There are some questions that you should ask yourself to make sure you choose the right tent for you and your family.

First of all, a simple but very important question to answer is how many people will be using the tent? This will determine the right size and style that you need.

You might want to consider purchasing a tent slightly bigger than you need. For example, if you need a tent for 4, consider buying a 5 person tent. That way you’ll most likely have plenty of room inside.

What kind of conditions should your tent be able to handle? Will you camp in the summer? Spring and summer? Or are you going to camp throughout the year? You want to purchase a tent that can handle the various conditions you’re likely to encounter.

There are family camping tents made mostly for fair weather and there are 3 or 4 season tents. How often will the tent be used? You want a durable family tent if you’re planning on camping frequently. If you’re camping with hyper children, you definitely want a durable tent!

How much interior space do you want or need? If comfort is important, you have to take sleeping space and storage into account. Do you want room to stand? Consider buying a dome shaped tent.Will you be backpacking or hiking? You should buy a lightweight tent that you can easily transport.

Shapes And Styles

Family camping tents are available in different shapes and can be small enough for 3 and large enough to hold 10+.

Family Cabin Tents

Cabin tents can be sectioned off to create two or more rooms and usually allow multiple entry and exit points.

Dome Style Family Tents

The rounded shape of a family dome tent adds strength, good wind resistance and good interior space.

A-Frame Style Tents

A-frame tents have a simple, lightweight design. They’re usually freestanding and easy to set up. There’s good room at the floor but less room up top for standing.

Umbrella Style Tents

Umbrella style tents have spacious head and floor space, can hold many people, and have good ventilation.

Different Season Tents

There are 2, 3 and 4 season family camping tents.

Two season tents are fair weather tents that are usually very inexpensive.

Three season tents are the most popular and are able to handle rain.

Four season tents have heavier construction to fight off wind stress and snow loads. They’re made of higher grade fabrics and contain more poles for added strength.

Four season tents can possibly feel hot and heavy if used in moderate weather.

Shop from a variety of family tents – you’ll find smaller 3 person tents and larger 7+ person tents

Before I talk about things to consider before choosing a good winter tent, keep in mind that the usage of a winter/four season tent doesn’t need to be restricted to winter conditions – they work in good or mild conditions as well. Remember that although you can use your 4 season tent in warm weather, many of them trap heat and don’t have the ventilation to keep you cool – unless it’s a lightweight 4 season tent.

Now, the tent you purchase should…

• keep out the cold,
• ventilate well,
• stand up to strong winds,
• brush off heavy snow, and
• ward off all forms of precipitation.

If you’re a backpacker, you probably know that you should buy a lightweight tent so you can easily carry it around.

Winter camping tents are designed to withstand extreme conditions, but here are three things to consider before you buy your winter tent…

Size Is Important

Winter campers spend lots of time inside their tents as compared to summer campers. For this reason you definitely want to buy the right size tent. Some tents are made for 1 or 2 people and others are made to sleep 10 or more. You might even consider buying a tent that is slightly bigger than what you need.

For example, if you need to sleep 3, consider buying a 4 person tent to ensure you’ll have plenty of space.

Strong Frame

The tent poles should be sturdy. The frame should be made of extra strength aluminum or carbon fiber rather than fiberglass or customary aluminum which can easily fracture.

Storage

You want a tent with storage options for your gear. You want to be able to move around inside your tent without smashing anything.

If you have two or more rooms, one space can act as your “foyer” for storing boots, wet outerwear, etc.

Storage pockets will also help make it easy to find handy items that you might need.

Armed with the know-how, the right equipment and a quality winter tent, you’ll be comfortable no matter what the weather decides to dish out.

Terrence Banks operates an online tent store. Shop from a variety of dome tents and 3 season tents