Picture the perfect getaway into the wilderness, to a campsite, or a family festival. While you are at it, how does the tent look in the image you’re creating? It is fancy but you’re not sure if it is appropriate for four people to fit in?
They could fit in but you are not sure if the tent would survive the circumstances of your bewildered imagination? In that case, you may stop worrying, for this guide will help you choose the most suitable four-person tent for your adventure.
Before annotating further, it is best to establish that four-person tents have a considerable variation in the sizes and styles- all suitable for different kinds of adventures.
If it is car camping that you need the four-person tent for, then you may not brood over the bulkiness of your tent, rather you should prioritize space and comfort. Meanwhile, for overnight or weekend festivals, you’d want to cut yourself some slack-go for popups. However, the lightweight factor jumps right in when we sense mountains are involved.
Here are the factors you need to consider while choosing a four-person tent.
Size
Beware that tent sizes can be misleading, concerning the measurements made by the manufacturers. There is no standard scale for measuring the accuracy of the size of a tent in terms of the number of people it can fit in i.e. a four-person tent would be more like a suffocating sack if four adult people adjust inside it, that too with not enough room for them to move inside.
It must therefore be maintained that four-person tents are most suitable either for two people or for a small family with two kids. Either way, the tent should be big enough to offer good space for you and your gear.
For taller people, it is advised to go with cabin tents to have enough headroom.
Weight
Before you settle with the type of tent, it is important to weigh it out. Your emotional baggage has you burdened enough already, it’s best to avoid the burden of tents as much as you can. You have to figure out how and where you need to convene the tent.
Four-person tents can vary in weight from 3kg to over 30 kg. This weight is precisely dependent on the size, materials, and types of tents. Hence, for car camping, you can bear heavy tents or canvas glamping tents. For camping in the wild, choose a lightweight tent (preferably 4 kg or less) for you’d be carrying it for long distances on your back.
Tent Type
The most common types of four-person tents are dome tents, tunnel tents, and geodesic tents.
You’d want to choose a dome tent if you want good internal space. It is also uniquely stable and water-resistant.
If you want to go overboard in extreme weather conditions, then geodesic tents would be a hit since they offer more stability. But these are a no for basic camping trips.
Tunnel tents are also a good option as four-person tents: they are easier to pitch in the ground, and also offer great space with a living room and one or two bedrooms.
Bedrooms/Living Space
Four-person tents generally vary from one-bedroom to multi-bedroom units. The smaller ones are suitable for two to three people, and the bigger ones for a family of four. If teenagers are tagging along, it is best to opt for a tent with two separate bedrooms. Adding more to convenience, you may want to look out for mesh panels and ventilation flaps in bedrooms in warm weather.
Weather Resistance
It is crucial for a tent to be waterproof and wind-resistant. What good is a tent if you are drenching in rainwater even in the slightest of drizzles? Although tent manufacturers yield as much waterproofing as can be possible (with Hydrostatic Head rating above 1500 mm), the various factors affecting it can fail at any time i.e. the quality of rainfly, the material of the footprint, the severity of storms, etc.
The tent you choose must have a separate inner layer and an outer waterproof fly. Also, a waterproof nylon groundsheet would add to your expediency. For canvas tents, a suitable fabric option would be poly-cotton.
If you only have to deal with winds on your camp, go for dome tents for they have plenty of guy ropes to be staked inside the ground.
Pitching
Remember to choose a tent that would be easy to set up and take down-you would be saving yourself a nightmare. The ideal time for setting up a tent would be less than ten minutes, keeping in mind the probability of catching sudden rainstorms.
Reminder: the bigger and heavier a tent is, the more sophistication there will be to set up, hence more time consumption.
It is advised to pack extra pegs along and to use all the guy ropes of your tent in adherence to stability.
Additional Features
If you observe the above-mentioned steps, you are good to go and buy your four-person tent. However, if you are a perfectionist and want to have a little extra detail to your perfectly planned adventure, you may proceed to choose a tent with a vestibule, multiple vents, mesh pockets, multiple doors, and whatnot. Besides vents, all of these features just add to your fancy rather than requirements.
Now that you are able to make a suitable choice for yourself and for the rest of the group, make sure they appreciate you. After all, you’d be the one making your trip memorable.
