A good camping tent should keep you dry, comfortable, and provide protection.
Which camping tent... Dome, family, 4-season, backpacking or cabin is right for you? They dont repel rain, cold, snow, or biting bugs equally.
Camping tents are an important outdoor gear investment. This article will give you the information you need to make an informed decision about what kind is best for you.
First determine what type of camping youll be doing? Do you only go out in the summer or are you into 4-season camping? Make sure to prepare yourself for the worst possible type of weather youll encounter. Waking up to a foot of snow inside your summer camping tent because of a late fall blizzard isnt much fun. ;-)
After determining what seasons youll need your tent for, estimate how many people you will usually camp with...
Sizing It Up
Camping tents are rated by the number of people they can accommodate. But these ratings are like getting twenty circus clowns into a Volkswagon Beetle...goofy. :-) When they say its a 4-person tent, they mean 4 people and nothing else, no hiking gear, no room for boots, just 4 people that hopefully know each other pretty well. Seriously, if youre looking for backpacking tents or hiking tents and weight is a big concern, then get cozy and use the rating system, but otherwise Id think bigger.
Consider going 1-2 sizes bigger than what you need for a smaller camping tent. Better yet divide the "person rating" by 2 so youll have a decent amount of room if you have to stay inside due to nasty weather. If you thought cabin fever was bad wait until youre stuck in a downpour with 5 other people in a small tent for a few days.
My 4 man tent with 2 vestibules is perfect for 2 people and plenty of gear. Dry equipment is a good thing. This is still true with kids because the smaller they are the more room they take up with "kid stuff". Something else to keep in mind is that more room makes extended trips easier.
Consider the length and width of the camping tents youre looking at. If youre 6 feet tall youll want at least 7 feet to stretch out length-wise and 2-3 feet of width depending on how much you move in your sleep.
Another thing to consider is to make sure you have enough space for an inflatable air mattress. While its not mandatory Ill have to say it makes camping much more comfortable than lying on a cold pad. When I wake up I feel 300% better than when I slept on a pad on the floor getting stiff and cold. No its not a king-size pillow-top, but hey this is camping. ;-)
Since were on the subject of size, make sure that youll have enough height to kneel, partially-stand, or...
If you would like to learn more about how to pick a great camping tent, click here.