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What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

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  • What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

    I keep wanting to get out and go backpacking once in a while and I have a hard time dropping 2-3 hundred bucks on a tent when I'm not sure why they are so expensive. What makes the best tent? What features make it worth the price?

    For you seasoned backpackers out there, what do you look for when you are choosing a backpacking tent? Weight and size when packed obviously makes sense to me, but if you could buy your dream tent what would it look like and what features do you want?

  • #2
    Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

    Expense comes with better quality. Better materials, better stitching, stronger zippers, lighter poles, better waterproofing, etc.
    You also must consider how much interior room you want. How many people will be in there? Do you want room inside for your gear or just enough for sleeping?
    This article gives some good info: http://www.backpacker.com/backpackin...nts/gear/12153
    Advice I was given a long time ago that makes a lot of sense in the long run: Buy the best you can afford.

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    • #3
      Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

      I look first at weight, then overall design. I want:

      1. full rain fly
      2. ease of pitch
      3. no rain or drips inside when i open the door (obviously driving rain will blow rain in the tent no matter what)
      4. big vestibule (i do not like dragging dirty gear inside the tent)
      5. room to sit up

      Buy the best tent you can afford, but if you have to choose between a good tent and a good sleep system (bag and pad) then throw more money at the sleep system.

      The better tents are more expensive because there is more R&D that went into them, they are made of better materials (example: DAC poles instead of fiberglass), and generally are more user friendly.

      This is my dream tent for regular three season use... https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/De...nt/FlyCreekUL2

      This is my dream tent for winter camping... http://www.kifaru.net/sawtooth.html
      Nights spent outside in 2012: 4

      Life is a verb.

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      • #4
        Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

        Hammocks CAN be lighter and faster to set up. Not all are.

        I am not against hammocking, I just cannot because the dog would not enjoy it.
        Nights spent outside in 2012: 4

        Life is a verb.

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        • #5
          Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

          I am thinking about doing the hammock and rain fly setup myself, but some places might not have a place to set it up. Last time I brought both. Slept half the night in the hammock, and retreated to the tent when bugs and cold got a bit much.
          Nights spent outdoors this year: I lost track

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          • #6
            Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

            How long is a piece of string. If you are just trying it out for the first time see if you can borrow a tent. A couple of days lugging it around and you will start to understand what YOU want in a tent. For me I cant go past my Tarptent. www.tarptent.com Sooooo light and does the job for me when I am out by myself. I have two larger and heavier tents that I use when walking with the kids. I also am the proud new owner of a Kodiak which is nowhere near backpacking, so as I said borrow one and see what YOU want it to do. It wont take long to work out.
            Total night under canvas 2012: 22

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            • #7
              Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

              HogSnapper - Love the hammocks, funny story the first time I used one I got in quite late and just tied up to two trees that were pretty much in the middle of a creek. (long story) but at about 3am I woke up with my butt in the water. Needless to say the two stout looking trees werent quite as stong as I had hoped and I had pulled one overslightly and I had sunk into the water. NOTE TO SELF- ALWAYS FIND BIG TREES.
              Total night under canvas 2012: 22

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              • #8
                Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

                The only problem that I have with Hammocks...I have an ENO DoubleNest, Pro-Fly, with the bugnet that I got for kayak trips, it's good, but a little heavier than my MSR Hubba Hubba. and I have room for my gear in the Hubba Hubba's 2 vestibules. However, I like the idea of not having to worry about the terain with a hammock. You don't need a good footprint for a hammock, as long as you have two trees...you're good to go!
                2012 - Nights spent in the back country: 12

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                • #9
                  Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

                  One professional article form REI web:http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/arti...king-tent.html Wish this helps. And if you would like an inexpensive one , I recommend geartrade.com for an used one.
                  I've no house in the city, just a camping tent in the wild.

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                  • #10
                    Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

                    Originally posted by zack0109 View Post
                    One professional article form REI web:http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/arti...king-tent.html Wish this helps. And if you would like an inexpensive one , I recommend geartrade.com for an used one.
                    I would normaly agree on used stuff to save a buck...but with a tent...Sorry, I can't agree. The last place you want to find out that a used tent you bought leaks is on the trail. There's four systems that are the most important out on the trail (in my opinion...backpackers correct me if I'm wrong)...Boots, tent, backpack and sleep system (sleepingbag and pad). Any one of these not being in good working order...I think could make for a bad trip in the woods. I don't think I would buy any of the above used...maybe a backpack...only if I could see it before I bought it. But an on-line purchase, no way.
                    2012 - Nights spent in the back country: 12

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                    • #11
                      Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

                      Going back to the hammock issue, some campgrounds and forests won't allow the use of anything that attaches to a tree.

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                      • #12
                        Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

                        Here is an example. If you look under the rules and regulations paragraph under the weapons section...
                        http://www.nps.gov/prwi/planyourvisit/oakridge.htm

                        "Ropes, clotheslines, tentlines, hammocks and nails are not to be attached to trees or other vegetation."

                        Parks Like Pocomoke State Park in MD won't allow attaching to trees but provide hammocks stands. I imagine other parks may do the same.

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                        • #13
                          Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

                          Not on the AT! Wow! If they told all the AT through hikers that they couldn't use hammocks, there would be a riot.
                          2012 - Nights spent in the back country: 12

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                          • #14
                            Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

                            Have you thought about a single person tent or even a bivy sac? I've always thought I would enjoy a solo tent. However some of the guys I know prefer to sleep under a tarp. I have a couple of tarps but have not tried them in that way yet. A tarp (a good one that is) would definitely be the lightest and easieast to pack...
                            Happy Trails!

                            IK


                            http://www.everything-about-camping.com

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                            • #15
                              Re: What are the most important factors in choosing a backpacking tent?

                              Hammocks are banned here out west in our campgrounds. Only some private campgrounds and some on Indian Reservations will permit you to attach ANYTHING to a bush or tree. Those days are long gond out here in the Southwest! The rangers will detach your gear, leave a warning, and toss you out if you don't follow along. You'll need to pack your own frame to use a hammock. As a result of these rules, we've bought Coleman telescoping lantern hangers and fiberglas flagpoles utilizing umbrella stands that screw into the ground.
                              “People have such a love for the truth that when they happen to love something else, they want it to be the truth; and because they do not wish to be proven wrong, they refuse to be shown their mistake. And so, they end up hating the truth for the sake of the object which they have come to love instead of the truth.”
                              ―Augustine of Hippo, Fifth Century A.D.

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