Buying a tent

1)Buy cheap, buy twice!

A tent is the centrepiece of any camping trip, your home away from home so make sure you buy one that performs and lasts. The longer the guarantee, the better the quality of the tent is likely to be.

2)Make sure it's easy !

You don't want to spend your whole trip putting up your tent so make sure the tent is simple to erect and to pull back down.

3)Don't compromise on weather proofing!

Unfortunately you can never guarantee the weather, so you want to make sure your tent is weather proof. You can check water resistance by looking for a waterhead rating (which is measured in millimetres). For tent flys, 1000mm is considered low, while 3000mm is considered high. Quality tents exceed 3000mm which is the most desirable level. Unfortunately, some brands of tents don't actually have the waterhead rating they claim to have. One way to tell the 'men from the boys' is to compare the overall weight between tents of similar size/dimensions. If the difference is more than 5 percent then the most likely reason is the weight and quality of the fly materials, i.e. strength and waterproofing. In addition to the waterhead rating of the fabric, fly design and heat taped seams will add to the weather resistance of a tent. If you want more information on water resistance of any tent, just call into one of our stores and ask our friendly staff.

4) Some tents are HOT!

It can get plenty hot during those long summer days, so you want to make sure there is plenty of ventilation and shade from awnings .

5) Robust or flimsy?

Make sure your tent has good, strong, flexible poles and plenty of guy ropes to ensure the best possible chance against strong wind conditions. On quality tents the DuraWrap fibreglass poles are superior to most other poles.

6) Heavy weight is best!

The weight of the tent material, which in polyester tents is measured in denier and in canvas tents is measured in grams per m2, is a guide to the strength of the material. For the most rugged and durable product, choose the heaviest weight available.

7) Don't forget the floor!

The weight of the floor material is also very important as this is the area that probably receives the most wear and tear during use and the last thing you want is a hole in the floor that allows moisture and mud in if the campsite ground gets wet. When you touch the floor with your fingers when you're buying a tent, you will notice the difference.

Don't forget, if you want to discuss the quality of a tent you're interested in, call into a Camping Plus store and talk to one of our experienced staff.