When choosing a new tent it is important to understand what the tent will be used for and how many people it is intended to house. Different camping holidays and types of activity will probably require a different tent.
If you are planning hiking or cycling while carrying your tent you will have to be prepared to pay for a lightweight and high tech design to enable it to be easily carried.
There are currently eight leading tent designs, however as time goes on the features that distinguish these different types are blurring slightly. Below i will look at todays most popular designs.
Dome Tents
Dome tents are freestanding tents held up by there flexible poles. These tents have recently become the most polular option overtaking the conventional frame tents of yesteryear. Many dome tents have external porches and are particularly popular with hikers, cyclists and family campers. Lightweight versions are available but expect to pay a premium.
Frame Tents
There was a time when frame tents were all you could buy in your local camping store but have recently been replaced by the dome tent which is lighter and easier to pitch. This type of tent has interlocking poles that hold up the canvas structure and are usually triangular in construction, when you think “tent” this will usually be the one that is on your mind.
Geodesic / Semi-Geodesic Tents
This type of tent is particularly favoured by those into mountaineering and expedition camping probably due to there stable dome–type design. These tents will usually have approximately four poles that cross (giving them stability), however three pole designs (semi-geodesic) exist and are regularly used by hikers and backpackers.
Other types of tents available include folding campers (trailer tents), ridge tentss, tunnel tents and vis-a-vis designed tents.
If you are camping and buying a tent to suit more than two people it is strongly advised to increase the capacity of the tent by two, for instance if there are four people camping a six man tent would be perfect.