The Different Kinds of Tent and Bivvy Tent

Over the last 15 years there has been a consistent rise in new backpacking tent designs. The range of choices is overwhelming and that makes it confusing at first but life has been much easier since it was sorted in two ways.

Camping tents are sorted by function and by structure. An example of this is backpacking tents being categorized by season where tents are either 4-season or 3-season tents. This can then be further categorized by the number of people 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 demands a much more cynical way of looking at the tags.

This is because what 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 be comfortable and spacious enough for you to cook if you really have to. It’s so much more comfortable to be stuck in a 2-person tent for days in a blizzard than to be stuck in a small bivvy tent.

Some backpacking tent producers make allowances for camping equipment 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 allow 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 heaviest 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 can save weight by removing some parts of the tent including poles, sections and zip-out roof panel.

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

Keep in mind that this type of categorization is based on estimations of the average guy. The problem is not everyone has the same amount of body insulation. An experienced mountaineer might survive a blizzard with the lightest of 3-season tents or even a small bivvy and yet still sleep well at night.