Tents for Camping

Tents come in all tents and sizes nowadays, from lightweight one-person shelters to chalet tents which will house a family of six to eight people easily.

Long gone are the days when tent camping meant camping under canvas. Now, in the 21st century, tents are designed by computer - allowing us domes and other shapes which give plenty of inside space but use a minimum of materials. And the materials themselves have changed; instead of canvas or 'cotton duck' (a type of fabric) today's tent uses lighter, stronger synthetic materials. They have built in groundsheets (floors) and insect mesh to keep out the bugs.

The old wooden tent poles of my boy scout days have been replaced by thin but strong aluminum tubes or bendable fiberglass poles. Ridge tents and walled tents are gone the way of the old army bell tent of the 19th century.

You no longer need a degree in "campology" to put up a tent. Modern tents assemble in just a few minutes, and there are few tent pegs needed to anchor it down or guy lines to keep it in shape. The flexible poles keep it in shape, and just a few pegs are necessary to keep it from blowing away if there's nobody inside.

The lightest tent is just a fly sheet or tarp, which will keep any light rain off you. But if bugs are a problem, you'd better make another choice. But you won't save much weight by using a tarp because you'll still need some fort of groundsheet underneath you. It's to keep out the cold damp which rises from the ground during the night. One option is to use a bivy bag over your sleeping bag. The material should keep out the rain, but allow your body moisture to escape.

The word 'bivy' comes from the military term 'bivouac' - a French word meaning to make camp for the night. But a modern 'bivy bag' is light to carry and an excellent part of your survival kit - especially as a precaution if you're ever hiking where bad weather could come upon you suddenly, such as in the mountains.

A flyweight hike tent or even a jungle hammock will keep you dry and free from mosquitoes and midges which regard you as their next meal.

If you are camping with a bicycle, or even a motorcycle, you can carry more gear than the hiker, backpacker or bush-walker who travels by shanks pony (using your legs). You can choose a tent with more floor area by maybe a little more head-room by choosing the next size up. If you're camping solo you can get a two person tent instead of a one-person tent. And if you're a couple, you might pick a three-person or even a four-person tent, so you'll have room to be more comfortable. (That's for pleasant weather. In cold weather, a smaller tent will be warmer to sleep in.)

Once you've got four wheels to travel on, you can carry whatever fits into your automobile, and that's a lot. A compact family car is fine for a couple, but you are limited by the small boot/trunk at the back. There's more room in a station wagon or a recreational vehicle (RV) or four-wheel-drive vehicle (4WD), as they are called outside the USA. They have almost as much storage space as a pickup truck or a van.

If you have heaps of space, then the only limit is the one on your credit card - but remember, you have to pack and unpack all your camping equipment, so don't go overboard.

Most tents today are dome-shaped. They have a breathable inner lining of insect netting, so you aren't bothered by flies or mosquitoes. They all have a waterproof outer skin which keeps out the rain but allows a controlled amount of air to circulate, so condensation isn't a problem.

A vestibule in a small tent will give you extra room inside to keep your clothes and camping gear out of the weather, and a porch or awning will let you enter or exit the tent during a rainstorm without the inside becoming flooded. The cheapest dome tents don't have these things, so you may want to spend just a little bit extra now to save the inconvenience later. A better-built tent will also last longer.