Best Camping Equipment Tents

If you're looking for a relaxing and affordable break from your daily grind, there is nothing like a few days or a week out of doors in a camping tent.

If you go camping some place remote, it's a taste of the real outdoors, as that experienced by adventurers and pioneers. But if you choose to do your camping in a designated camping park - with showers and all facilities handy, it is a great place to take your new girlfriend or partner who may not have tried camping before.

And many campers enjoy both types of camping, depending on whether they have a couple of days or a couple of weeks to relax and unwind..

The great thing about camping in tents is that a vacation in your portable outdoor shelter is not going to break the bank. In fact a camping vacation is one of the cheapest holidays that money, and a little planning, can buy.

Of course, you can't go tent camping without a tent of some kind. That's a given. So you need to check out camping equipment tents to see what is available and to obtain one that will be large enough to house you and your friends or family. Whether you want to go camping in a large and roomy family camping tent, or in a lightweight hiking tent that's a really tight fit for two... well that is entirely up to you. And it depends on the style of camping you are planning to enjoy.

Some people are happy to use a cheap 1 to 2 person hiking tent for the occasional weekend camp out. Others enjoy the convenience of one of those little pop up tents (usually a 2 person tent) that will spring open as soon as you unpack it from its disc-shaped bag. Some folks settle for a large family tent that will sleep six people in comfort, or even more.

So you may choose to think of these as 3 person tents, 4 person tents and so on. But if you want to be comfortable and have room for some of your camping gear inside your camping tent, then do yourself and get at least one size bigger than the number of people it is supposed to sleep. Like, if there are four of you, get a 5 person tent. If there are two of you get a 3 person tent, and if you are camping alone, buy a 2 person tent.

You will be a lot more comfortable that way!

For camping in a large group, you can obtain 10 person tents and beyond. Boy Scout camps often use tents of this size for their standing camps, those for a week or longer They are often referred to as Patrol tents because Boy Scouts organize their troops into 'patrols' of boys and girls, with an elected patrol leader in charge. (The adults are officially only there to help and advise.)

Then there are the actual designs of the camp tent you pick. The dome camping tent has become the most popular shape, and they work very well. They do work better if you pay a little more and purchase a tent that has an awning at its front. This gives you a little bit of shade from the sun, but most importantly, it can keep the rain from coming in to the tent itself each time somebody enters or leaves the shelter during inclement weather.

If you can buy a tent with a vestibule, you will not regret that either. The vestibule is a covered area where you can keep your boots and backpack where they are out of sight and sheltered from the rain, but they are not inside the inner tent with you. So they won't drip water or bring in mud and dirt. The vestibule is covered by the outer waterproof skin of the tent, the flysheet if you prefer, but the inner tent (which is usually insect-proof but allows air circulation) is smaller than the outside shape.

Whenever you buy camping equipment - tents included - you get what you pay for. A cheap camping tent that cost you $20 will start falling apart by the time you pack it up after the first use. It won't be a long term investment, but it might do for a handful of sleepouts in pleasant weather.

If your budget can handle it, a decent quality three-season tent will be much more comfortable in spring and fall as well as the obvious summer camping. It will also protect you from most rain and wind. There are four-season tents as well, which will handle most winter weather too. But these are much heavier and more expensive, because they have to be built for much harsher conditions. They are usually bulkier as well. So unless you are planning to go snow camping or suchlike, they would be overkill.