Choosing the right hiking tent
Choosing a trekking tent may seem like a simple task, but in reality it involves taking several important factors into account. Whether you're trekking for several days or just one night, the right tent is essential to provide protection from the elements, comfort and safety for you and your gear. Here are some key factors to consider when choosing your model.
How do I choose a trekking tent?
Before you rush headlong into buying that tent you've been eyeing, take the time to think carefully about your needs. Buying a trekking tent is a very important part of your trekking equipment. To choose the right one, you need to decide what you're going to use your tent for, where and when you're going to camp in it, and what means of transport you're going to use.
The different uses for your tent
Roaming
Whether you're walking, cycling or canoeing, you'll be moving from place to place every day. As a result, you'll be doing a lot of repetitive work with your tent, such as putting it up and taking it down. To make travelling easier, choose a lightweight, 3-season tent with colour-coded poles for easy assembly. For bikepacking enthusiasts, there are tents whose poles have been shortened to allow the storage bag to be attached to the handlebars or frame. Discover our 3-season tents!
Ultra-light touring
You want to go fast, take the bare essentials and you're on the lookout for the smallest gram in your equipment? If you're an ultra-light walker, you'll want to choose tents that, for the most part, weigh less than a kilogram for two people. Nemo, MSR, Big Agnes, Helsport and Camp all supply products that are both extremely light and high quality. Of course, the disadvantage of this minimum weight is that the tarpaulins are more fragile. The poles won't cope with winter or windy conditions. However, these tents are perfect for summer trekking. Discover our ultralight tents!
Expeditions and high mountains
For this type of bivouac, you'll need to choose a 4-season tent whose construction and materials can cope with snow, storms and heavy rain. Scandinavian manufacturers Hilleberg and Helsport specialise in expedition tents of impeccable build quality. Of course, each brand offers a 4-season programme. It's up to you to choose the model that suits your needs and budget. Discover our 4-season tents!
Camping
Are you going to be staying in the same place for several days? In that case, the weight of the tent doesn't matter; what you need is comfort. You also need space, especially high up. Tipis can be a good choice of base camp. The last few years have also seen the emergence of hanging tents. Tentsile is a pioneer in this segment. This is another way of approaching bivouacs. The ideal model will initially be based on the length of your stay, the space you need and its resistance to bad weather. Discover our camping tents!
Characteristics of touring tents
Number of places and height
The number of places in your touring tent will have an impact on its weight and on the level of comfort you are looking for. Family tents are therefore less compact and lighter. If there are two of you and you want to be really comfortable while storing things in the inner fabric, choose a 3-seater tent. Also check whether the walls are vertical or sloping and how high the tent is.
Material strength and waterproofing
When you're preparing for a bivouac, there's one thing you can't predict: the weather. Depending on the season and the location of your trek, a rain shower, windy spell or snowy spell cannot be ruled out. So it's important to think about buying a tent that can shelter you whatever the weather conditions.
As with clothing, the waterproofness of tent fabrics is measured in mm or Schmerber. It varies from 1500mm for ultra-light tents to 10000mm for expedition tent mat. You should also check whether the seams are welded or not and whether the fabric has been given a water-repellent treatment. A distinction is made between treatment with a polyurethane coating, which is fairly basic, and the durable, flexible silicone treatment used on both sides of top-of-the-range tents.
The fabric's resistance to abrasion is expressed in deniers (D). The higher the denier, the more resistant the fabric. Between 15D for ultra-light tents and 40D for 4-season tents. Generally speaking, the poles are made of aluminium. They can be fibreglass for entry-level tents or carbon for extremely light tents. DAC, which is the main supplier of quality brands, offers different technologies for different models of tent. On 4-season tents, the diameters are much larger (10mm instead of 8.7mm), giving you greater strength.
Easton has developed Syclone composite fibre poles, which are extremely strong and flexible. They are used in particular by MSR.
Now that you have more information on how to choose your tent, you can take a look at the models available on the Speck-Sports website! You'll be able to add a tent mat, tarps or mosquito netting to your purchase!
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