Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25059
Our fascination with tents simple: they're , Anyone who has ever built a fort out of old blankets, tape and clothespins knows that. But going into the backcountry can be serious business, and to day's tent serve both a child's fantasies and the adventurous adult's needs. On three trips in late fall (the Yosemite high country after the first winter storm. Big Sur's Sykes Hot Springs, Point Reyes National Seashore) we carried, pitched and prodded six three-season. -tnr"",-n"rson tents. The three-season classification is all about ventilation. A four-season tent is built to withstand heavy rains, bitter cold and snow by ventilating more aggressively than its spring/summer/fall counter part. Some of those features trickle down, like the Marmot Hoot's clever length of velcro that props open a rear vent. Why three-person tents? Think of it as the middle of the market. Just because a tent is labeled "three-person" by no means indicates that three full-size adults fit comfortably inside. The manufactur ers' rule of thumb: If they can get three sleeping mats inside without overlapping or inching up the walls, a three-person tent. Many people camp in pairs, not in trios. But unless you enjoy being constantly cozy with your erstwhile roommate (and you well might) you may want to go with the three-person tent anyway. I'm six foot-five, for example, and many otherwise roomy tents just aren't built with an extra-long sleeping bag n mind. 1 RAI N FLY: You want a rainfly that reaches all the way to the ground around the entire perimeter of the tent. A fly con sisting only of eaves, and looking like a low-slung Japanese roof won't work even in a light rain. Snaps and latches that cinch the fly down around the poles are common, but good rain repulsion also means staking out the sides, and you should look for guy loops halfway up the rainfly as well as at ground level. Sierra Designs and MountainHardwear have placed win dows made of a clear film where the rainfly covers the tent door. They're no good for stargazing, but can be an asset in intermittent rainfall. 50>6 ft 15 ft' (front) 12 ft' (backl 3 Gimmicky and fun, with I�I' a big door 2 VESTIBULE: If you camp in a rainy climate, you might want to think about a tent with a large vestibule, such as the Walrus Starstreme-not coincidentally based in Seattle. A separate pole pushes the vestibule roofline out to make plenty of room to stash gear as well as cook without getting wet. ___ _ ___ _ � _ _ ___ _ __ """ _ ____ 3 POLES: These days it's hard to buy a tent that doesn't come with Easton aluminum shock-corded poles. These new light poles free up designers to make more complex three and four-pole designs without taking huge hits on weight. One innovation: the brow pole, used by Sierra Designs and Mountain Hardwear, connects the tent's two main supports in a short arc over the doorway. It helps stabilize the main poles and pushes the brow out. creating more headroom and enlarging the vestibule. Kelty's poles-with black rubber bullet-shaped ends on one side and typical ends at the other-thread into the sleeves so the nubs become embedded in pockets at the tent's far corners. They may add stability, but the poles can be inserted only nub-end first. which unnecessarily complicates set-up. _ I