Deciding On A Backpacking Tent

When you start shopping for that perfect backpacking tent, you need to give consideration to five variables:

• How is it going to be used? (what features do you require and in what seasons will it be used)?
  
• How large should it be
  
• How heavy (or light) can you get away with?
  
• How much money can you spend?
  
• How easy is it to set up?
  

It is likely no one tent will give you the best of everything. By deciding how important each of these criteria will be to your needs, you will have some idea what to look for.

How is the tent going to be used?

By and large, most people do not need a true four season tent. Three season tent designs stress ventilation, light weight, convenience, and often price. Many have mesh panels in the walls and ceilings to increase air circulation (and allow some stargazing on clear nights. Rainfly awnings over doors and windows let you look out at the world around you while still keeping you sheltered from the rain, and can allow for better cross-ventilation. Four season tent designs focus on withstanding such elements as high winds, snow loads, and even ultraviolet radiation. More poles provide a more stable structure, walls and ceilings lack mesh panels to reduce cold drafts, and rainflys fully cover doors and windows to provide greater protection from the elements. Materials may be heavier and more durable. Be realistic about the conditions and climate you expect to encounter the most. Many three season tents will work fine for occasional winter trips at lower elevations. However, skimping on price or weight by frequently taking a three season tent out in extreme conditions is asking for some dangerous consequences. There is growing room for compromise, as some manufacturers now make convertible tents - designs that offer four season stability with optional mesh vents for three season ventilation.

A free-standing tent means stakes and lines are not needed to support the tent--the pole structure alone will support most of it. If you are constantly out where the soil is all sand or extremely rocky, a free-standing tent can really make your day. But it is always a good idea to stake down a free-standing tent when possible--just ask anyone who has seen their tent blow away with their gear inside!

How large?

A good rule of thumb is no less than fifteen (15) sq. feet per person. This will allow enough space for a sleeping pad and bag, plus a little room for personal gear and clothing. Don't plan on space for your pack inside. Usually, packs can be left outside under a tarp or pack cover. And taking an external frame pack into a tent is a sure way of punching a hole in the floor. One solution is a vestibule - it's like an extra room built into the rainfly outside of the door. You can conveniently stash packs and boots (and sometimes cook) out of the elements. Finally, if you need plenty of space to be comfortable, consider 20-25 square feet per person. A three person tent can feel like a chateau for two people on a rainy day.

How much to spend?

This is up to you, but there are some guidelines. First, on the low end, you will tend to get exactly what you pay for. Thus, just because the box calls it a Tent, and it looks like a Tent, and may even look like the expensive ones, anything under $100.00, unless on sale, will likely give you huge headaches when it leaks like a sieve, or the poles break too easily, or worse, when you lose a pole and can't find a replacement because it was made by some unknown company far away. A good rule of thumb: if the tent does not have a life time warranty, stay away from it! While a warranty indicates that a manufacturer will back his product, it also means that they are confident that you won't have any problems with it when you are in the field. Although some technical single-wall tents are available, never buy an inexpensive tent without a rainfly. This is the cover that goes over the main body of the tent. It is waterproof while the ceiling of the tent is not - allowing the tent to breath. If your tent won't breath, the moisture your body produces will condense on the inside of the tent, making it appear that the tent is leaking. And if a cheap "waterproof" tent does not have a fly, adding one won't help, as the material on that cheap tent is coated, and won't breath anyway.

On the high end, you now start looking for the "extras" - those features of quality and function that you may require for your particular application (vestibules, two doors, more space, more stability, etc.). But again, be sure that what you are paying for is worth it, and not an inflated price because of the name tag on the tent. Many of the good tent manufacturers use similar materials on similar designs. An Easton Aluminum tent pole from one company is the same Easton Aluminum pole used by the other, so make sure you are really getting what you are paying for. And speaking of poles... Fiberglass poles are the least expensive option, but heavier and may crack over time. But fiberglass poles are also much easier to repair. Aluminum poles are lighter and stronger than fiberglass, but are harder to repair and can add considerably to the price of a tent.

How much does it weigh?

Just like anything else, there are tradeoffs. A tent that gives you more floor space, head room, or poles (for stability) is going to weigh more. A four pound tent is light and packable, but won't give you much living space and won't handle a winter storm. The weight factor is something that must be considered against your other criteria: use, size, cost, and convenience. You may have to compromise one way or the other, so decide which needs and features are most important and necessary. The fewer "non- necessities", the less the tent will tend to weigh.

How easy is it to set up?

OK, we know more poles can make a tent stronger. But more poles can also mean more hassle to set up. Continuous pole sleeves (such as you find on Kelty tents) are by far the easiest pitch system on a tent: no special clips or hardware to worry about. Multiple pole sleeves (where one pole must be threaded through numerous small pole sleeves) are the most awkward to deal with. We recommend avoiding multiple pole sleeves if at all possible. Clip systems, even though somewhat less convenient that continuous pole sleeves, offer the advantages of being lighter weight, fairly simple, and better ventilation.

How a good tent works

Double Wall tents: A tent only has one function - to protect you from the elements, those being wind and water. To keep you dry, parts of a double wall tent (the floor, lower sides, and the rainfly) are made of coated, waterproof material. Because the sewing needles are larger than the thread, the seams in this waterproof material also must be "sealed" , either at the factory (some manufacturers seal some or all seams in the factory) or by the owner. Most leak problems that we have seen are caused by lack of, or a poor job of seam sealing.

A double wall tent must also be "breathable". Each of us puts out about a half to a full pint of moisture in our breath each night. That moisture has to go somewhere, and the best place is to allow it to migrate outside. This is the function of the breathable, non-waterproof nylon (and mesh) in the main tent body and ceiling - It allows moisture to escape through the breathable fabric, so it will condense on the waterproof rain fly, not inside the tent. But don't be alarmed if some of the inside of the tent is still wet. This usually is the waterproof portion of the floor and lower walls. And since the "moist air" still comes in contact with these surfaces, moisture will still condenses on them (i.e. there is no way to "force" all of the moist air to exit through the roof!)

You will find condensation much reduced, if not eliminated, by leaving the door or window at least partially open at night. In the winter, you may also close the solid part of the door - but not all the way! Even the screen portion should be open to some degree, as it is absolutely essential that you have a source of free flowing fresh air into the tent. (In winter, your breath will condense and freeze in the inside of the tent. This will close every breathable pore on the tent body and will also freeze up the mesh in the screen. Without ventilation, you will literally suck all of the oxygen out of tent and will wake up with a horrendous headache - all caused by the lack of ventilation.

Single wall tents: Tents using a single wall construction strive to accomplish the same goal as double wall tents -- waterproof protection from the elements while allowing interior moisture to escape -- yet in a different way. Instead of an interior breathable wall with a waterproof rainfly suspended over it, they use a single wall of material that is waterproof but still breathable. This design has a couple of advantages:

• It reduces the overall weight and bulk of the tent
• It reduces the amount of pieces and hardware you need to worry about during setup and take down
• By eliminating the fly, some designs will shed wind better Achieve optimal ventilation and condensation control with minimum drafts (i.e. it's warmer).

Even though the tent material is breathable, it is usually less breathable than a comparable double wall design. Ventilation is key, and any good single wall tent also uses strategic vents to create a "chimney effect." By placing some vents low to the ground and others in the ceiling, fresh air is drawn in as the warm, moist air escapes. This allows for adequate air circulation without drafts from gusting winds. Another way single wall tents control condensation is with a soft polyester facing on the inside of the tent. This thin, somewhat fuzzy material keeps moisture from condensing into droplets, which drip inside the tent. Instead, moisture spreads out so it can eventually evaporate. Single wall tents are most often designed for four season use in high altitudes and/or . If there is one drawback to single wall designs, it is cost. Expect to pay at least $400 for a two person tent.