Tent Buying Guide

Tents Camping has produced this handy little guide to help you understand some of the terminology used to describe tent designs.  Although today tent designers are cherry picking the best features from tent designs to come up with the perfect tent: a tent which is easy to pitch, large but stable and extremely waterproof with no problems with condensation.  This tent has yet to be built so until then here are the main designs of tents.

1. Dome tent – These tents are very stable due to their aerodynamic design.  Surprisingly the stability comes from only two or three  flexible poles which form a free standing dome.   This design offers good headroom, and is popular with families, backpackers and cyclists.
2. Geodesic tent – One of the main features of these tents is their incredible stability. The stability stems from its ingenious design, 4 or more poles crossing which gives a dome like appearance.  Geodesic tents are commonly used on expeditions and mountaineering.
3. Folding campers or trailer tent or folding campers are growing in popularity since they offer a much greater level of comfort compared to tents.   These tents are towed behind a car and open up to the size of a caravan and are capable of sleeping up to 4 people.
4. Frame Tent – Frame tents give great all round head room and have steep walls.  Frame tents derive their stability from the number of poles and guys used and consequently can take a long time to pitch.
5. Ridge tent – This is the traditional shape we associate with tents.  This classic triangle shape does not have good stability and the sloping side reduces the living area.
6. Hoop tent – The hoop tent is designed to be space efficient, lightweight and easy to pitch.  This is done by two or three flexible poles acting as a spine which form a tunnel.  These tents are popular with those who require a lightweight tent and commonly used by backpackers and cyclists.
7. Vis-a-vis tent – This is a tent which from the outside looks like one tent but in the inside there are two tents, separated by a living area.  One of the tents can be removed to allow a greater living area.
8. pop-up tent – These are growing in popularity due to their usefulness and compactness.  Pop up tents are literally springing up everywhere, from beaches to river banks and from back gardens to the outback pop up tents instant appeal seems to be enduring.

Hopefully Tents Camping have provided you with a flavour of what you need to be able to buy the right tent.  Although we endeavour to be as concise and accurate as possible we would welcome any further comments about design and styles of tents.