Over a decade ago there has been a consistent rise in new tent designs. The huge range of choices makes it confusing initially but life has been much easier since it was sorted in two ways.

Tents are sorted by function and by structure. As an example backpacking tents being divided by season where tents are either 4-season or 3-season tents. This can then be further divided by the number of bodies it can fit.

The “3-man” and “4-man” tent came to be known as “3-person” and “4-person” and even to solo, duo, trio, quartet and so on. But this means that there is need for a more cynical way of looking at the description.

This is because what some manufacturers mean by a 3-man backpacking tent is a tent that can accommodate 3 small human bodies laid out like corpses. If it were live breathing people the space would be too small.

If you were to hike solo, some people prefer to carry a 2-man tent so that you can also keep your camping gear and yet provide enough comfort and space for you to cook when you have no choice. It’s so much more comfortable to be confined in a 2-person tent for days in a snowstorm than to be confined in a small bivvy tent.

Some backpacking tent producers make allowances for backpacking gear and cooking. Cooking in your tent without ventilation is not a recommended practice. It can even spell death for you. Be sure the backpacking tent is well ventilated when you cook in it. backpacking tents that compensate for such matters are tagged as “2-plus”, “3-plus” and so on.

Going back to take the example of “4-season” backpacking tent models we see that they are designs that could withstand the worst snow and rain and strong winds. A tent that can be both a 3 season and a 4-season tent are called “convertible” tents. This type of tent allow you to save weight by removing some parts of the tent including poles, sections and zip-out roof panel.

However, most modern backpacking tents are 3-season tents that do well in all seasons except for the worst of winter. The lightweight version is more suited for hiking in late spring and early fall also known as the 2-season backpacking tent.

Remember that this type of categorization is based on estimations of the average person. The problem is not everyone has the same tolerance comfort. An experienced backpacker might survive a snowstorm with the simplest of 3-season tents or even a small bivvy and yet still can sleep easily at night.

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