How to Choose a Camping Tent

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Some of the many types of tents available

First of all, you need to consider what size tent you need. Larger tents have more room for you and your stuff but the larger the tent the heavier it will be and the more likely it will be to be blown down in the wind or get smashed by snow. You need to plan on about 2 people per 3-person tent. The tents never actually fit the amount of people that they say they do. It’s a ratio of about 1 ½ to 2 person tent.
Step 2

This tent is nice and low

The tent should have a low profile as well as being fairly small. Tents that stick up into the air a lot will get hit by the wind a lot. I've seen many tents get flattened by the wind and have had poles snap under the strain. Any tent taller than about four feet will be very vulnerable in the wind.
Step 3

Looking out from under my vestibule

Vestibules will help give you more room inside the tent by letting you leave your backpacks and stuff outside yet still out of the weather. They do make it harder to get in and out of the tent though. One big bonus of a vestibule is that if the weather is bad you can set up your stove under the vestibule and cook out of the weather. Remember to never use your stove inside your tent, the confined space will soon fill with carbon dioxide and poison you. Only use stoves in good ventilation.
Step 4

A gear loft will also help give you more space inside the tent as well. Gear lofts are little mesh pieces that get hooked up at the top of the tent to hold small pieces of equipment. They aren’t very good for heavy things but are a great place to put glasses, cameras, and flashlights and stuff like that.
Step 5

A bad tent to have

Shape is very important in choosing a tent as well. The common square-bottomed tent with a domed top is one of the worst tent shapes you can get. It is nice and easy to set-up since it usually only needs two poles, but this shape catches the wind horribly. There are a couple of good versions of this shape though. One version is that typical shape but a lot lower. This prevents a lot of the wind problems. Another version of the typical dome that does work okay, is the low rectangle. This is the type of tent that I prefer. If angled so that the wind hits the narrow end this shape will hold up well to it. This also only uses a few poles so it’s easier to erect but is very stable.
Step 6

Round domes are very good in the wind and are really strong under snow loads and in big rain storms. They do have a lot of angles though and so won’t fit a lot of people for the amount of space. If you do have a lot of gear though, the extra corners can be handy to stash the stuff in.
Step 7

Really long, low tents are great if only one or sometimes two people are going to be sleeping inside. The wind hardly bothers them at all and they usually have very effective rain flies as well as being small enough to actually get warm from body heat, but they are tight on space and if you’re claustrophobic they aren’t for you.
Step 8

After deciding the size and shape of the tent it is time to decide what other features you should have. To keep, dry your tent should absolutely have a bathtub floor. This means the tent will have a thicker, waterproof layer on the floor and going up the side for a few inches. Since water may pool around the base of the tent and tent fabric isn’t really waterproof since it needs to breathe, water could normally get inside. The bathtub floor is a better barrier against the water leaking in.
Step 9

Another way to keep dry is to have a good rainfly. This is probably the most important part of the tent for your comfort. A small rainfly won’t keep much rain off. All that rain will wash down the side of your tent and anything you have pressed against the side of the tent will allow water to seep in. Unless you want to sleep bundled in a ball to prevent bumping into the walls and letting water seep in you should get the biggest rainfly you have available. A rainfly that reaches the ground is what you should look for to stay dry. The only reason you shouldn’t have a ground length fly is to lower the amount of weight you carry if you backpack or if you don’t mind getting wet.
Step 10

Since backpackers try to lower the amount of weight they carry frequently they get tents that don’t have many or any poles. These tents are called tie down tents and need to be pulled tight and tacked down so they stay upright. This can be hard to do when you’re camping on rock or something else difficult to pound a stake into. Regular freestanding tents are easier to deal with but are much heavier.
Step 11

Lots of tents to choose from

Many camping trips are ruined because of rain. So, to prevent getting wet inside your tent you should have a good rainfly, but also a tent with a lot of mesh panels. Why would mesh panels keep you drier? Because a lot of the moisture that ends up inside the tent is actually condensation which then drips on your face in the middle of the night. Mesh panels across the ceiling and in some cases down the sides of the tent will allow the water vapor you breathe out to escape the tent and not build up on the ceiling. Plus on clear nights you can remove the rainfly and see the stars, which is part of the reason you’re camping, right?
Step 12

The final thing you need to check when choosing a tent is how the tent poles are attached. For ease of setup, clips holding the tent to the poles are the best, but sleeves prevent the tent from moving around as much. Since any poles you use for the tent will have to be fed through the sleeves and out the other side, sleeves are a huge hassle. Tents with a mix of clips and sleeves are the best choice for a combination of being easy to use and sturdy. If unable to find the tent you want with both clips and sleeves, look for a tent with just clips, it will be far simpler to set up and deal with.

Comments

kaytay said

on 3/12/2009 excellent tent-buying tips.

on 2/9/2009 We camped 20 years in a tent before we became addicted to vintage trailers. However, recently we took the tent. Our tent is now pushing 30 years old. Buy good quality and you will only need to buy it once.

LilacGirl said

on 2/8/2009 Very good information! You added so many details, suggestions, and tips, this is really a helpful article for anyone who wants to choose a camping tent.