Texsport Cumberland Vestibule Tent

Suitable for six campers, vestibule-style tent accommodates a family during three seasons. An awning over main door adds extra weather protection, and a removable mud flap outside the door helps keep the tent clean. Three D-style doors and three windows with zippered storm flaps and large roof panels let in lots of light and air and are made of fine mesh to screen out insects as small as no-see-ums. Measuring 58 inches high at its tallest point, the 11-feet x 9-feet tent provides 99 square feet of space. It sets up on a hub-cap pole system with shock-corded fiberglass poles. Durable steel clips secure tent to frame. Heavy-duty taffeta walls are flame-retardant. The rainfly is rip-stop press print. The floor is rip-stop polyethylene. Stakes and a carry/storage bag come with the tent. Setup instructions are included.

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Selecting a Tent
Fortunately, there are all kinds of tents for weekend car campers, Everest expeditions, and everything in-between. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Expect the Worst
In general, it's wise to choose a tent that's designed to withstand the worst possible conditions you think you'll face. For instance, if you're a summer car camper in a region where weather is predictable, an inexpensive family or all purpose tent will likely do the trick--especially if a vehicle is nearby and you can make a mad dash for safety when bad weather swoops in! If you're a backpacker, alpine climber or bike explorer, or if you like to car camp in all seasons, you'll want to take something designed to handle more adversity.

Three- and Four-Season Tents
For summer, early fall and late spring outings, choose a three-season tent. At minimum, a quality three season tent will have lightweight aluminum poles, a reinforced floor, durable stitching, and a quality rain-fly. Some three-season tents offer more open-air netting and are more specifically designed for summer backpacking and other activities. Many premium tents will feature pre-sealed, taped seams and a silicone-impregnated rain-fly for enhanced waterproofness.

For winter camping or alpine travel, go with a four season model. Because they typically feature more durable fabric coatings, as well as more poles, four-season tents are designed to handle heavy snowfall and high winds without collapsing. Of course, four-season tents exact a weight penalty of about 10 to 20 percent in trade for their strength and durability. They also tend to be more expensive.

Domes and Tunnels
Tents are broadly categorized into two types, freestanding, which can stand up on their own, and those that must be staked down in order to stand upright. Freestanding tents often incorporate a dome-shaped design, and most four-season tents are constructed this way because a dome leaves no flat spots on the outer surface where snow can collect. Domes are also inherently stronger than any other design. Meanwhile, many three-season models employ a modified dome configuration called a tunnel. These are still freestanding, but they require fewer poles than a dome, use less fabric, and typically have a rectangular floor-plan that offers less storage space than a dome configuration. Many one and two-person tents are not freestanding, but they make up for it by being more lightweight. Because they use fewer poles, they can also be quicker to set up than a dome.

Size Matters
Ask yourself how many people you'd like to fit in your fabric hotel now and in the future. For soloists and minimalists, check out one-person tents. If you're a mega-minimalist, or if you have your eye on doing some big wall climbs, a waterproof-breathable bivy sack is the ticket. Some bivy sacks feature poles and stake points to give you a little more breathing room. Also, if you don't need bug protection and you want to save weight, check out open-air shelters.

Families who plan on car camping in good weather can choose from a wide range of jumbo-sized tents that will accommodate all your little ones with room to spare. A wide range of capacities is also available for three- and four-season backpacking and expedition tents. Remember, though, the bigger the tent you buy, the heavier it will be, although it's easy to break up the tent components among several people in your group. It's also helpful to compare the volume and floor-space measurements of models you're considering.

There are now so many camping tents on the market that it seems an almost impossible task to try to choose one. There are dozens of sizes, scores of different designs and all wrapped up in many different prices. However there is a way to make the choice a simpler one and that is by concentrating on three basic elements which are size, strength and cost. This article will look at how to evaluate a tent based on these three points and discus some overall considerations that should be taken into account when choosing a tent in general.

The size of the tent you should choose is one of the most basic considerations, and essentially boils down to the question of how many people will be using the tent and in what kind of conditions. If there are only two people going to be using the tent, a large family tent will be big and excessively heavy for your needs. In this case a two-person tent will likely suffice, or a three person tent could be chosen if there is a need for some storage. Remember that many tents now have separate sleeping area with a communal room in the middle, so bear this option in mind if privacy is important.

The strength of the tent is probably the next major consideration, and will depend almost exclusively on the type of environment that the tent is to be used in. A camping trip to a placid field beside a placid lake will probably need nothing more than a lightweight tent, especially if the camping trip is in the summer. But a trip up into the mountains, and especially if you expect bad weather, will need a far more rugged tent, with a strong frame and a way to secure the tent properly.

The final evaluation criteria are cost, which very much relates to the previous two criteria. A larger tent will obviously cost more, though a smallish tent that is rugged and designed for harsh weather conditions might well cost more than a tent twice the size. Cost also relates to how much of an experienced camper you are. If you are just starting out in the camping world, spending too much money might be a mistake if the tent will be used rarely. The basis of choosing a tent within your budget is covered more at http://www.tentchoice.com

As you can see, choosing a tent is not so difficult if you keep the main points mentioned above solidly in mind. Take time to do some research with these points as a checklist and you are likely to find a tent that suits your needs and budget.

Carl Formby owns and operates http://www.tentchoice.com, a website dedicated to information on Tents.