Camping Lessons: Tents 101

Liz Spihlman, Alestle Copy Editor

by Liz Spihlman, Alestle Copy Editor

So, you want to go camping. Where’s your gear?

Oh, that’s right; you don’t have any because you don’t know what to buy. You know you need stuff to last at least a weekend outside of civilization.

Alright, let’s get real. You’re going to a campground that has shower houses and water spigots, and you can probably just drive to get food if you run out, so it’s not the end of the world if you forget something. However, you’re going to want a good tent that:

a) Won’t blow away in the wind.

b) Won’t let you get wet if when it rains.

c) Has some decent space inside so you, and whoever is with you, can find something to do without slitting each other’s throats if when it rains.

I tend to choose the “less is more” option when it comes to tents, though I probably shouldn’t. I currently own a slightly larger version of this tent, the Ozark Trail 9×9 tent that sleeps four to five people. That just means it sleeps three comfortably, four if two people want to be up against the walls (which isn’t a good idea), and five packed like sardines. If it were up to me, I would have a three-room tent. I’m just not cool with shelling out $80 for a new tent at the moment. If you’re going for an affordable yet functional tent, the Ozark Trail brand, sold at Walmart, is perfectly fine.

When you pitch a tent, you need to place a tarp underneath the floor. However, it’s important to remember that all of the tarp needs to be under the tent, without any part sticking out from the edges. I made this terrible mistake the first time I went tent camping. Guess where the water ran when it rained: under the floor of the tent, which was soaked through and everything got wet. Go buy a tarp that’s either smaller than the tent, or remember to fold it to be smaller than the tent. Also, if you already have a tarp that you’re thinking about using, make sure it doesn’t have any holes in it, and that the lining isn’t falling apart. These can both cause leaks.

I’m not going to rant about tent stakes because they’re simply a personal preference. Most people, me included, use the metal stakes provided with the tent, randomly accumulating past campers’ forgotten ones. As long as my tent isn’t going to blow away into a lake, I’m not I’m also not going to go in depth about the importance of a rainfly, because most tents come equipped with them these days. They keep you dry, and that’s what matters.

I’ll cut to the chase. Hey, it’s nice outside. Let’s go camping.