We specialise in tents for challenging conditions and more intrepid outdoor enthusiasts. While there are plenty of places selling family-sized tents for summer holidays in pleasantly warm conditions, we focus more on tents that need to keep you safe as well as sheltered. Because it’s important that you make the right selection, here is a very short guide to what to look for if you’re camping in cooler weather.
- Sleeping capacity: Space is a primary consideration and it’s usually a smart move to go at least one size up. This will give you extra space for personal comfort and more room for your additional stuff. However, avoid the temptation to go TOO big. Unused space in a cavernous tent means it will take considerably longer to warm up the inside of the tent - so while roomy is nice, too roomy can make for an uncomfortable sleep and a potentially dangerous cold night.
- Climate: While you can’t control the weather and wind, rain and even snow can strike at any time, you can stay sheltered and protected from the elements by making the right tent choice. Look at things like waterproof ratings if you’re going into rainy areas e.g. the West Coast of the South Island and Fiordland. These ratings are measured in millimetres (mm) and generally fall anywhere between 800mm and 10,000 mm. These numbers indicate the amount of water pressure a fabric can withstand. For example, a tent that has a 2,000mm rating can stand a 2,000mm or two-metre column of water-bearing down on it before it starts to leak.
- Easy set-up: On a cold, wet night when it’s time to make camp and shelter from the elements, the last thing you want is to spend hours trying to get your tent up. Thankfully, many modern designs make this process easier...then again, some are easier than others. If you have your eye on a tent that ticks all the boxes in terms of capacity and weather protection, check how easy it is to get set up. This is particularly important if you’re relatively inexperienced in the outdoors. Time is of the essence in challenging conditions, and you want to be able to take shelter as soon as you can.
- Type of trip: There’s a big difference between sleeping in a tent on a campsite, and sleeping in a tent while hunting in hill country. And there’s just as big a difference between sleeping in a tent while hunting in hill country, and sleeping in a tent while climbing in alpine regions. So while you might have your eye on a tent because the price is right, and you think it might be able to do the job, it might not be exactly what you need. Many of our tents designed and manufactured for specific types of trips and conditions. Don’t compromise on your safety. If you have to pay a little more for a tent more suited to where you’re going, then pay it!
With so many tents available to you, it might be a little difficult to filter the choices down to the ones that will best meet your requirements. That’s why we invite you to contact us and tell us where you’re going, how many are going with you, and what sort of conditions you’ll encounter. We’ll help you make the right choice.
