Choose your hiking tent
During your treks, it is essential to recover well at night. If you go for a bivouac and the autonomy it provides, the choice of your tent will be essential. It will protect you from external conditions, possible bad weather and will offer you a space to rest and relax after your day of trekking. We will guide you in choosing the right tent for your trek!
Criteria for choosing your tent:
The number of places
Your needs will differ depending on the number of people you are travelling with. The number of places is an element to take into account. It will have a direct impact on weight and size of the tent.
There are many different types of tents. If you are going alone or with 2 or 3 people, choose a tent that has only one room with a separate space to store your things. Like the Samaya tents.
Weight and size
If you want to walk comfortably, choose a lightweight tent that takes up little space. You will be carrying your tent throughout your trek and at the end of the day (or on long climbs) the weight will be felt. However, be careful not to choose weight over other criteria such as resistance to the elements.
Comfort
To ensure that your tent is comfortable, you need to take into account the dimensions and the inside volume. However, the larger the tent, the heavier it is.
Some tents offer spaces for storing bags and shoes outside the room. Some tents have 2 doors to optimize the use of several people, as you can find on the Vaude tents.
Assembly and disassembly
The speed of assembly and disassembly varies depending on the tent structure. If you have just bought your tent (or if you have not used it for a few years), we advise you to pitch it before you leave. This will give you a first practice and you will be more comfortable when setting up your bivouac (especially if the conditions are not so good).
Waterproofing and durability
To measure the waterproofness of your tent's outer fabric, the Schmerbers index (in mm) should be used. For outer fabrics, this rating generally fluctuates from 1500mm for lightweight fabrics to 6000mm for expedition tents. Quality materials are needed to ensure the strength of your tent. The strongest tents have several criss-cross poles, which guarantee better stability and wind resistance.
Single-roof or double-roof
The double-roof avoids the undesirable effect of condensation that can form at night (inside the tent) and make it damp when you wake up. On the other hand, a single-roof tent will save weight but will require some "adjustments" to prevent condensation from setting in.
