Camping Tents

A hundred-odd tents in one place, from an 800g solo shelter to a 13kg eight-person pavilion. They are new, unbranded tents. Not ex-issue, not graded surplus, and nothing here has been tested by us, so what you get on every listing is the maker's specification with the trade-off written next to it.

Start with the floor width, not the name on the box

Capacity ratings describe floor area, not comfort. An adult on a sleeping mat takes 50 to 60cm, so a 200cm floor is four people at 50cm each and a 125cm floor is two people whatever the title claims. Every listing publishes its floor dimensions where the maker supplies them, and says so plainly where it does not rather than borrowing a neighbour's figure. Do the division before you buy and the tent will not surprise you.

Two waterproof ratings, and the lower one decides

Across this shelf the hydrostatic head figures run from 1000mm to 5000mm, and plenty of these tents rate the flysheet and the groundsheet differently. Some put 3000mm overhead on a 1000mm floor, others do the reverse. It is the lower of the two that decides your night, so both are printed with which is which. Read 1000mm as fair weather and a dry pitch, 2000mm as ordinary rain, 3000mm and above as sustained downpour. We do not measure any of it ourselves.

Roughly a third of these pitch themselves

Pop-up and automatic frames open in anything from three to sixty seconds, which is worth a great deal when the rain starts before you have unpacked. The cost arrives at the end of the trip, because a sprung frame is always slower to fold than to open. Pole tents take longer to pitch and go back in the bag without a fight. Fibreglass poles flex and are the common fitting here; aluminium is lighter and stiffer and appears on the lighter models.

Height is what makes a tent liveable

Peak heights on this shelf run from 50cm to 160cm. At 50cm you lie down, at 90cm you sit up, at 130cm and above you can dress without contortion. On a solo or two-person tent this figure changes the experience more than the floor area does, so it is published wherever the maker gives it.

Related collections

For a specific size see one person tents, two person tents, three person tents and four person tents. For hanging shelter see hammock tents, and for an open-sided rig see tarps.

Delivery and returns

UK delivery is free. Orders are processed within 3 to 5 business days and arrive within 10 to 20 business days. Returns or exchange within 30 days of delivery, unused and in original condition, approved before being sent back, with the refund issued within 7 days of acceptance. Return postage is paid by the customer.