Tents

Camping and Outdoor Equipment

Tents

When it comes to camping one of the most important pieces of camping and outdoor equipment is the tent. Basically a tent is a man made shelter that consists of sheets of material or fabric draped over a shape frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope.. The smaller version of the tent can be free standing or attached to the ground with pegs. Larger tents however are normally anchored and supported by guy ropes and guy lines that are tied to stakes or pegs in the ground. The tent originally was used by Nomads as portable homes , but nowadays tend to be used more often in recreational activities such as camping.

The range of tent sizes varies with tents for just one person to sleep in all the way up to huge tents which can hold thousands of people. Tents can be used for shows such as the circus, hence the huge tent. However we will not go into the larger tents as this is a camping website and we shall just concentrate on the tents that are suitable for camping.

Camping tents can be categorised in to 2 forms. Those that are suitable for backpackers by being smaller and lighter, so that they can be packed into a backpack and carried long distances. Armies around the world use these types of tents for their troops to have temporary shelter when they are working under field conditions.

The second category of the tent is the larger and heavier tent that are carried in a car or a similar vehicle for recreational camping. These tents depending upon their size can be pitched in about half an hour to provide a secure and comfortable shelter on a campsite for families and groups of campers.

When it comes to the size of a tent and how many people can sleep inside it comfortably when camping, the tent is classified by berth or people eg 2 berth or 2 person. These ratings are applied by the manufacturers but every manufacturer is different. You may think because a tent is classified as a 2 berth tent, that it would be perfect sized for you and your partner to go camping with. And why wouldn’t you think this? However depending upon which manufacturer you buy a tent from you must check out whether they have taken into consideration your personal belongings and camping and outdoor equipment as well. When camping you will also have with you a rucksack, sleeping bag and other items of equipment. Will your 2 berth tent be able to hold you and your partner as well as all your equipment? To be safe when buying a tent it is a good idea to buy a size up from what you actually require. So if you are 2 people going camping then the tent you should have is a 3 berth tent.

Considerations of a tent

The main body of any tent can be made out of many different types of materials and fabrics such as cotton, felt, nylon and polyester. Cotton has been a popular material used for many years. A problem though with cotton is that it does absorb water. So in rainy conditions a cotton tent can become very heavy. However the associated swelling with this absorption of rain does block up any minute holes in the fabric which makes wet cotton more waterproof than dry cotton. Cotton tents are often treated with paraffin to make them become more waterproof.

Both nylon and polyester are much more lighter in weight than cotton and as a result do not absorb as much water as cotton. If suitable coatings are applied to nylon and polyester tents, they become extremely waterproof. But both nylon and polyester have a similar fault. Over time they will both deteriorate because of a slow chemical breakdown which is caused by ultraviolet light.

Design Factors Of A Tent

When it comes to designing and manufacturing a tent there are a few factors that the manufacturers have to take into consideration. The financial cost pf producing the tent is high on any list. The use of the tent has to thought of in great depth. If it is a backpacking tent then the tent will need to be carried for a long duration. So the weight has to be as light as possible and made to pack up as small as possible as well. The tent will need to be carried on the back or inside any pack. If the tent is to be used for touring then it’s likely to be pitched on a frequent basis. So the easier the tent is to pitch, then the more user friendly it becomes. If the tent is intended for campsite use or static use, then the criteria is for a tent to provide the most comfortable camping experience as possible.

When the tent will be used is another important consideration. A summer tent that will only be used in the summer months does not require the same technology as a tent used for winter camping. Manufacturers label their tents on how the tent will cope in a particular season. A one season tent is one that is only used in the summer and can only cope with light showers and small breezes. A three season tent is intended for Spring/Autumn/Summer use and is built that way. It will cope with heavy rain or even light snow and strong breezes. A four season tent is the full package and will cope with winter camping. But for real extreme conditions and expeditions an expedition tent is the perfect choice.

When it comes to the size of a tent the number and age of people camping with it have to be thought of. Also the features of the tent are decide by it’s size. In case of use in inclement weather some tents have their living space separate from the sleeping space. Also people may wish to have separate covered space for equipment such as mountain bikes. In summer temperatures can get extremely hot and the sun can burn. So shade is an important consideration. Some tents will have an awning to give necessary and comfortable shade.

Inside a tent is of paramount importance especially concerning the internal height. Manufacturers will always quote the internal height but the actual usable internal height may be different depending on the style of tent. For example ridge tents have a very steep sloping roof on them and this roof height is not really very usable to you. So the internal height registered with this particular style of tent will be a lot higher than the actual internal height that you can use. Dome tents on the other hand have gently sloping roofs and sides meaning that most of the internal space can actually be used. Tunnel tents have very good usable height all the way along their central line. So what we are saying here is that if you wish to ascertain the internal usable space of a tent, it’s not a good idea to just rely on what the manufacturers say. Work it out yourself by considering the wall height of the particular tent along with the slope of the roof. This way you will have a pretty good idea of the actual usable internal space. Try a tent by using the four useful height indicators. These indicators are lie down, sit, kneel and stand up.

Tent colour must also be thought about. There are actually some restrictions in some areas of some countries as to what colour a tent can actually be. You need to check this out before you go camping. Some countries prefer to reduce the visual impact of campsites. The best colours for low visibility are green, brown and tans. On the other end of the scale is the safety issue. If you are lost or stranded and pitch your tent for shelter until help arrives you want a tent with high visibility. These are unnatural colours such as bright yellow or reds. These bright tents are easily visible from the air. They are easily visible to ground vehicles as well and you not get run over. Another advantage of having a highly visible tent is that if you are on a highly populated campsite then it’s a lot easier to locate your tent.

Every tent has to be pitched in some shape or form. Certain camping styles require quick set up tents. But with tents there is a general rule to apply. The more robust a tent is then the longer in time it will take to set up and take down. There are of course exceptions to this rule. One that springs to mind is the Swedish company Hillberg who have their toughest tents made so that just one person can pitch it in bad weather whilst still wearing gloves.

Tent Styles

Because of technology and modern materials today’s tents come in many types, styles and shapes. The poles are the main structure of any tent and they can be designed to hold a tent in any way desired. The poles can be easily dismantled to make transporting them simpler. They can also be colour code or linked by chain or cord leaving you in no doubt as to where the poles should actually connect to form the skeleton of your tent. Nowadays the guy rope is not used as much as they were used too. So only a couple are required with a tent, though there are tents that do not even require them.

Types of tent poles

Rigid poles are found in tents that are freestanding and do not need any guy ropes. Pegs though do have to be used around the bottom edges of the tent. This type of tent with the steel rigid pole are usually heavy and it takes a very strong wind to move them. Frame tents and cabin tents used rigid poles. The frame tent is a double skin tent. They will have a living area and then one or more inner tents. The outer tent is draped over the frame. The living areas will be at least the same size as the sleeping area and there may also be other specific areas with windows or air vents in. Cabin tents are single skin tents used mainly in the U.S.A. They usually have nylon walls and a polyester roof with an awning at one end or even both ends. Inside they have removable dividers so you can design the internal space as to how you wish to have it.

Flexible poles are usually between 3 to 6 metres long and can be made from fibreglass or aluminium. They are strong and durable, yet very light so can easily be transported. What the flexible poles allow is the ability to shape a tent in the manner that they wish. Such tents using these flexible poles are: dome tents, tunnel tents and pop up tents.

Waterproofing is a requirement of any tent and the most popular treatments used to make fabrics waterproof are those of silicone impregnation or polyurethane coating. Tents require stitching as well and this stitching does make small holes in any fabric. The way tent manufacturers deal with these tiny holes is to seal or tape the stitching to maintain waterproof ness.

The resistance to rain by any tent is measured as a hydrostatic head in millimetres. This measurement will give the pressure of water required to actually penetrate a material. Light rain has a lower pressure than that of heavy or wind driven rain. When you stand on a groundsheet inside a tent that will increase the pressure of any water underneath it. Fabrics that have a hydrostatic rating of 1000 mm or less are best suited to just light showers and for summer camping the ideal rating is that of 1500 mm. For tents that are used all the year round you want a measurement of 2000 mm where expedition tents require at least a 3000 mm reading.

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