How to Buy the Perfect Tent

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

Rate: (8 Ratings)

Tents have a pretty big price range, so be sure to put some research into your purchase and buy wisely.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Credit Cards And Loans
Wilderness Permits
Tarps
Tents

Step1

Determine the intended use of the tent before you make your purchase. For fair-weather camping, a well-strung tarp can serve as a shelter, and tarps are lighter and cheaper than tents.

Step2

Get a tent that doesn't require many stakes. Stakes are heavy, easy to lose and make it difficult to pitch the tent on hard or soft ground or on snow.

Step3

Look for a tent with a fly that closes completely and has a vestibule for storing packs and boots out of the rain.

Step4

Stick with the three-season variety of tent, which can handle moderate winter use, unless you plan extreme mountaineering or expedition use. Four-season tents, designed to handle extreme weather, are much heavier than their three-season cousins.

Step5

Find a big stuff sack for the tent so that you don't have to go to extreme lengths to cram it into the bag and potentially cause damage to the tent.

Step6

Buy the lightest tent that meets your needs and budget.

Tips & Warnings

Don't be oversold by sales representatives when you are shopping. What you need is what you need - nothing more, nothing less.
Make sure you know how to set up your new tent before you take it into the wilderness. Practice in your backyard.
Remember not to store food in your tent so animals won't chew their way in.

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Comments

Dufferin said

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on 11/27/2007 We are specializing on manufacture of all kinds of Tents, such as party tent, pagoda tent, folding tent in China. If you are interested on it, pls contact me via dufferin@upal.cn or by phone# +86 769 8459 6193, We will show our products details to you. I am Dufferin.

said

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on 11/22/2005 Make sure that the tent bottom has as few seams as possible and that the seams are off the ground and covered. Otherwise, you can end up with water inside the tent if it rains.

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on 11/22/2005 I find that the easiest tents to set up, and the best quality tents, are dome tents.

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on 11/22/2005 I was tired of being crammed into a small tent and not being able to stand up. Now I'm getting tired of lugging my 30 pound 12 foot x 12 foot and 8 foot tall monster tent around. Plus, this big sail of a tent really goes places in the wind! In a breeze there needs to be a person sitting inside to hold it down, all our gear and stakes in soft ground couldn't keep it put. It's also tedious to setup, clean, and find a large enough flat space to set it up. Be careful when choosing a big tent!

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on 11/22/2005 Check the height of the tent. I am tired of dressing all hunched over or lying on my back. The next tent I buy is going to be one I can stand up in!