Tents

Webtogs Guide to Buying a Tent, or many Tents

Webtogs are very lucky to be able to stock a whole range of tents and bivis from a range of amazing brands such as, Rab, Mountain Hardwear, Nemo, Marmot, Crux, Lightwave and Exped. All of these brands have spend years researching, testing and evolving innovative ideas, technologies and fabrics and integrating them into the finished products you see here at the Webtogs online shop.

We have four categories of tents for you to choose from and they range from highly technical 1 man lightweight tents such as the Nemo Obi 1P to 6 person base camp tents. such as the Marmot Limestone 6P.

Lets start by having a look at some of the lightweight tents and their advantages and disadvantages. Lightweight tents are generally more expensive than those that may weight a little more and its for the same reason that a stripped out Porsche costs more than a standard one. You may be thinking 'that makes no sense' but it does. The philosophy less is more comes into it's own when looking at lightweight tents and bivis and the reason is that that grams matter while you're in a mountain marathon or hiking along the GR20 and may not see anyone for days and days. Those extra grams in weight may cost you more heavily than the cost saved by buying a standard tent. Another reason for the price increase may be because of new advanced technology used to make the tent perform better but with less weight, or an ingenious way of cutting out the need for tent poles ( See the Nemo Meta 2P ). The obvious benefits of lightweight tents is that they weight less but this also means that you can go further, harder and test yourself to the limit.

In addition to the lightweight tents Webtogs are lucky enough to have Nemo as one of our brands. Nemo have pioneered a new and revolutionary way of thinking. Nemo have introduced AST Air Supported Technology. This is the use of air beams instead of tent poles, Nemo believe that this is lighter, faster, more robust and easier to repair in the field should there be a problem. The Nemo Morpho 1P takes roughly 45 seconds to put up so if time is of the essence then AST Nemo tents will be one for you.

Backpacking tents can be a little confusing as there is a continuing fight between the brands as to who can develop the most feature rich tent but with the least amount of weight. Really it's up to you whether you want to carry less weight but lose out on a few features, however in our experience backpacking tents are there to be lived in so the more handy features the better. Backpacking is a past time and should be relaxed, comfortable and fun so you have no need to worry about whether you take spare tent pegs or not. One thing all the brands have in common is the ability to make the most out of the space given and they do this by making the tent walls as vertical as possible which increases the inside space and eliminates water from sitting on the fly sheet making sleeping and movement in the tent more comfortable and moisture free. Backpacking tents also tend to have one or more porches or vestibules, depending on how many entrances you have, which increases the functionality. This means that you can cook inside if the weather is bad and you can leave bulky backpacks or gear outside without getting wet while you sleep.

Basecamp tents, these tents can be used as backpacking tents for large groups or families but due to their size can be rather heavy so trying to lug them on a multi day hike is not advisable. However for a few days backpacking or if you're at a campsite these would be perfect. Basecamp tents are usually from 4 person upwards and have loads of space, air vents and porches. They are built to withstand tough weather conditions and give groups of people a good level of ventilation. Good ventilation is important if you're in a large group as a grown man can expel up to 9 litres of water vapour in a night and you don't that to be caught in a small area making you damp and stuffy.

Mountain tents, these are the highly technical, hard wearing and all weather tents which have to withstand the worst conditions. Mountain tents have to shrug off plummeting temperatures, high speed winds, snow, and rain. Brands toughen up their mountain tents by bulking up the tent poles, increasing the durability of the fabrics used and in some cases the addition of snow flaps to prevent spin drift from getting between the fly and inner. Other additions to the hardcore tents will be extra guy points, longer pegs and snow anchors. Mountain tents are the barrier between you and the most inhospitable conditions which means that they have to be severely tried and tested as potentially it's a matter of life and death.