Springbar is a camping and overland brand founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1944. It is headquartered in Millcreek, Utah.
The first Springbar tent weighed 60 pounds and sold for $83. That was 1962. The model that became the Traveler is still cut and sewn on West Temple in Millcreek, where it now lists for $1,499 and weighs 72 pounds with its poles and stakes.
Jack Kirkham Sr. worked as a draftsman in a Long Beach shipyard during World War II. In 1944 he returned to Salt Lake City and bought AAA Tent & Awning, a 1,200 square foot shop that sewed sheep camp wagon covers and horse blankets. In 1961 he invented the Springbar, canvas held taut by poles and spring steel tension rods. Even the stake bucket bag that ships with each USA-made tent is 21 ounce canvas, and the company says it stands up on its own, which is more than most of us manage after a night on the ground.
In 2019 Dwell Outdoors bought the business from Jack Kirkham Jr. and kept him on as tent designer. Springbar's imported line comes from a partner factory in China. The Traveler, which the company says has been in continuous production since the mid 1960s, is sewn a few miles from the Kirkham family's first shop.
At its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, the family's State Street store, Kirkham's Outdoor Products, carried more than 10,000 items from over 200 brands.
