Hiking

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. . . There Are So Many Different Hiking Tents & Shelters To Choose From

Hiking tents and hiking shelters do come in many different shapes, sizes, designs and guises, so let’s look at some practical bits of advice which you should think about before you decide on which hiking tent will be the best for you. First things first, I’ve always been firmly of the mind that “bigger is better” for camping trips, you never know when a friend might want to come along and join you (not “Fartburg” . . . he can get his own tent) but that’s when you’re going to be carrying the tent in the trunk of the car and pitching it up with lots of helping hands for a week in one location . . . when you’re hiking you have to carry your tent in, or on your backpack, and put it up (I think “pitch” is the correct terminology for that) and take it down (don’t have any correct terminology for that one . . . unless it’s “unpitch” – answers on a post card please) and that makes choosing a camping tent for hiking the trail a very different kettle of fish.

See what I mean, that would have taken him ages on his own . . . I’m not entirely convinced about his timing though, something fishy going on methinks!

Hiking Tents & Shelters – Stuff To Think About

So what’s the important stuff you need to think about when you’re choosing your ideal hiking tent or hiking shelter?

• How many people are gonna sleep in it . . . and I mean sleep. You know how it is, well, it’s supposed to be a 2 man tent but I’m sure that we’ll squeeze 3 of us into it, we’re not very big and it’ll help to keep us warm on the cold camping trail . . . WARNING . . . hikers need their sleep, a days hiking along the mountain trails can make you very tired, and tired hikers soon become very grumpy hikers if they don’t get enough shut-eye  . . . get my drift? A 2 man tent (actually, I think that “2 person tent” is more politically correct, but that’s never bothered me before), is designed for 2 people to actually be able to sleep in it.
• Size of hiking tent or shelter is also important. I don’t mean the size when it’s up, I mean the size that it will fold down to for you to carry it. Those “pop-up” camping tents are terrific but have you ever tried to get them to “pop” back into the bag . . . you need a degree in origami at the very least. If some salesperson is busy showing you how easy it is to erect a pop-up hiking tent, then make sure that you hang around long enough to see him stuffing it back in . . . that’s usually much more interesting!

 That’s what I call girl power!

Huh, nobody loves a smart ass!!!

Actually, this is great, I could devote a whole page to how to (and how not to) pack away a pop up tent . . . maybe I will!

Hiking Tents & Shelters: Other Stuff to Think About

• Weight of the tent, presuming that you’ve managed to get it packed away at all! Lightweight is very important, you could be lugging your hiking tent up and down many miles of mountain and forest trails for years to come.
• Easy assembly – and de-assembly . . . we’re back to the pop up tents aren’t we? But, nevertheless, remember that you’re going to need to put your hiking tent or hiking shelter up and down every day (unless you come across some of those other shelters and Fartburg didn’t get there first). After a long days hiking the trails you’re going to be tired, and the next morning you’re going to be itching to get your hiking tent safely packed away into your backpack and onto the hiking trail . . . so easy is king!

Alright, I couldn’t resist adding one more . . . that’s it now, for the time being!

• Strength and quality of your hiking tent is important too, well, waterproofness and ability to withstand all of the stormy weather which the hiking trail might throw at you. You really don’t want to get any soggier than you have to, that can really spoil the fun . . . make your hiking shoes rub blisters onto your feet . . . make your nose run . . . in fact, hypothermia can set in and then you’re really in trouble . . . and there’s a real lack of tumble dryers on the majority all of the hiking trails I’ve ever hiked. (NB If your feet smell and your nose runs . . . there’s a very good  chance that you’re upside down).  Enough of this nonsense, if you’re going to be using your hiking tent on a regular basis then you’ve got to not only check out the durability and quality of the fabric, but also the stitching, the zippers, the poles (aluminum for example is much stronger and has more durability than fiberglass), the guyout loops (sometimes you really do have to batten down the hatches when you’re taking a hike).

I can’t help thinking that he’s not got all of the camping equipment he needs . . . he probably needs to read a few of these pages before embarking on another camping trip! Quite funny though!

You really do not want that to happen when you’re on your hiking trip do you? That is just not funny at all . . . “Fartburg, can I kip in your tent, pleeeeeeese”?

• Ventilation is important for your hiking tent too, because good ventilation can help to reduce the amount of condensation in your tent . . . otherwise it will be raining (or more correctly dripping) more inside the tent than it is outside.
• Vestibules are a handy bit of a hiking tent too, not to try and pretend that your posh, nobody is interested in that sort of thing when they’re out hiking, but somewhere to put your rucksack and dirty hiking boots to keep them dry in the night time. It all gives you that little bit more room . . . hence comfort, inside your tent too.