When you buy a tent for the back country you are going to be concerned with weight. One of the heavier components of your tent is the poles tents. All high end tents use aluminum poles. They are about the thickness of a pencil and surprisingly light. The poles are made up of short, packable sections that are held together with a length of shock cord. They are anodized to protect them from corrosion.
An alternative to aluminum are fiberglass poles. They tend to
be heavier. I have never had a problem with an aluminum pole, but I have had a
fiberglass pole spit. The pole was easy enough to repair with good old duct tape,
but it had split over night in the wind. Because it splits lengthwise a split
fiberglass pole does not look split while it is at rest. While I was taking
down the tent it flexed in my hand and I got a finger full of fiberglass
splinters. They were surprisingly painful and festered a little, which is
always a concern when you are in the back country. I like to stick to good
aluminum poles, but if you need to be budget minded, and can handle the extra
bit of weight, then go with the fiberglass.
When weight is a concern you would think that the fewer the
number of poles the better, but that is not necessarily so. Poles are, for the
most part, what gives your tent it’s structural integrity. A tent with too few
poles will be flimsy.
Years ago I went camping with some rock climbers. We set up a
tent in a meadow that seemed perfect at the time. During the night a storm came
up and it was nice to lie there listening to the rain patter on the tent.
However, as the night went on the wind grew stronger, and we soon had the tent
bent right over on top of us. Finally a pole snapped and the whole thing just
came down on top of us. We pondered for about two seconds the idea of getting
up, fixing the pole and setting up the tent again in the dark, pouring rain and
wind, but decided, to heck with it! We slept the remainder of the night with
the tent on top of us, warm and dry and reasonably comfortable.
A tent needs enough poles to make it sturdy. The way the
poles are laid out in the design is important too. Too many poles parallel to
each other, and not enough bisecting them makes for a tent that is vulnerable
to strong winds from certain angles.
As I have said before, never buy a tent for the back country
until you have seen it set up and can examine it closely. One thing you want to
do, while the tent is firmly planted to the ground, is give it a push about
half way up the wall or higher. Does it readily collapse under your hand? If it
does, it is too flimsy. Try this test on all sides of the tent, and look for
any weak angles.
If a tent is a little flimsy but a) you want the compromise
because the tent is light and, b) you don’t expect to be in windy country where
sheltered camping spots are hard to find, then make sure the tent has good
exterior anchor points. You can give a tent a lot more strength by tying off to
trees or even using big rocks or logs as literal anchors in the wind.
Many good high end tents have interior tie off points. If you
really have to weather out a severe storm you can create a lattice work of diagonal
cords within the tent. They are a big hassle, because it makes it impossible to
move in the tent, but in a really big storm they could save you from having to
deal with bent poles or even a ripped tent. High altitude mountaineers have to
do this all the time.
The other part of a tent that you need to pay attention to is
the floor. The floor is referred to as the floor basin, because, if it is
designed properly it goes up the walls a number of inches to form a basin. Stay
away from the tents that have the floor sewn to the wall right along the
ground. That seam is going to absorb water. Also stay away from tents that have
flooring material made out of that polypropylene tarp ( polytarp ) material.
That stuff is not that strong as the weaves get separated and it is annoyingly
noisy. It crackles every time you move. It is also a little heavy. You don’t
want a floor that is too heavy because, once again you have to carry the tent.
A good floor material is waterproof nylon that is sealed at
the seams with tape. In fact every seam in your tent should be taped.
The floor is one of the most vulnerable parts of your tent. You walk and crawl around on it, and it will eventually get worn and abraded camping. Moisture, which is the big enemy when you are in the wilderness, can seep into your tent. This is not a big problem if you are setting up your tent on soft pine needles all the time, but if you are like me and set up on The Canadian Shield, which is bare granite bedrock, then your tent should have a “footprint”.
To protect the tent floor most high end tents have a
footprint. A footprint is an optional waterproof ground cloth that you can lay
out under the tent to protect your floor. It is easier to toss away the
footprint as it gets worn than to replace or repair the floor. If your
particular tent does not offer that option you can probably find one for
another tent that will suite your tent.
Ideally the footprint should be a touch smaller than the tent
floor. The reason it is smaller than the floor is, if moisture ran down the
side of the tent or the fly and dripped onto the footprint it would then likely
flow under the tent. You could end up with water right under your floor. You
don’t want water getting on top of the footprint. Water flowing off your tent
needs to flow to the ground where it is absorbed or away from the tent if it is
rock. Never set your tent up in a bowel or dip in the ground. Make sure the
flow lines are away from the tent as much as possible when you pick a camp
site.
If you have an older tent and the floor is starting to allow
moisture through the floor or the seams, or you want to make due with what you
have, get a ground sheet that is larger than the tent. Put it on the inside of
your tent and have it big enough to go up the walls a little on all sides. That
is your basin. In a pinch even a vinyl shower curtain can be used this way. It
also protects your floor from further wear.
I often read articles that tell you to dig a trench around
your tent. Please don’t go digging up the ground. Have you heard the saying,
“Leave nothing behind but your footprints.” That not only goes for
garbage but for environmental damage too. When you dig a trough that the water
can flow down you have started an erosion pattern that can destroy an area by
starting a huge chain reaction. On The Shield the thin soil can wash away
easily leaving expanses of bare bed rock. Places with sparse vegetation can end
up rutted and streams can get choked with silt destroying fish egg beds and
aquatic life. Even when you are at a commercial campsite, don’t dig up the tent
pad rutting and ruining it for everyone else. You don’t need to go digging up
the planet if you have a properly designed tent and it is set up properly.
Another vulnerable part of your tent is the mesh windows.
Every time you are headed out you should set up the tent well ahead of time and
check everything. Make sure the seams are all sturdy and the zippers are
working well. I do this before putting a tent away, just because I don’t like
to be scrambling just before a trip to get repairs done. But I also check it
again just before leaving. I have found holes in the screen mesh that I swear
were not there when I put the tent away. It is just a theory, but I believe
that if an insect was swatted against the mesh, or a bug was crushed in the
tent when it was rolled up the crushed insect is caustic and eats away the
mesh. For this and other reasons I try to keep the mesh in particular and the
walls in general clean on a tent. To facilitate this, good tents have a pockets
which the mesh door can be rolled into and another one for the solid fabric
door. The pockets can be zipped closed. This keeps you from stepping on them
when you are going in and out of the tent.
While we are talking about the door of a tent, here is a
little tip. Make sure you and your tent mates agree where to park the pull tabs
of the zipper on the door, especially at night. There is nothing worse than
fumbling around, climbing over your tent mates, looking for the pull tabs when
you are desperate to get out to take a leak. Most good tents have two sliders
on the door. We park them both at the peak of the door. They are easy to find
even in total darkness.
A good tent can make all the difference between a great trip
and a disaster. I don’t sell tents but, I do facilitate people’s wilderness
trips by providing many online services, resources and information. I want my
customers to have a great time while they are on their camping adventure. If your
tent leaks, doesn’t breath, because there is not enough ventilation, if the
zippers fail or the seams burst, you are not going to have a good time. If you
have a good tent, it can be the coziest place in the world, no matter what it
is doing outside.