Most people put their camping gear in storage when the winter months roll around, but some of the more adventurous people pull out their winter camping gear instead, and head back outside. And one of the more important items in a collection of winter camping gear is a winter camping tent. Winter weather conditions can be quite a bit different from those experienced in summer, after all, and winter camping tents have what it takes to survive those conditions and keep you warm and cozy at night while the weather rages outside.
Winter Camping Tents
Features to try and find when shopping for winter camping tents.- Poles – Winter tents often have more poles than tents intended for use in the other three seasons of the year. This helps to add strength to the structure of the tent, so that it can better withstand high speed winds, which are a common feature of winter weather. Related to this, winter camping tents often have low, sloping sides, which shed wind, rather than catching it.
- Single Wall – Many winter camping tents have a single wall design. There are a couple of reasons for this, but one of the big advantages is that single wall tents tend to weigh less than a traditional tent with an inner tent and fly. Just be sure that any single wall tent you get has plenty of ventilation, so that moisture can escape at night.
Best Winter Camping Tents
A few of the very best winter camping tents available.- Black Diamond Fitzroy Tent - First up, a high quality winter camping tent from Black Diamond. If you want bomb proof, this is as close as you will get in a tent. There is enough room for 3 to squeeze in, or else for 2 to sleep with plenty of elbow room. It's a single wall design, and has plenty of ventilation, as well as two doors, to make sure you don't get damp inside. 4 poles, which intersect a total of 7 times are what really makes this tent a winter camping tent, however. The whole thing weighs 6 pounds 5 ounces, which is 2.86 kilograms.
- MSR Twin Sisters Shelter - The Twin Sisters is something a little more unusual. It's not actually a tent, it's a tarp, meaning that it has no floor. There are a couple of big advantages to this design, one being that you can use trekking poles or ski poles as the tent supports, and leave the tent poles at home. Being a tarp it also weighs a very impressive 2 pound 3 ounces, which is 1.1 kilograms, making it far lighter than other other winter camping tent out there. There's room for 2 inside, and 2 doors and plenty of ventilation mean that you don't have to worry about being damp in the morning.
- REI Mountain 2 Tent - If you're not looking to scale mountains any time soon, and just want something that will stand up to a little snow and wind, then the Mountain 2 from REI is a good choice. It's a two wall design, and comes with 5 poles, for plenty of strength. It has two doors, though with the double wall design you wont have to worry as much about ventilation. It weighs 8 pounds, or 3.63 kilograms, and fits two, but also comes in a 3 man version.
