Guide to backpacking tents
Get the right tent, and your rucksack will be lighter - but you'll still have the living space and protection to enjoy your camping expedition
Featured product: Blacks Octane 3
1. Design
Tents come in many different shapes. Geodesic designs are the most stable, making them perfect for camping in winter conditions or on mountains. Tunnel designs weigh less and are quite spacious, so they're best for backpacking where weight is the priority.
2. Guylines
A set of cords are usually provided to help hold the tent stable in high winds. Some tent designs need fewer guylines than others, as stability can also be controlled by careful use of the poles.
3. Poles
Poles give the tent shape and stability. Tents have alloy or fibre glass poles with shock-cords down the middle that allows them to be easily folded and easily opened. Most tents now come with colour-coded poles so you know which pole goes in which part of the tent.
4. Doors
The external doors allow entry to the porch and the inner tent. But they also provide ventilation and act as a windbreak and canopy when cooking. Ideally all zips should have double pullers so that the top and/or bottom of the door can be opened.
5. Weight
If you are backpacking, a tent spends most of the day in your rucksack, so weight's very important. But if you camp from the back of the car, weight is much less of an issue.
6. Pegs
Most tents come with light wire skewer type designs that are fine for general use. More durable pegs for different terrain can be purchased separately.
7. Midge nets
Mesh netting on the inner tent reduces weight and packed size, and increases airflow through the tent, which will aid the control of condensation.
8. Pitching
Inner-pitching-first designs save weight and tend to be more stable. But outer-pitched-first designs are better when put up in the wet as you can erect the outer, get inside, strip off your wet gear and then put up the inner in the dry. When striking (taking down) the tent you can do the reverse: pack the inner away and get your waterproofs on before hauling down the outer in the rain and packing it away.
9. Porch
This is the area that's outside the inner tent yet still under the cover of the flysheet. It's the best place for storing wet gear and it acts as a kitchen in wet weather.
10. Groundsheet
The groundsheet is the part you lie on inside the inner tent. In most modern tents it is sewn in and seam-sealed to prevent it from leaking. The best designs rise up the side of the inner like a bathtub.
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