different Types of Tents

There are many dissimilar types of tents available for camping, each with their own extra features. Ranges consist of lightweight small, one man backpacking models for rugged camping to luxury family sizes with options of many bedrooms to accomodate large families for groups.

There are 4 basic designs of tent: Semi-Geodesic, Tunnel, Dome and Vis a Vis.

Tents Travel

Semi-geodesic have 3 or more poles, which cross over creating a dome style with extra rigidity. Take a look at the Outwell Hartford Xl tent for a prime example of this type of tent.

Tunnel styles are a superior style made up of hoop shaped poles that give a tunnel shape. Tunnels are more beloved with families as the style of the tents allow extra headroom. The Vango tigris 800 is a good example of a tunnel tent.

Vis a Vis tents key feature is the fact that the bedrooms are at opposite ends of the tent with the living area in the middle of the tent. The Outwell Texas L shows off the features of a Vis a Vis tent very well.

There are also 2 types of materials used in develop of tents, Polyester-Nylon, and Polycotton. Polyester-Nylon is more widely used than Polycotton, but durable and lightweight and is coated in a Dwr-Durable Water Repellent coating.

Polycotton is a much heavier gauge, luxury fabric, production it more comfortable and cosy. It is also very durable and has waterproof qualities with the need for a Dwr. Polycotton also has perfect breathability, production it warmer in the cold weather and cooler in the warm weather. Polycotton is used in more selected quality tents.

You will see as you browse any tent range that all Polyester-Nylon tents have a Hydrostatic Head rating. The hydrostatic head is a rating of how waterproof the fabric is. The British standard Hydrostatic Head is 1500mm. The ratings vary from brand to brand so be sure to check before purchasing any tent. Approximately all quality tents have a rating of 2000mm or higher.

Each tent style normally has dissimilar pole types.

The Dome style tents generally have fibreglass poles, as they need to be flexible to create the dome. Fibreglass poles are also lightweight and strong.

Steel poles are strong poles which are generally used in the tunnel style tents as these keep the tent rigid and allow the extra head height in the design.

Alloy poles are a lightweight, yet strong. You will find alloy poles in the lightweight backpacking tents and in the high-end Polycotton tents.

Packsizes vary from tent to tent. It may seem clear but the bigger the tent the bigger the pack. Some of the larger selected tents have 2 packs in order to make them a more manageable weight. Be sure when inspecting your tent that the pack size will fit in or on whichever mode of converyance you will be using.

different Types of Tents