents through its catalog under its Skyliner brand. Kirkham Sr. continued to refine the design over the years, and the Springbar canvas tent became the company’s core product. From this design, he created versions of varying sizes and features — from a two-person tent to a large modular tent called the Leisure Port, which campers could add rooms onto. Around this time, all design work was taken over by Kirkham Sr.’s son, Jack Kirkham Jr.

In 1979, Kirkham Sr. changed the name of the business to Kirkham’s Outdoor Products — Home of the Springbar Tent and began construction on a new building at 3125 S. State Street in Salt Lake City. The space changed two more times, once in 2003, when the State Street location was expanded and remodeled, and again in 2019, when it moved to its current location at 4026 S. West Temple in Millcreek, just east of downtown Salt Lake City.

File:Springbar-vintage-coleman1.jpg

Vintage Springbar Coleman Tents in a campground in Bangkok, Thailand. Coleman had a license to manufacture and sell Springbar tents under the Coleman brand.

Licensing & distribution

In 1966, Coleman Co. became the first brand to license to manufacture and sell its own Springbar canvas tents under a licensing agreement. The company established the Springbar lightweight nylon tent wholesale program in 1976, with dealers in the U.S. That same year, the company entered into an agreement with British company KEB International to distribute Springbar tents.

Ownership

In 1998, Jack Kirkham Jr., who had worked on the company with his dad from the age of 14, purchased the business from his father. Jack Kirkham Sr. passed away in 2008 at the age of 90 after making significant contributions to the camping industry. He eventually held eight tent patents.

In 2019, Dwell Outdoors LLC purchased the business from Kirkham Jr. — renaming it Springbar — and moved it to its current location, in Millcreek, Utah, just east of downtown Salt Lake City, where the company continues to manufacture Springbar canvas tents by hand.

Springbar Tent workshop at the company's present-day location in Salt Lake City, Utah

The Springbar Tent workshop at the company's present-day location in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2019.

Sociocultural Impact

Springbar canvas tents have been used on numerous outdoor expeditions, including on Mount Everest, and many have been purchased by the Utah National Parks Council, as well as other adventure groups, over the years. In 1976, the company sent Springbar modular tents to the U.S. Bicentennial Celebration to house 40 UK Scouts for 14 days. Western River Expeditions offered 8-11 day trips to Micronesia in Springbar modular tents, beginning in 1978.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, Springbar began sewing personal protective equipment, including medical gowns, for healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients.