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Choosing a Family Tent for Base Camping

Written by happycamper on August 22nd, 2009

Base camping means that you’re camping on campgrounds where you don’t have to hike to reach it. It’s a good way to camp especially if you’re taking children with you. Before you go camping you first need to have a family camping tent.

To choose a family tent you first need to know the season or time of the year you’re planning to go camping and what the conditions are. Most family tents are three season tents which do well in mild weather in spring, summer and fall but may not be suitable in winter.

If you’re like most people who camp in the three seasons other than winter, then a 3 season tent would definitely be good enough. If instead you like to camp in winter or would like to try camping in winter, a 3 season tent might still keep you warm and dry but if you don’t want to risk it then go for 4 season tents or a convertible tent.

A convertible tent can be converted from a 4-season tent to a 3-season tent and vice versa. They’re heavier than 3-season tents but lighter than 4-season tents. They have removable parts that you can leave at home when it’s warm to reduce the weight.

The next step to choosing a family tent is to decide on how many people will sleep in the tent. You can use the person rating as a guideline but be aware that those ratings are meant for adult corpses rather than people. We recommend that you choose a tent that has a rating of two more people than you expect to sleep in it.

Then you want to consider the features of the tent. A vestibule is useful for storing wet and dirty gear. In bad weather and with good ventilation you can even use your camp stove to cook inside a vestibule. Room dividers are great for sleeping your children separately if you want to. Consider other features as well that make the tent more convenient for the family.

Ventilation is not only important in the vestibule if you intend to cook in it but it’s also important for the whole tent. It will help you keep cool and comfortable in hot weather and prevents condensation to keep you dry in cold weather. A rainfly and mesh windows can really help with ventilation.

You can now decide on the style of family tent. Family tents are mainly either cabin tents or dome tents. Cabin tents have more headroom than dome tents but dome tents have a stronger structure and sheds rain and wind better.

Ease is of set up is a good thing to consider when choosing a family tent. It used to be that dome tents are easier to set up than cabin tents but now there are cabin tents that can be easily set up in less than a minute. If the tent is easy to set up, you have more time to enjoy with your family.

Would you like to learn more about family tents? You might want to consider these family camping tents.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/camping-articles/choosing-a-family-tent-for-base-camping-1141813.html