How to Choose a Tent
There are many different types of tent available today, and not just different sizes.
Different strengths, different shapes, different levels of water resistance.
You need to identify your exact requirements before choosing your tent, otherwise you could end up with a tent that doesn't meet your needs, or is way too expensive for what you are going to use it for.
How strong does your tent need to be? Will it just be used in the summer? If so, strength will not be much of a consideration.
Will it be used year round, including some extreme conditions? Well, then you'll probably need to look at getting something with really strong poles, like aluminium, instead of the standard fibreglass poles.
The Hydrostatic Head (HH or mmHH) is a measure of the water resistance of the tent.
Summer tents will usually be rated between 750mmHH and 2000mmHH, which means that it could withstand a column of water 750-2000mm high.
More extreme tents may go up to 7000mmHH or even higher.
3000mmHH is good for use from spring to Autumn.
Tents lose their waterproof qualities over time and will need to be re-proofed.
So, the higher the number, the longer it will last before it needs reproofing, and the better it will be when it is re-proofed.
Most serious tents are doubled skinned these days.
The idea is that if water gets past the outer layer, it will run down the inside of the outer layer without reaching the inner layer, thus keeping you dry.
If water gets into single skinned tent, the water will run down the inside in the main compartment and you will get wet.
A single skinned tent is fine for minimal use though, where it will stay waterproof anyway.
They are ideal for festivals where you only expect to use it once before it gets completely trashed anyway.
If you are going to be keeping your tent in your car when travelling around, the weight of your tent is largely unimportant.
but if you are going to be carry it around in your rucksack, you'll need to take size and weight into consideration.
Tents are designed to people, not bags.
So a 2 person tent will be big enough for two people to sleep in, but not their bags.
If you have a car to keep your bags in, this is fine.
However, if you are backpacking, you will either need to get a tent that fits and extra person to make room for your tent, or get a tent with a porch or other extension so that your bag can fit in it.
If there is a large group of you backpacking, it may be wise to get several smaller tents than one large tent.
It is difficult to spread a 9 person tent equally around 9 people's rucksacks so some people will be carrying a lot of extra weight, and others will be carrying nothing at all.
If this is likely to create tensions, get smaller tents.
20 to 30 years ago, every tent was a ridge shaped tent.
But now, these are almost impossible to buy and most tents are either dome, tunnel or geodesic.
These designs provide much more strength than the old ridge designs.
Under heavy wind conditions, modern tents tend to deflect and then just spring back into shape when the gust subsides.
Be aware that tunnel tents are very strong across the tunnel, but are much weaker down the tunnel.
So always pitch them perpendicular to the wind.
If you are going to be using your tent in anything but ideal conditions, you should really invest in a stronger dome or geodesic design.
Dome tents are very strong in all directions and are the standard these days.
Geodesic designs add a little bit more weight but are the strongest design you can get.
If you are going to be using your tent in extreme conditions, a geodesic design is essential.
Different strengths, different shapes, different levels of water resistance.
You need to identify your exact requirements before choosing your tent, otherwise you could end up with a tent that doesn't meet your needs, or is way too expensive for what you are going to use it for.
How strong does your tent need to be? Will it just be used in the summer? If so, strength will not be much of a consideration.
Will it be used year round, including some extreme conditions? Well, then you'll probably need to look at getting something with really strong poles, like aluminium, instead of the standard fibreglass poles.
The Hydrostatic Head (HH or mmHH) is a measure of the water resistance of the tent.
Summer tents will usually be rated between 750mmHH and 2000mmHH, which means that it could withstand a column of water 750-2000mm high.
More extreme tents may go up to 7000mmHH or even higher.
3000mmHH is good for use from spring to Autumn.
Tents lose their waterproof qualities over time and will need to be re-proofed.
So, the higher the number, the longer it will last before it needs reproofing, and the better it will be when it is re-proofed.
Most serious tents are doubled skinned these days.
The idea is that if water gets past the outer layer, it will run down the inside of the outer layer without reaching the inner layer, thus keeping you dry.
If water gets into single skinned tent, the water will run down the inside in the main compartment and you will get wet.
A single skinned tent is fine for minimal use though, where it will stay waterproof anyway.
They are ideal for festivals where you only expect to use it once before it gets completely trashed anyway.
If you are going to be keeping your tent in your car when travelling around, the weight of your tent is largely unimportant.
but if you are going to be carry it around in your rucksack, you'll need to take size and weight into consideration.
Tents are designed to people, not bags.
So a 2 person tent will be big enough for two people to sleep in, but not their bags.
If you have a car to keep your bags in, this is fine.
However, if you are backpacking, you will either need to get a tent that fits and extra person to make room for your tent, or get a tent with a porch or other extension so that your bag can fit in it.
If there is a large group of you backpacking, it may be wise to get several smaller tents than one large tent.
It is difficult to spread a 9 person tent equally around 9 people's rucksacks so some people will be carrying a lot of extra weight, and others will be carrying nothing at all.
If this is likely to create tensions, get smaller tents.
20 to 30 years ago, every tent was a ridge shaped tent.
But now, these are almost impossible to buy and most tents are either dome, tunnel or geodesic.
These designs provide much more strength than the old ridge designs.
Under heavy wind conditions, modern tents tend to deflect and then just spring back into shape when the gust subsides.
Be aware that tunnel tents are very strong across the tunnel, but are much weaker down the tunnel.
So always pitch them perpendicular to the wind.
If you are going to be using your tent in anything but ideal conditions, you should really invest in a stronger dome or geodesic design.
Dome tents are very strong in all directions and are the standard these days.
Geodesic designs add a little bit more weight but are the strongest design you can get.
If you are going to be using your tent in extreme conditions, a geodesic design is essential.
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