How do I choose a tent?

The specification list on a tent is mostly meaningful, which is unusual, but the numbers do not mean what people assume. Two decisions dominate: how you will carry it, and what weather you expect to be in. Everything else follows.

Step by step

1. Decide how it gets to the pitch.Carried on your back for miles, or lifted out of a car boot. A backpacking tent trades space, headroom and durability for weight. A car-camping tent can weigh whatever it likes and can therefore be far more comfortable. Buying a heavy family tent for backpacking, or a cramped one-kilo tent for a family holiday, is the fundamental mistake.
2. Add one to the stated capacity.A 'two-person' tent means two sleeping mats side by side with no room for anything else. For comfortable use with rucksacks and space to sit up, buy a three for two people, and a four or five for a couple with a small child. This is the single most useful rule about tents.
3. Read the season rating for what it is.Two-season is summer and fair weather. Three-season handles spring to autumn including wind and rain, and covers the great majority of UK camping. Four-season means winter and mountain use: stronger poles, more guys, lower-cut flysheets, and less ventilation, which makes them hot and condensation-prone in summer.
4. Check the hydrostatic head, and the seams.Hydrostatic head is the water pressure in millimetres a fabric withstands before leaking. In the UK, 2,000mm is a legal minimum for calling something waterproof but is marginal in a real downpour; 3,000mm and up on the flysheet is a sensible target, and groundsheets want more, because your body weight presses water through. Taped seams matter as much as the number.
5. Look at the shape, because that is what handles wind.A geodesic tent, with poles crossing repeatedly, is the strongest and is what mountain tents use. A tunnel tent is efficient and roomy and must be pitched end-on to the wind and guyed properly. A simple dome is easy and adequate in shelter. A pop-up tent has almost no wind resistance and is for festivals in a field.
6. Check whether it pitches flysheet-first or all-in-one.In British rain this matters. A tent that pitches inner-first, or with inner and fly separate, soaks the inner while you put it up. Flysheet-first or all-in-one pitching keeps the sleeping area dry, and it is worth prioritising here more than in drier countries.
7. Value the porch.A porch is where wet boots, rucksacks and the stove live, and it is the difference between a tent that works in rain and one that does not. Two porches on a two-person tent, one per door, is a luxury that stops being a luxury after a wet weekend.
8. Check the poles and pegs.Aluminium alloy poles are stronger, lighter and more repairable than fibreglass, which splinters and is the usual failure on cheap tents. Supplied pegs are almost always inadequate — budget for a set of proper pegs suited to the ground you camp on.
9. Look at ventilation.Condensation is the most common complaint about tents and is a ventilation problem, not a leak. Vents that can be opened in rain, a fly that does not touch the inner, and a mesh inner door all matter.
10. Weigh the weight honestly if you are carrying it.Packed weight includes poles and pegs; 'minimum weight' often excludes pegs and stuff sacks. For backpacking, aim for around a kilogram to a kilogram and a half per person and expect to pay for anything much lighter.
11. Pitch it in the garden before you go.Every tent has quirks, and finding them in daylight at home rather than in the dark and rain on a hillside is worth an hour. It also confirms nothing is missing from the bag.

Tips

• A dark-coloured inner keeps the tent dim in early summer light; a bright one makes it easier to find things. Blackout inners genuinely help children sleep past four in the morning.
• Guy lines are not optional. A tent that is pegged but not guyed will flap all night and can fail in wind that a properly guyed tent shrugs off.
• Buy a footprint or cut a groundsheet protector from builders' polythene — cheaper than replacing a punctured groundsheet, and it keeps the packed tent cleaner.
• Check the door design. A door that opens away from the prevailing wind, and that you can operate from inside a sleeping bag, matters at three in the morning.
• Second-hand tents are good value if you pitch them before buying and check the seam tape, which is what fails with age.

Common mistakes

• Buying to the stated capacity — Manufacturers measure to a mat width per person with no allowance for kit, so a two-person tent is genuinely a two-person tent only if you are prepared to sleep touching with your rucksacks outside.
• Choosing on hydrostatic head alone — Seam taping, the fly reaching the ground, the groundsheet spec and pitching order all matter as much. A 5,000mm fly with untaped seams still leaks.
• Taking a pop-up tent to an exposed pitch — They have effectively no wind resistance and a very short flysheet. In a gale they fail, and abandoned pop-up tents are the reason many festivals now charge deposits.

Alternatives

• Tarp: Lightest and most flexible shelter, needs skill to pitch well and offers no insect protection. Excellent for experienced campers in woodland.
• Bivvy bag: A waterproof shell over the sleeping bag. Minimal, very stealthy for wild camping, and grim in prolonged rain with nowhere to sit out a storm.
• Trekking-pole shelter: Uses your walking poles instead of tent poles, saving significant weight. Needs decent pitching technique and good ground for pegs.
• Air-beam tent: Inflatable beams instead of poles — quick to pitch and comfortable for family camping. Heavy and dependent on a pump, so car camping only.
• Roof tent or campervan: Off the ground, quick and dry, and limited to where you can drive and park legally overnight.

Questions people ask