I had a neighbor that was looking to buy his small family a new camping tent to take on camping trips. He said he was just going to go and buy this 3-person, 3-season tent that he saw at the local mega outdoor store. I told him that he had the season right on the tent, but the person size is probably not correct.
Why is that? When you buy a camping tent you should generally buy the next size up if you are going to purchase a tent for general camping. The interior of a 3-person tent would not really be large enough and, in the example of this family, they would be happier if they got a 4-person tent.
When you are camping and weight does not matter, the larger size tents are better for comfort. For instance, if you are driving to the campsite and you expect to basically park your vehicle next to the camping pad then you are not really going to have to worry how big and heavy the tent it. It’s better to get a little extra room for your enjoyment.
However, for those hiking with a buddy, you definitely want to pack a 2-person camping tent because you want to conserve space and weight in your backpack. Generally backpackers will split up the load of carrying the camping gear they share, but they still want to pare down the weight and load as much as possible.
So if you are buying a camping tent for general purpose camping, don’t always expect the tent manufacturers to know what your needs are when purchasing that tent. A 3-person camping tent is for a maximum of three people. The room to maneuver and store gear is not really taken into account. That’s why it is better to go up a size when purchasing your tent. You will be a lot more comfortable in your camping tent. A father of two daughters, Chris loves the outdoors and counts camping, skiing and bicycling as his favorite pursuits. Chris is the owner of http://www.camping-tent-guide.com, a website for camping tent information, camping tips and outdoor adventure discussion.
Written By: chris morris
