How to choose a camping tent

A camping and hiking tent can be a serious investment, and prices range from $100 to $800. A very large selection is available for the category of tents with a variety of features and add-ons. It can be tricky to sort through the details, weigh the pros and cons, and figure out what’s worth the money — and more importantly, what features will enhance or complement your camping adventure. The purpose of this article is to help simplify this process and make things clearer.

Here are a number of categories that are considered the most important when evaluating the overall quality of a camping tent: comfort, weather resistance, ease of installation, workmanship and package size. You will see an explanation of each category in detail.

Comfort in a tent

One of the biggest advantages of a full-fledged car camping tent over a conventional tent is that it is larger and more durable. It gives tourists more space to spend their time day and night. This tent does not sacrifice comfort and luxury for size and weight. The best camping tent should give campers more than just shelter. It should be your portable log cabin in the woods, your beach house, your house by the stream. It should suit your needs: from walking, reading, napping, sleeping and being protected from wind, rain, sun and bugs.

The size, by itself, provides more comfort in a camping tent than in a camping tent. Your king-sized air mattress won’t fit in that 3-pound ultra-light two-person tent you’ve got your eye on. In full size tents you will have room for a mattress, your bags and even a couple of tables. Family camping tents don’t have to leave you crammed like sardines, constantly trying to step over each other. These tents should give you more space to sleep, play, do yoga, or whatever activities you see fit. More space means more comfort.

Ceiling height can be critical to making a tent family-friendly, allowing taller campers to comfortably stand up and reduce neck and back strain after squatting. The pitch of the wall can also determine whether you can only stand at the dead center of the tent, or whether you can move more or less freely without bending over or crouching.

If you’ll be camping in warm weather, ventilation is an important feature when the noon sun slips overhead and the greenhouse tent effect is in full effect. Bigger windows, more mesh and bigger doors help, as well as specially designed vents. The tradeoff is storm resistance — more mesh, more vents, more windows means more holes and crevices for precipitation and wind to enter.

Weather resistance

What is your ideal camping experience? You probably imagine sunny days, not too hot, with gentle breezes, cool evenings by the fire, and sleeping under the stars. For all the fame of the perfect camping weekend, if the weather changes, inadequate or inappropriate gear can quickly turn your perfect weekend into a nightmare. That sweet tent you bought on sale without doing any research could end up being a waste of money, or worse, could ruin your experience.

Easy to install

Finally, you arrive at your favorite camp. It is now 9 pm and quite dark. Your strength is exhausted and you are hungry. Ideally, while one person prepares dinner so that the next hour can be refreshed, the other is busy setting up the tent. There are tents that you can easily set up alone, even if the wind is blowing, it is raining and it is completely dark. Some of the tents set up so smoothly you could swear there was a magic wand somewhere in the package. Others take much longer and require practice. You must choose the most convenient option for you.