Your choice of tent is critical, so we came up with a few ideas that you should consider when buying. Happy tent hunting!

How much to spend? This is a tough question. Our advice – if you are on a ‘proper’ camping trip then buy a brand. Someone like Vango, Coleman or Outwell will give you peace of mind. If you are just camping at a festival then get a cheap tent and consider it a throwaway.

How big a tent should I get? The old advice remains solid. Buy one ‘man’ size bigger than you need. A two-man tent will generally be very tight if you try and fit two men in it! A larger tent will allow you to keep things away from the edge at night, reducing condensation and increasing comfort.

Check the height as well This is a critical measurement. Lower than 1 metre is for backpackers only. Around 140cm is probably ok to sit on the floor and read a book. You need more than this if you want to sit on a chair and wait out the weather.

Check for fire retardant If using a lantern or stove, you want to reduce the risk of fire.

Watch out for the hydrostatic head rating (hh) This rates the ‘water-proofness’. 1500hh sensible minimum. 2000hh on better tents. Some tents may be rated higher, but experience says that a well pitched 2000hh is fine for UK weather.

Check the size of the storage bag If the bag is tight now, then you will never squeeze the tent back in later!

Check the quality of the poles and the zip-pullers These indicate the level of quality. We have seen 6mm diameter poles and in our opinion this is too thin for fibreglass (they break!). 8mm fibreglass poles are better. Expensive tents will have aluminium poles to save weight.

Seek out flysheet first pitching (or a tent-inner that can be left in place) You will be very glad when it rains. Avoid tents that pitch inner first and allow everything to get wet while you wrestly with the flysheet.

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About the Author

Founder and editor of campingcooking.co.uk