What kind of tent should I get?

I agree with your friend….since you did say casual camping I would still invest in good quality gear as it will make all the difference when weather is not cooperating and that extra room of a larger tent will be a God send. My sons are in scouts and they and I swear by Eureka tents for overall ease of set up, warmth and dryness. The 2 men tents are adequate for 2 people and a palace for one. The 4 man would be my choice for that if and when you have a guest or two. Check them out here…

http://www.eurekatent.com/filterTool.aspx?cID=6

I would ask if you would like to stand up inside your tent depending on your height… like me, for instance, I need a huge family tent just to stand up.

The bigger tent is more versatile. You can sit up and play cards in a bigger tent if you’re stuck in the rain.

I can recommend the REI Half Dome 2, when I was tent shopping a couple of years ago I thought it was the best bargain.

I bought it because the my Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight 2 was just too cramped. It does have the size and weight advantage (3.5 lbs vs 5.5 lbs). But in every other way I like the Half Dome better.

I hope I can be of some use here, last summer I was backpacking and camping about half the time through Eastern Europe Croatia, Bosnia etc and finally camping out in Siberia which is so stunning (lake baikal) I don’t think words can describe.

I put a lot of time into choosing a tent because like you you need light weight trust me you don’t want anything over a few kg but like me you need something for the champagne backpacking haha that i was accused of.

I used a Vango Banshee 300 http://tiny.cc/dof8g its only 2.5kg but its huge when set up I was using it either by myself with 2 bags or with another person again with baggage. It stood up and remained bone dry inside after 48hr storm in Siberia that brought the streets to rivers but the tent to my absolute AMAZEMENT was fine.

Its quick to set up and its low profile means wind and rain isn’t a problem although you can sit up in it and get in easily you can’t stand up in it.

But it weighs less than tents much smaller and trust me I took it to the extream and back for 4 months and not a hole in it despite some rugged pitches.

Best piece of kit I’v ever bought to be honest :)

@Tobotron that sounds like a very good tent. Do you know if they sell them in the states?

@Cruiser I do scouting too and that’s why I’m trying to pick a good tent. I looked at some Eureka tents and they look really nice. Thanks!

@Cruiser go to this link I had a look and unfortunatly its a UK company so the main place to buy it would be a trader on ebay (I bought mine off ebay) this link links to two supplies that if you email them will ship to the US

http://tiny.cc/ytxhi

Are you going to be carrying this tent in a backpack, or just car camping?
I’ll address the case of carrying a tent, in which case weight should be a primary factor.
take a look at tarptent.com, they have very lightwieght backpacking tents. If you don’t use hiking poles, the Rainbow and Double Rainbow are very popular and lighter than most other brands. If you use hiking poles, look at the contrail for 1 person, or cloudburst for 2.
Unless you know you will be hiking with others frequently, just get a 1 person tent.

For reviews of lightweight single wall tents, look here, and double wall tents here. These forums focus on lightweight equipment so that you can go farther more comfortably.

Bigger tent.
Go Coleman.
Do not shop at REI. Too expensive.
Army surplus is the way to go here.

To Elaborate on the weight issue, the REI Half Dome is 5lb 8oz, while the Tarptent Double Rainbow is 2lb 8oz. For Single person tents, the Tarptent Moment is 1lb 12oz, but the REI Quarter Dome T1 is 3lb 6oz.
If you lighten your load you can see more and spend less time in your tent.

I’m a Mainer, so there is only one place I can recommend.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1096?page=tents-shelters&nav=sub

Bigger is better, because you can stand up in it. But you need to consider storage-transportation, how much can you haul. The most important is the zipper. around the curves. Thats what goes first. My suggestion: when you store it but vasoline or oil/lube of some kind on the zipper at most the main entrance zipper. Hope this helps Make sure it is completely dry when you fold it up or it will smell.

I’m not a backpacker, camper or hiker of any kind. And sure, “all other things being equal” I would also say “bigger is better”. But we live in the real world where all other things are not equal.

What’s the cost differential?
What’s the weight / size differential when packed?
How will you be using the tent most of the time? If you’re taking long back country treks by yourself then space and weight will be a premium. You might even decide to spend more for a smaller but lighter and tighter-packing tent.

If you don’t give any more details, then any “correct” advice you get from responses here will be purely coincidental.

@arpinum I have a tarptent that I use backpacking. It’s great.

@Tobotron Thanks for the link and looks like a stellar tent! Lightweight too!

@Cruiser I had a few mins spare today so if you like you can check out a few pics of it pitched in Siberia next to a few cheap dome tents that weighed about double and were about ⅓ smaller!

http://picasaweb.google.com/tobotron5billion/VangoBanshee300?authkey=Gv1sRgCKTfxueRjfDDjwE&feat=directlink

@Tobotron Awesome pics and I am sold on the tent as it appears to cover all the bases for a top notch go anywhere shelter. I loved the pics especially the Ramen Noodles for lunch! lol!

haha cheers, we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, all the villages near our camp had no electricity or water systems, actually nowhere did for about a days travel around so we went hunting for scrap and built ‘the aga masterchef deluxe’ which took 4 minutes to boil a teaspoon of water but hey it was carbon neutral ;)

For those of you with tarptents: do you have hiking poles you use with it or do you just use the supplied poles?

@Jeremycw1 I have the equivalent of the Cloudburst 2, which has the supplied poles. The one I have is much older and went by a different name, which escapes me for the moment.

@Jeremycw1 Some tarptents don’t come with poles, they are an extra $5 and 2oz. @Rarebear points out that the Cloudburst 2 can’t use hiking poles. Rainbow and Double Rainbox only use hiking poles to make it freestanding. It all depends on which tent you want. I recommend the Contrail, unless your in harsh conditions (like high sierra nasty weather stuff), in which case take a look at the Moment.

@Rarebear @Jeremycw1 I like the look and feel of tarp tents but what about when bears attack?! I mean there’s no protection there?! :P

also wind and rain does it not come in the sides? Or are these just summer type shelters?

@Tobotron They’re okay in a drizzle, and do pretty well in the wind, but if you’re in a big rainstorm you’re out of luck. So just summer. It’d designed for an ultralight backpacker. If you have a heavy backpack, sleeping bags, pots, pans, stoves, etc, then it’s probably not worth it. I have an ultralight pack, ultralight bag, and ultralight tent. I don’t cook (just heat water). I don’t bring changes of clothes. It’s a philosophy.

@Rarebear I have to very much disagree. The Scarp, and Hogback can handle a winter blizzard, while the Moment and Rainbow can handle anything outside of driving snow. Others, such as the Contrail and Cloudburst can also do just fine even in heavy wind and rain, as long as they have been securely setup. These tents are common for people who hike 2,000+ miles in a stretch and face a wide variety of conditions.

Also, if all your other gear is heavy, you need all the weight savings you can get.

@Tobotron Tarptents are fully enclosed, all vents can be closed and sealed off.