A Perfect Tent: Buying the right three-season shelter

AMC Outdoors, September 2003

By Michael Lanza

Tent-makers are finally figuring out the two main things we want in a three-season tent: 1. We want a tent that is everything; 2. We want a tent that is nothing.

For a tent that we intend to lug into the backcountry, we want a stable, reasonably comfortable shelter that weighs next to nothing. And in a tent for the drive-in campground, we want simplicity of design that makes putting our temporary house up a breeze, yet we also want a spacious abode that’s nearly as homey as being…at home.

We ask a lot sometimes, don’t we?

The good news is that tent manufacturers apparently don’t consider our wishes unreasonable. Backcountry tents keep getting lighter without sacrificing stability, and while gaining versatility. And today’s frontcountry tents are nylon Taj Mahals that pop up almost as easily as their featherweight wilderness cousins. Whether you’re camping deep in the woods or a short hike from the ice cream shop, know what qualities to look for in a tent for the spring-summer-fall camping season — and the trade-offs — before you pick the one that’ll be the only thing between you and a stormy sky.

Car-camping Tents
When you don’t give a stake loop about how much the thing weighs because you’re only carrying it a few steps from trunk to tent site, get a model with generous interior space.

Look for:

• Enough room for your party, whether it’s just two of you or several adults and kids. Look beyond the description of a tent as three-person or six-person: Pitch it in the store (yes, they will let you do this) and get inside to scrutinize the elbowroom, headroom (adults can stand in some models), doorway size, and sleeping space. These tents vary significantly both in the amount of space and in layout
• Features you consider desirable, which may include multiple rooms (to separate adults and kids), two doors for convenient coming and going, a vestibule for muddy boots, windows with mesh panels for ventilation and viewing, roof vents, a floor that’s one big self-inflating mattress, and storage pockets.
• A design that’s easy for one or two people to pitch in minutes without requiring subcontractors and heavy machinery.

Trade-offs:

• Price varies tremendously, from under $100 to $500 and up. Factors driving up price include size, the number of poles (more poles increases stability in wind), features like an inflatable floor and vestibules, and general workmanship, which will ultimately affect durability. If you’re only camping under clear skies and don’t mind replacing a tent every three to five years, you’ll probably be happy with a cheap model. If you want a tent to last and like some of the frills, you’ll pay more.
• Stability in wind or when the tent fabric is wet and heavy is affected largely by the number, strength, and layout of the poles, and the tent’s shape. An aerodynamic design with angled walls sacrifices interior headroom for stability, while a tent with vertical walls and a high ceiling catches wind like a sail. If you’ll camp in places where winds can kick up, get a model with angled walls and loops on the rainfly to tie on guy lines for stabilizing the tent.
• Weather resistance in car-camping tents is often minimal, with a short rainfly that doesn’t protect you from windblown rain. Fair-weather campers won’t mind this, and the minimal rainfly does keep things cooler inside. But if you’re not the type to cancel camping plans because of a rainy forecast, look for a full-coverage rainfly.
• The more bells and whistles and the bigger the tent, the more time-consuming it can be to put up and take down.

Backcountry Tents
These models pursue contradictory objectives: to be as lightweight as possible, and yet provide adequate living space and stand up to wind and rain. Today’s tents have made great strides toward those holy grails compared to models of even five years ago, thanks to stronger materials, designs that waste no space or ounces, and modularity. Increasingly common are tents that can be pitched rainfly-only (meaning poles, rainfly, and usually an optional footprint, or floor, sold separately), allowing you to shave pounds when bugs aren’t an issue by leaving the canopy at home, and still have a shelter that’s ready for weather.

Look for:

• A design that’s fast and intuitive to pitch, so you’re not fumbling around in the dark or rain to put it up.
• Ways to ventilate the tent even in the rain, such as hooded vents, two doors for cross-ventilation, and two-way zippers on vestibule doors.
• In hot environments, lots of mesh in the canopy to cool things off inside.
• One big doorway or two doors, to avoid climbing over your companion.
• One or two vestibules with space for wet stuff if you often encounter bad weather.

Trade-offs:

• Price is affected by factors like size, features, general workmanship (i.e., durability), number of poles, and other design elements that affect stability. And, in a world of global commerce, where the tent is made (read: how cheaply). I’ll offer this very rough rule of thumb for two-person, three-season tents: most under about $120 are too flimsy for the backcountry, most priced from $120 to $200 are fine for fairly protected backcountry campsites, and most over $200 should handle almost any weather.
• Tents that go up using clips are usually lighter and ventilate more easily because air moves freely under the rainfly. Conversely, tents with pole sleeves go up more quickly and sometimes offer greater stability. Some tents employ a mix of clips and sleeves.
• Freestanding tents stand upright without being staked out, which is convenient when pitching the tent or picking it up to move it or shake out dirt. Nonfreestanding tents require staking out to stand, but they’re often lighter, less expensive, and just as sturdy as freestanding tents when properly staked and guyed. The fact is, you’ll want to stake and possibly guy out either type, anyway, for maximum stability.
• Many superlight tents (under about five pounds for a two-person) will stand up to moderate wind and keep you dry in rain, making them fine for the Northeast’s wooded campsites. But they may not be the best choice for campsites exposed to strong wind, and they usually compromise on interior and vestibule space — although lighter fabrics are leading to surprisingly roomy lightweight tents. I find that with many people, the more time spent in the backcountry, the more they’re willing to sacrifice tent space for a lighter pack on the trail.
• At the lightest end of the spectrum are single-wall tents, pyramid tents, and tarps. Single-wall tents — which forego a rainfly for a solid, waterproof tent canopy — provide as much protection from weather and bugs as standard double-wall tents, but collect condensation inside. Pyramid tents go up like a teepee, with one tall center pole and the circular perimeter staked out; very lightweight for the space they provide (many lack a floor), they are also susceptible to condensation. Tarps — held up by one or two poles (often trekking poles) and staked or guyed to rocks or trees — are best for trips with reliably fair skies and no bugs (or as a roof over snow walls in winter).

So go ahead and seek shelter. While you might not get everything, you can get a lot closer to nothing.

—Michael Lanza is author of The Ultimate Guide to Backcountry Travel, from AMC Books.