Camping Tents

Getting ready to buy camping gear?

As you put your equipment list together, spend a little time considering one of the most important items you need -- a tent.

Think about it. It's more than just a roof over your head in the wilderness; it needs to be easy to erect, have some storage space, allow for ventilation when it's warm, and, of course, not leak in a downpour. Whether it be a family tent or a light-weight backpacking tent, the principles are pretty much the same.

Join me after the jump, to see some of the things you should look for in a camping tent.

There are three basic shapes of tents:

Dome -- a rounded roof configuration, often having multiple rooms and doors.

Cabin -- vertical walls; generous headroom.

A-frame -- think pyramid shape. This design is little-used for family or backpacking camping, given the inherent lack of headroom.

On to the important details of any of the tents; in no particular order of importance:

A vestibule, or storage place for boots, food, extra clothing and miscellaneous junk. You should be able to reach it from the inside of the tent itself.

Ventilation is critical to the proper functioning of the tent. A properly ventilated tent will have an abundance of mesh walls to allow the moisture generated by the inhabitants to move to the outside. The zippers will get you in and out of the tent.

Hand in hand with the need for ventilation is keeping you dry in the rain. This is accomplished by the tent rain fly, which is attached to the outside of the tent and provides an airspace over the the mesh ventilation panels.

The tent materials should be rip-stop nylon, coated with polyurethane in the appropriate places on the tent floor and fly. The seams should be taped and waterproofed, of course.

The floor of the tent should extend a few inches up the sidewalls -- the "bath tub" -- to keep water from getting into the tent at the bottom seams.

The tent should be erected on a "footprint," an abrasion-resistant groundcloth, to keep rocks, roots, and such stuff from puncturing the tent floor. It should be slightly smaller in size and shape than the tent floor so it doesn't become a "funnel" to move water under the tent.

Tent poles -- aluminum, with shock-cord holding the individual pieces in place when the rods are assembled.

Last, but not least -- the weight of the tent is important, particularly if you are backpacking or setting up your family tent more than a few hundred feet from your vehicle. By way of example, I have a Sierra Designs Lightning backpacking tent that weighs in at just under four pounds; it provides me all the comfort and weatherproofing I need.

OK; those are my thoughts on camping tents. Check with an experienced camper or outdoor equipment vendor to see what's right for you.