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OGDEN — A London tree tent company looking to expand in their largest market recently added a store in Ogden. The Utah store, which opened earlier this month, is the first international store for the 3-year-old company.
Tentsile has a unique style and integrates tent and hammock designs, which combined, allow the tents to be suspended off the ground. This innovate technique makes the camping experience not dependant on ideal weather or ground conditions.
How does the design work? According to the Tentsile website, “the webbing frame is held in tension at each of the three anchor points by being ratcheted tight while internal floor straps divide the space into individual hammocks.” The tension creates more support and allows individuals to sleep flat inside the tent instead of slumped like traditional hammocks.
The innovative tents only take 8 minutes to set up and can be both pitched on the ground or can hang up to 4 feet above the ground.
Prices for Tentsile tree tents range from $350 to $650 and fit up to three people.
When asked why he selected Ogden as his first international location for the company, Head of Sales in North America Robert Shirley-Smith said, “Ogden has a good reputation of reinventing itself and attracts a lot of the outdoor community to the area.”
Shirley-Smith said that having a store in Utah will also help minimize travel costs for their booth at the semi-annual Outdoor Retailer held in Salt Lake City.
The idea for the tree tents was created by Alex Shirley-Smith who was inspired by the Ewok village in "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi," from working in tree house architecture, and wanting to get out of London and experience nature.
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Companies around the world are preparing to launch new products at the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City this summer. Some of the most unique products to come out from the spring's Outdoor Retailer show were the tree tents made by Tentsile.Carlos is a student at Utah Valley University and currently works as a news writing intern for KSL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Car1osBaquerizo or email him at carlosbaquerizo@ymail.com.
