The best camping tents

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Steven JohnAug 1, 2020, 02:52 IST
The best camping tents
  • With a reliable tent, you're able to sleep soundly, no matter if you're several miles into the backcountry or roughing it at your local campground.
  • The best tents feature enough space to not only sleep comfortably but should also have the room necessary to store camp gear like duffle bags and hiking boots.
  • Our top pick, the Mountainsmith Morrison EVO 2 Person tent, is easy to set up, won't break the bank, and keeps you warm and dry even in the event of bad weather.

Packing along the right tent makes anyone's camping experience that much better. Though many tents on the market carry with them a premium price tag, what you get for that investment is something that's built to last and intended to be a central part of your kit for years.

But not all tents are suitable for all conditions, nor is one person's ideal tent the right choice for another camper, climber, or hiker. Choosing the best tent for your needs means considering basic factors like climate and season as well as your activities and how the tent's weight, size, and layout might accommodate or hinder them. It's also smart to factor in the size and number of people who plan to share the tent and what your gear budget is.

What to keep in mind while shopping for a tent

When figuring out how to decide which tent to buy, you should take the time to consider important attributes before even beginning to look at actual tents. For example, if you've already decided that a spacious tent is worth a few extra pounds of gear weight, then there's no need to look at ultra-light tents (which tend to be quite expensive). If you know you'll have a heavy pack laden with gear and rations, then every ounce counts and a small, light tent is crucial.

Perhaps you and the family are summertime car campers and prefer sleeping in a big, breezy tent. Even those who head out onto glaciers or set up camp above the timberline require their own specific set up, which is usually a squat, sturdy tent ready for wind and snow.

To help narrow down your potential choices, we field-tested several of the industry's top tents from brands like Mountainsmith, Coleman, and Luxe to find the tents best-suited to a variety of use cases. After several nights in the backcountry and various area campgrounds, we settled on five of our favorites.

Here are the best tents for camping:

Updated on 7/31/2020 by Rick Stella: Updated the intro to include a section on what to consider while shopping, checked the availability of each recommended tent, updated the written copy of every pick, and changed the prices and links where necessary.

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The best tent overall

The best tent overall
Mountainsmith
The Mountainsmith Morrison EVO 2 Person Tent offers plenty of room for two people and their gear, and it's a reliable three-season tent that will keep you warm and dry even in poor weather.

Mountainsmith is one of the most trusted names in outdoor gear, and for good reason: They make good stuff, and it just happens to be pretty affordable, too. That's certainly the case with the Morrison EVO tent, which is almost a steal at a hundred and sixty bucks. But this is not an entry-level tent — It's a bona fide shelter suitable for three-season use with impressive rain and weather resistance.

I like the Mountainsmith Morrison EVO thanks to the many variations in which you can erect it. The tent can be pitched without the rainfly, leaving the mesh roof exposed, which is ideal for ventilation and cooling in warm conditions. It can also be set up with the rainfly in place but with the windows unzipped and the vestibules open for protection from rain but with airflow maintained. Finally, when the cold sets in or the wind starts driving the rain sideways, you can zip everything shut and seal yourself and your camping buddy in all snug and sound.

You'll only need to practice setting this tent up once or twice before you master it, even with laying out the included footprint and attaching the rain cover. And as long as you don't expect the tent to stand up to a mid-winter blizzard, you should be able to enjoy it in almost any conditions during most months of the year.

Pros: Spacious interior, great price point, suitable for three-season use, easy to set up

Cons: Too heavy for some uses/users, rainfly limits window ventilation

The best tent for mountaineering

The best tent for mountaineering
ALPS Mountaineering
Even when gale-force winds and heavy snows are raging outside, within the ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 3 Person tent, you will be warm and dry.

Let's get the negatives out of the way from the get-go on this one: The ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 3 Person tent is pretty heavy, and it's pretty snug in there with three adults and the type of gear you need for a genuine mountaineering expedition. But as you probably know, a tent that's designed for three people is actually ideal for two users. Also, if you divide up the poles, the fly, and the tent itself between two people (or three — a trio of sleepers can indeed fit, it just gets ... familiar), the issue of its nine-pound weight is mitigated.

And when the Tasmanian is keeping you safe and even comfortable in the middle of a howling blizzard at 12,000 feet of elevation, you'll be glad you decided to deal with those extra few pounds. The tent uses a freestanding frame system comprised of 7000 Series aluminum poles, complete with a cross pole and weatherproof shock cords, all of which help the Tasmanian keep its shape and remain standing even in powerful winds.

The tent comes with a waterproof polyester fly cover that will keep you dry and that adds excellent insulation, while factory sealed floor and fly seams enhance the water-resistance and block out any chilly breezes that might otherwise creep in.

With two people sharing this tent, it's roomy and comfortable even if you have to keep all your gear inside due to inclement weather. The spacious vestibules help with gear storage and offer some space for food prep, repairs, or for slipping on or off those muddy boots. Just don't plan to use this tent for hot weather camping unless you really like saunas.

Pros: Four-season weather protection, stands up to strong winds, roomy vestibules

Cons: On the heavier side, too hot for summer use

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The best tent for families

The best tent for families
Coleman
The Coleman Evanston Screened 6 Person Tent is large enough for six people to share, and it's a great choice for car campers or for use on shorter overland treks.

The Coleman Evanston tent has a footprint measuring ten by fourteen feet. That includes a generously covered vestibule area, but the interior of the tent itself is still about ten by ten, or 100 square feet, in other words. This tent is a perfect choice for family camp-outs, provided you are making camp in an area with mild temperatures.

The Evanston features huge screen panels and a mesh roof that allow for ventilation and that will keep you and the gang cool when it's warm out, but the tent offers minimal insulation for use in colder climates or seasons.

That said, rain is really no problem with the Coleman Evanston tent. With its rainfly in place and properly lashed down, the tent should stay dry inside even in a downpour. The vestibule is ideal for storing wet or muddy gear and is large enough to serve as a camp kitchen or a spot to hang out and play cards or read.

For the glamping set, the Evanston can accommodate two queen-sized air mattresses, but this tent is ideal when shared by a big family of outdoorsmen, outdoorswomen, and outdoorskids who are content to climb into a sleeping bag after a long day spent enjoying the outdoors.

Pros: Spacious tent with high ceiling, very affordable for large tent, decent rain protection

Cons: Very heavy tent, not suitable for cold weather, limited privacy

The best tent for a camper on a budget

The best tent for a camper on a budget
Flytop
The Flytop Outdoor Backpacking 2 Person Tent costs less than $100, but it's warm, waterproof, wind-resistant, and adequate for adventures in almost all conditions.

The Flytop Outdoor Backpacking tent bills itself as a three- or four-season tent, and in my experience that means this: It's a three-season tent. While I wouldn't want to ride out a rough winter storm in this one, it is a great choice for use in the spring, summer, or fall or even in the wintertime if you are camping at lower altitudes (and lower latitudes, for good measure).

The main reason I would not recommend this tent for use during the winter is its middling durability. Some owners have reported bent poles and tears in the seams; these issues are frustrating when it's cool and wet, but can become serious safety concerns when you're facing freezing temperatures and wintry precipitation.

Though the tent does have a snow skirt that keeps the floor protected and dry, I'd be worried about heavy snow loads and about a potential tear to let in cold air, snow, or freezing rain.

For most people and in most climates, this Flytop Outdoor tent is a great choice, though. Its rainfly is reliably waterproof, it offers excellent ventilation when zipped open, and setup and takedown are both easy. The tent can surely fit two people, but it will get tight if the ground is too wet or dirty to store gear in the vestibules, though.

Pros: Great low price point, reliable waterproofing, easy to set up

Cons: Poles bend under heavy pressure, occasional fabric tears, slightly too heavy for trekking

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The best tent for a solo camper

The best tent for a solo camper
Luxe Tempo
The Luxe Tempo Breeze 1 Tent creates a safe and cozy shelter perfect for the solo user, and it's lightweight enough for overland hikes or climbs.

The Luxe Tempo Breeze 1 has room for a single sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and a bit of gear tucked down by your feet or in a side vestibule, but that's all the serious solo trekker or climber needs. By keeping this tent compact, Luxe Tempo also kept it lightweight. The Breeze 1 is suitable for use during multi-day hikes or when you're hauling your gear up a mountainside hand over hand.

The twin later tent is reliably waterproof and wind-resistant, and its stable enough to handle some snow load, though most of the snow will slide down its angular sides. With the windows, doors, and rainfly zipped up tight, the Breeze 1 will help keep you warm even when it's below freezing outside. In warm weather, it offers ample ventilation when opened wide.

Setting up the Luxe Tempo Breeze 1 might take a little while the first few times, what with the extended guy lines and included footprint, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to pitch them tent fast enough to form a bivouac in the face of a sudden storm.

Just make sure to move your gear into the tent and out of the vestibules in a downpour, as water will splash into these semi-open areas beside the tent proper.

Pros: Lightweight and compact, suitable for all weather and all seasons, great price for good quality

Cons: Too short for taller users

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