Tent-Reviews

Do you find the jargon and terminology around camping and backpacking tents confusing? This handy illustrated guide helps demystify tent terms and technology, so you can find the tent that best suits your needs. A-Frame Tent Classic pup-style tent patterned after old army tents where the walls form an ‘A’ …

If you want to buy a camping or backpacking tent, welcome to Babel! The made-up marketing jargon that tent manufacturers and outdoor retailers use to describe their products defies comprehension. It’s no wonder that so many tents are returned to retailers because they don’t measure up to the hype. One marketing term that …

There’s a critical design flaw in most of the double walled tents sold in the US. If it’s pouring rain and you go to set up your inner tent first, it’s likely to be soaked before you can cover it up with the rain fly. I’ve seen this happen to …

The EMS Velocity 1 is a lightweight, freestanding and affordable.  I think it’s an exceptional value, particularly if you plan on doing any backpacking where you need to camp on unprepared tent sites in the woods or other wilderness areas where unobstructed space is at a premium. Total Weight: 40.0 ounces (2 pounds 8.0 …

I usually replace the factory-supplied tent stakes that come with backpacking tents because they’re too heavy, too short, or they hurt my hands when I pull them out of the ground. My goto tent stakes are: MSR Mini-Groundhog Tent Stakes because the have superior holding power and stand up to rocky …

What is the best family camping tent? What are the must-have attributes of a family camping tent are? How many people should a family camping tent hold? What’s a reasonable price for a quality family camping tent? Best Family Camping Tents Most of our readers equate family camping to car camping, where there’s no …

The outdoor gear company, Wenzel, has started making family camping tents pre-treated with Permethrin, which repels and kill mosquitos and ticks, including those that carry Lyme Disease. I think this is a fantastic development and hope higher-end backpacking tent manufacturers follow Wenzel’s example and start selling backpacking tents that have been …

The Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 2 is a two person backpacking tent that weighs 2 pounds 4 ounces, making it an excellent choice for backpackers who want to reduce the weight of their gear but still prefer a double-walled tent. Just a few ounces heavier than the one person …

The Hilleberg Akto is one of the lightest weight, single person, 4 season tents ever made. First introduced in 1995, Akto was the gold standard by which lightweight ( 3 pounds 8 ounces) expedition class solo tents were judged for more than a decade. I first saw the Akto up …

I’ve taken my 4 season Scarp 1 Tarptent on two late autumn backpacking  trips over the past few weeks and I thought I’d write up some notes about my experiences so far. We’re right on the cusp of full winter conditions in New England, so you should expect at least …

There are two main differences between a tarp tent and a conventional tent: rain flies and ventilation. Tarp tents, like tarps, (hence the name) are really just single walled tents. They don’t have rain flies and I’ve never been in a situation where the absence of a rain fly has …