Freestyle tent and canopy manufacturer incubated and launched

Tentra, which has operated for several years as the tent manufacture division of Loudfire, enters the open market with several patents and functional design applications to its credit, along with a reputation as this country's premier manufacturer of the highest quality freestyle tents and canopies. The company has a manufacturing site in Cape Town and sales offices in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Comments Bruce van Halderen, CEO of Loudfire, who now also assumes the mantle as CEO of Tentra: "The launch of Tentra is the conclusion of a dream that has been several years in the production. In the course of incubating the Tentra business, Loudfire made extensive investments into research and development, the result of which is that the new company is in a very strong position to assume its role as the market leader in the niche and highly specialised field of freestyle tent and canopy production.

"Loudfire itself uses these tents for a large portion of the gigs we produce, and we will be supporting Tentra as a major client in the future. The experience gained by Loudfire from the extensive use at many different locations in Africa and abroad, under all kinds of weather conditions and under the influence of a great many external factors besides, has provided a solid platform for testing each new R&D milestone achieved. The result is that Tentra's products are extremely robust and durable, and we are confident that their quality is unsurpassed both locally and abroad."

Van Halderen says that while Tentra's freestyle tents have not always been available for sale to customers and competitors from Loudfire, now, as a fully-fledged independent company Tentra is empowered to focus on driving sales of its products through new and different avenues, even to competitors of Loudfire.

Tentra's two major product lines are the LavaSky and StormChild ranges. The LavaSky material is non-waterproof and its stylish, flowing lines make it ideal for use in outdoor shade canopies and/or covers. It is also well suited for use in architectural design features such as wings and sails on buildings. The StormChild is an incredibly strong material that is 100% waterproof. This fabric employs Tentra's groundbreaking, patented triple laminate technology. StormChild is perfect for all-weather freestyle tents and canopies and modern architectural elements.

According to van Halderen another feature of both the LavaSky and the StormChild product ranges is that the fabrics are all fire retardant treated and have successfully passed the ISO 6940 ignition tests, as well as ISO 6941 spread of flame tests, both of which are vertical tests and therefore characteristic of the most extreme eventualities in respect of fire.

He concludes: "We are very excited about the launch of Tentra and are confident that the company will be immediately successful and will grow from strength to strength. Tentra certainly has the experience, expertise, capacity and the will to do just that."

Tentra goes to market with an in-house manufacturing capacity of 45 000m2 per annum and an unlimited outsource production capacity, given that its technologies are protected by patents and functional design applications.

Interested parties can obtain more information from Bruce van Halderen at the Johannesburg office on 011 262-2082 or Jay Haupt in Cape Town on 021 447-0721.