GO Outdoors Tent Buying Guide
The tent you purchase will be your home away from home and the only form of protection while you sleep between you and the elements. This guide helps you pick the right tent for you, whatever you plan on doing.
Although there are many different types of tent available there are features and designs that are common to all of them. Whether you are backpacking or setting up a base on a summer campsite, this guide should help you choose which tent is best for you by showing you the most common features. This guide covers off the following areas:
A Tent Perfect For Family Breaks
Designed for a multitude of activities and ideal for sheltered campsites as opposed to a rugged open top mountain, Family tents are ideal for novice campers. Family tents may have multiple sleeping areas for all the family and sewn-in integral groundsheets to maximise comfort for that homely feel, and for this reason they may be higher priced than a simple backpacking tent. Family tents also tend to be heavier as they are designed for out of the car camping trips.
A Tent Perfect For Trekking Holidays
Trekking tents allow you to venture away from crowded summer campsites and out into the back of beyond. These tents will be smaller in size to reduce weight and pack size, but are still larger than a simple backpacking tent. Designs are normally tunnel or geodesic shape, allowing the best in wind resistance, rigidity and stability in open areas such as fields.
A Tent Perfect For Mountain Expeditions
If you're set on a mountain expedition, your tent needs to be able to cope with strong winds and bad weather. Mountain tents have lower profiles for the maximum in wind resistance, stability, rigidity and ease of pitching. For the ease of use and light weights, these tents are usually a little more expensive but are worth it when weather is severe.
For Festivals: Look for pop up styles that spring up with no need to pitch, or a basic style of tent with no additional extras.
If a pole jams when being threaded into a sleeve it is likely one of the metal joints is caught. Check for snagging & release it.
If you find that a zip is difficult to close, adjust the pegging or pitching of the tent to alleviate the strain.
In high temperatures, the flysheet will tighten. Slacken guy lines to avoid over-stressing the attachment points.
Inner Pitching Tents
The poles are threaded through or clipped to the inner to pitch the tent
The poles are threaded through or clipped to the inner to pitch the tent
Pro's
- More streamlined in the wind as they have no external pole sleeves
- More stable as the fly and inner are tensioned together
Con's
- Inner gets wet when pitching in the rain
- Securing the flysheet can be difficult in windy conditions
- Can’t be pitched as one
- Less well ventilated
Outer (Flysheet First) Pitching Tents
The poles are threaded through or clipped to the flysheet to pitch the tent
The inners or bedrooms are then clipped inside. The inners can be left fixed in allowing the tent to be pitched as one.
Pro's Con's
- Can be pitched as one
- Inners stay dry when pitching in the rain
- Better ventilation
- Catch the wind more as they usually have external pole sleeves
- More space lost between the inners and flysheet
There are four main types of pole configuration, most flexi pole tents will fall in to one of these categories corresponding to the number of nodes it has. A node is the point where the tents poles cross.
Pro's and Con's of the number of nodes
Tunnel tents are in general the quickest to pitch and they are the most spacious type of tent for their weight. Tunnel tents also give more head room than most other tent with their maximum internal height running right down the centre of the tent (see red shaded area).
Tunnel are however less stable and must be fully guyed out regardless of conditions, this makes them less suitable for very hard or very soft ground. It is best to pitch tunnel tents either tail or nose into the wind. To improve stability some tunnels have internal bracing straps or extra poles running down the sides of the tent.
Tunnel style designs are usually used for Lowland, Family or Lightweight backpacking tents.
Dome tents are a good compromise between stability, pitching time and weight. Although not as light for their size or as quick to pitch as a tunnels they are more stable.
Dome tents however tend to have less head room, their highest point being located only at one point in the centre (see red shaded area).
The lack of head room is usually worked around by adding extra poles to make space for porches or bedrooms (see example). These add-ons are effectively single pole tunnels and have the same advantages and draw backs.
Dome style designs are very versatile and are used in many Lowland, Family and Trekking tents.
Semi Geodesic tents are much more stable in bad conditions but are heavier and a little more complex to erect.
Most pole configurations are available in slightly different variations but semi geodesic tents vary greatly with 2,3 or 4 nodes, different numbers of poles, and different pole patterns. If you’re not sure if it is Dome, Semi or Fully Geodesic just count how many times the poles cross.
Semi Geodesic style designs are also very versatile and are used in Lowland, Family, Trekking and some Mountaineering tents.
Fully Geodesic tents are the most stable tents available. Though heavy and complex to erect, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks if you are pitching your tent on a mountain and want it to stay there. This pole configuration is so strong that it can withstand heavy snow fall that would crush all other types of tent.
There are two main types of Fully Geodesic tent, one with 7 nodes (as seen here) and one with 5 nodes. The 5 node version is very similar but the two red poles don’t quite meet and cross at the sides.
Fully Geodesic style designs are quite specialised and are used mainly in Mountaineering tents.
The Square Profile Pole is a very simple development that can greatly increase the head room in a tent.
By simply adding two elbow sections (see examples below) at two points in the pole, the width of highest point in the tent (shown in red) is increased significantly.
This clever innovation can give a small tent extra space to sit up in and can make things like getting changed far easier.
In larger family tents it means standing room is available throughout the tent not simply down the centre.
The majority of the tents we sell are made from polyester and of those the vast majority rely on a PU (polyurethane) coating to make them waterproof. These coatings come in different strengths, this strength is measured in Hydrostatic Head (hh). The higher the hydrostatic head the more waterproof the material and the longer the waterproof coating will last.
Q. How is hydrostatic head measured?
Water pressure is exerted on the material by fixing it across the bottom of a tube and slowly filling it with water. At the point where the water is forced through, 'A' is measured in millimetres giving you the hydrostatic head.
For a tent to be classed as waterproof it must have a HH of at least 1500. Flysheets can go up to and beyond 5000hh, while ground sheets can be even higher.
Q. Why does condensation happen?
Condensation will occur inside most tents, many people wrongly believe that their tent is leaking and this is a combination of heat and breathing.
The air in a tent is warmed by the body heat of those inside and made moist by water vapour expelled form the occupants breath.
When this warm moist air comes in contact with the colder fly sheet of the tent the moisture forms on the inner surface.
If present in large enough amounts this moisture starts to drip from or run down the fly sheet giving the appearance of a leak, but this is completely normal for the majority of tents.
Q. How can condensation be avoided?
- Maximise your ventilation;
- Where possible leave vents, windows and doors slightly open.
- Only use storm flaps around the bottom of the tent when you need to.
- Control the moisture;
- Pitch your tent carefully so the fabric is taught and the inner and fly are not touching this will reduce drips and keep your inner dry.
- Wipe the inside of the fly with a soft cloth to remove excess moisture.
Q. How does the design of the tent effect severity of the condensation?
There are two main design characteristics that can effect and heavily reduce the levels of condensation;
Any part of a tent that is single skinned is especially prone to condensation. Dual skinned sections of a tent create an insulating gap between the warn moist air and the cold fly sheet that greatly reduces condensation. The inner also catches drips and prevents the occupants touching the damp fly sheet.
Some small budget and specialist tents are entirely single skin and will have the highest rates of condensation.
Tents are available with two different styles of ground sheet, standard and sewn-in.
Tents are available with two different styles of ground sheet, standard and sewn-in.
Standard Groundsheet
Although standard groundsheets don’t offer the same draft and insect protection as the sewn-in type they have less problems with condensation. To begin with better ventilation reduces the amount of condensation. Furthermore if condensation is particularly bad the gap between the ground sheet and the flysheet gives any condensation that pools a place to escape.
Sewn-in Groundsheet
Sewn-in groundsheets offer the best protection from drafts and insects but can suffer more from condensation as they are less well ventilated. Furthermore excessive condensation has nowhere to escape. Note – Dual skinned tents that have sewn-in ground sheets don’t have the same problem.
Insect Netting
These are important when trying to get a restful nights sleep in remote parts of the Northern Highlands without scratching yourself every minute.
Midges, mosquitos and other flying insects can cause havoc to your enjoyment of a camping trip, but can this can be easily solved by buying a tent with insect nettings, placed in as standard in most tents.
Insects prefer to live in areas nearby to still water; such as lakes, pools in rivers and also like to be sheltered in wooded areas away from the windy conditions. It is therefore easy to remove the effect of these insects by pitching your tent away from these areas.
Weight and packing size
If you are heading to the Peak for the weekend rather than car camping, then you will want a smaller packing, less heavy tent in your rucksack.
Always make sure your tent suits your every need and don't be afraid of measuring out your bag, comparing sizes and checking that your preferred tent will fit before you buy.
Doors
This can be put simply down as your entrance and exit to your tent, but also is a major influence on condensation and the ventilation of your tent.
If you are thinking of buying a tent with a sewn in ground sheet then keep an eye out for ventilation flaps and extra door panels to keep your tent free from the water.
Before Going Away
Have a practice session pitching your new tent. There are good reasons for doing this:
- It will allow you to familiarize yourself with the pitching process of your tent
- In the unlikely event of a defect, you will have the opportunity to resolve this before going away
Condensation
Condensation happens in most tents & is often confused with leaking. To minimise condensation:
- Ensure all available vents are fully open
- Keep all storm flaps rolled up unless needed
- Shake off or wipe away any moisture inside the flysheet; wiping will not impair the waterproofing of the flysheet
Pole Care & Repair
- When folding poles, start from the center to prevent excess strain on the shockcord
- If shockcord fails it is still possible to pitch your tent with care. New shockcord is available from all our stores
- Replacement pole sections for most tents are available at all out stores
Getting your tent back in the bag
For most tents, simply fold the inner & outer into a long thin shape, the same width as the pole bag, then roll the tent around the poles to help out the air.