Essential knowledge for outdoor camping
Tent selection
What kind of tent is suitable for you?
Q: When do you use your tent during the year?
A 4-season tent is a must for winter camping. If you want to go on a polar expedition camping, you must ask someone who has polar field experience for advice.
If you are camping in March or October and November, even if these months are not strictly winter, it is better to carry a 4-season tent for safety reasons, or at least a convertible tent.
If you are just planning a leisure trip between May and September, a 3-season tent is enough.
Q: How many people do you usually travel with?
Do you usually travel with a partner? If so, you need at least a 2-person tent. In addition, are both of you big people? If so, you may need a 2-3 person tent or just carry a 3-person tent.
Does the number of people traveling with you change frequently? If so, you may need multiple tents to accommodate different group sizes. Of course, if you are on a tight budget, buy the one you will use most often and rent another one when the number of people traveling with you changes.
If you have someone to share your tent with you at night, don't hesitate to share the burden when carrying the tent. One person can carry the poles, another can carry the tent cover, etc.
Are you traveling alone? If so, you need to consider your preferences. If you need more space, bring a compressible 2-person tent; if you are fussy about carrying weight, you should choose a tent bag or an ultra-lightweight 1-person tent.
Q: What is the difference between the cheap tents sold in supermarkets and discount stores and the well-known professional mountaineering brands sold in professional outdoor stores?
The tents sold in department stores are mass-produced and have not paid careful attention to the details of workmanship. If you look closely at the stitching of a high-quality tent, you will find that the density of stitches per inch is much greater than the density of stitching on ordinary tents in discount stores. In addition, on high-quality tents, you can often find that the stitching is waterproofed with glue. This ensures the strength of the tent, so that it can still be used in bad weather. In addition, high-quality tents generally use high-grade aluminum alloy tent poles, while ordinary tents in ordinary stores often use fiberglass tent poles that are weaker and more easily damaged. Finally, high-quality tents usually provide better ventilation design and improve the comfort of using the tent.
Cheap tents often use large areas of nylon coating on the outer tent, and this material has poor air permeability. Therefore, if you use this kind of tent on a hot night, you will definitely sweat profusely in it. Tent Capacity
Each manufacturer classifies tents according to the number of people the tent can accommodate. Single tent, double tent, triple tent, etc. Of course, sometimes there are other specifications, such as 1-2 person tents, 2-3 person tents, etc.
Choosing the right tent size
So, how do you know if a tent is the right size for you?
Here is a little trick for choosing a tent size - it may not be perfect, but it is very practical: measure the size of your sleeping pad, and then choose a tent size that matches it.
For example: The popular Therm-a-Rest standard sleeping pad from Cascade Designs is 72 inches long and 20 inches wide (182.88cm long and 50.8cm wide). And width is a particularly critical standard - according to this standard, if you plan to choose a double tent, the tent must be at least 40 inches wide so that the people sleeping in it can barely sleep - and it will be very crowded when two people sleep. In this way, if you want to sleep more comfortably, you have to choose a wider tent when choosing a tent. And if you often toss and turn when you sleep, the tent must be wider.
Then choose the base fabric size of the tent based on this size. The base fabric size of the tent is often closely related to the sense of space and body temperature inside the tent. Of course, to be more precise, this indicator actually refers to the maximum width of the base fabric of a tent. Generally speaking, this maximum width often appears at the shoulder position when a person lies in the tent, and then the tent gradually narrows at the feet, and at the same time, the top of the tent gradually becomes lower. These will affect the space inside the tent. Of course, a tent with a spacious interior feels better to use, but such a tent will be relatively heavier.
Tips: Are you planning to choose a 2-person tent? Do you need to consider a more adaptable tent to better meet your future travel needs? For example, if you may also go on a solo hike or a long-distance bike trip, a 1-2 person tent may be a better choice. If you plan to travel with two people, but occasionally invite a friend or relative, then you can consider a 2-3 person tent, or just buy a 3-person tent. This will be more flexible and provide you with more spacious space when using it.
Extra Tips
Do you often need to camp in rainy weather? If so, consider choosing a larger tent and adding a removable ceiling inside the tent. This ceiling is like a mesh hammock hanging under the canopy. You can put items that need to be dried on it while you sleep at night and shake it from time to time to make them dry faster.
Putting a tarp or ground sheet under the tent can better protect the bottom of the tent and extend its life. In addition, folding the tent on the ground sheet is also cleaner.
Does everyone need a tent?
In the eyes of some strong people, tents are just a luxury burden. Some people even think that a tarp, a few ropes, and a smart brain are enough for a person to make a satisfactory shelter for himself in the wild.
It should be admitted that in most cases, this view still makes sense. But suddenly, bad weather comes unexpectedly, cold wind and cold rain fall all night, blowing you cold; or all kinds of blood-sucking bites suddenly swarm out and surround you, or many ants living in an anthill next to your camp suddenly show a strong interest in you. . . . . . . In the wild, all these situations are not uncommon. In view of this, most hikers are still willing to add a little burden to their backpacks and carry a tent to provide themselves with a safe and enclosed environment.
If carefully selected, a suitable tent will only add a little weight to your backpack, but in return, when a tent lies in your backpack, it will also give you confidence, so that you can safely and freely deal with most of the sudden environmental changes encountered during the journey.
