How to Choose a Backpacking Tent

Video Transcript

"Because your tent is going to be your home in the wilderness, it's important to know how to choose the right type of tent for you. Ultimately, it matters how many people you're going to be with, and what types of environments you're going to be in. There are different types of tents, in terms of three season, four season or just light weight summertime tents, if you're not going to be in environments that have wind and hail, and rain, and snow. A few different features of a tent, is you normally always have some sort of material, potentially it can be waterproof, that goes up with poles. There's also something called a vestibule, that you can pull out and stake to the ground, that kind of allows you to have room on the outside of your tent space, to store your boots, or maybe your pack or something. If it's raining out, you need to protect that with the vestibule. In terms of choosing your tent, weight is a big factor, because obviously if you're backpacking, you're going to be carrying everything on your back, that you have, so you want it to be as light a weight as possible, but obviously to give you shelter from the environments that you're going to be in. Some tents have an inner material, and then a fly on the outside, that adds more weight, because it's more material, but it gives better waterproof, and better ventilation. There's also some more summertime tents, that just have one layer of material that's waterproof. Less ventilation, but again it's a lot less weight, so it's a lot nicer to carry, if you're out there by yourself. Another key factor about tents, is you want to think about what's on the ground of your tent. Sometimes you'll have to carry a footprint, which is a waterproof layer to put on the ground, or some sort of tarp to lay on the ground underneath your tent, but a lot of those three season or four season expedition tents that are made for wet ground, or snowy areas, have a really nice, thick floor that you don't have to carry an extra layer."