The best tents you can buy for your next adventure

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With a good tent, you can always feel at home, even when you're actually miles from civilization and a few thousand feet up in the mountains. The Mountainsmith Morrison EVO 2 Person tent is our top choice for best tent, thanks to its great price, ease of setup, and ability to keep you warm and dry even in bad weather.

I was sitting on rough-hewn log bench when the first raindrops started to fall. Fortunately, I had the thick thatched roof of a decades-old hut over my head, a hut built to endure the lashing storms of the South American rainforest through which the team and I were hiking. With a steaming bowl of rice on my lap and the day's trek completed, I was looking forward to eating my fill and then sinking into that pure slumber that follows an exhausting day.

Even as the rainfall grew heavy, not a single drop penetrated the woven palm and reed ceilings or floor of the dusty old hut. The same was not true, however, for my teammate Mark's tent. He burst into the hut carrying his pack, sleeping bag, pad, and other gear in his arms, swearing loudly and exclaiming: "That damn tent is useless! Everything's soaked!"

I leaped up to take some of the gear from his arms, but then it occurred to me that, hey, he and I used the exact same brand of tent ... and that meant that my hiking pack, sleeping bag, air mat, my clothing and camera, my book and maps, and everything else I had with me on this ten day trip were likely in the process of being soaked through. I ran from the hut and through the downpour only to find that, sure enough, most of my gear was already soaked. I grabbed everything I could, thankfully got some help from the others, and stumbled back into the hut, where I would be spending the night instead of in my cozy tent.

As frustrating as that experience was, it was more my fault than a matter of gear failure. In later reading up on the tent I was using, I learned that it was designed primarily for high alpine use in freezing conditions. Snow, wind, and frigid temperatures were no problem for it, but heavy rains would soak it through unless it was used with an added rainfly.

How to choose the right tent for your needs

The lesson here is that not all tents are suitable for all conditions. Nor is one person's ideal tent the right choice for another camper, climber, or hiker. Choosing the best tent for your needs means considering basic factors like climate and season as well as your activities and how the tent's weight, size, and layout will accommodate or hinder them. Also factor in the size and number of people who will be sharing the tent, your gear budget, and other personal factors.

When figuring out how to decide which tent to buy, you should take the time consider important attributes before even beginning to look at actual tents. For example, if you have already decided that a spacious tent is worth a few extra pounds of gear weight, then there's no need to look at ultra-light often expensive tents. If you know you will have a heavy pack laden with gear and rations, then every ounce counts and a small, light tent is crucial. If you and the family are summertime car campers, a big, breezy tent is great. If you head out onto glaciers or set up camp above the timberline, a squat, sturdy tent ready for wind and snow load is a matter not only of comfort but also of safety.

Read on to see which of our top tent picks is best for your needs. We've included tents that house 1-6 people, tents that work in brutal cold, and tents that are suitable for camping with the whole family.

Although the Mountainsmith Morrison EVO 2 Person Tent is our top pick, for the reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the Flytop Outdoor Backpacking 2 Person Tent, the ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 3 Person Tent, the Coleman Evanston Screened 6 Person Tent, and the Luxe Tempo Breeze 1 Single Person Tent. One of these options will surely suit you and your fellow outdoor enthusiasts.The best tent overall

Mountainsmith

Why you'll love it: The Mountainsmith Morrison EVO 2 Person Tent offers plenty of room for two people and their gear, and it's a reliable three-season tent that will keep you warm and dry even in poor weather.

Mountainsmith is one of the most trusted names in outdoor gear, and for good reason: They make good stuff, and it just happens to be pretty affordable, too. That's certainly the case with the Morrison EVO tent, which is almost a steal at a hundred and sixty bucks. But this is not an entry-level tent — It's a bona fide shelter suitable for three-season use with impressive rain and weather resistance.

I like the Mountainsmith Morrison EVO thanks to the many variations in which you can erect it. The tent can be pitched without the rainfly, leaving the mesh roof exposed, which is ideal for ventilation and cooling in warm conditions. It can also be set up with the rainfly in place but with the windows unzipped and the vestibules open for protection from rain but with airflow maintained. Finally, when the cold sets in or the wind starts driving the rain sideways, you can zip everything shut and seal yourself and your camping buddy in all snug and sound.

You'll only need to practice setting this tent up once or twice before you master it, even with laying out the included footprint and attaching the rain cover. And as long as you don't expect the tent to stand up to a midwinter blizzard, you should be able to enjoy it in almost any conditions during most months of the year.

The Mountainsmith Morrison EVO has garnered a 4.7 out of five-star rating on Amazon, and so far no one has given it less than four stars. A review from July of 2017 notes its "fast and easy" setup, while another buyer celebrates the fact that it packs down so well, making for easy stowing in a backpack or even in the pannier case of a motorcycle.

Trusted gear review site Backpacker.com sums up the Morrison as a "double-wall tent that's simple on design but big on space," though the reviewer does point out that its five-plus pound weight is on the heavier side. An Outdoor Project writer notes the tent's easy setup and spacious interior.

Pros: Spacious interior, great price point, suitable for three season use, easy to set up

Cons: Too heavy for some uses users, rainfly limits window ventilation

Buy the Mountainsmith Morrison EVO 2 Person Tent on Amazon for 159.95

The best tent for serious mountaineering

ALPS Mountaineering

Why you'll love it: Even when gale-force winds and heavy snows are raging outside, within the ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 3 Person tent, you will be warm and dry.

Let's get the negatives out of the way from the get-go on this one: The ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 3 Person tent is pretty heavy, and it's pretty snug in there with three adults and the type of gear you need for a genuine mountaineering expedition. But as you probably know, a tent that's designed for three people is actually ideal for two users. Also, if you divide up the poles, the fly, and the tent itself between two people or three — a trio of sleepers can indeed fit, it just gets ... familiar , the issue of its nine-pound weight is mitigated.

And when the Tasmanian is keeping you safe and even comfortable in the middle of a howling blizzard at 12,000 feet of elevation, you'll be glad you decided to deal with those extra few pounds. The tent uses a freestanding frame system comprised of 7000 Series aluminum poles, complete with a cross pole and weatherproof shock cords, all of which help the Tasmanian keep its shape and remain standing even in powerful winds.

The tent comes with a waterproof polyester fly cover that will keep you dry and that adds excellent insulation, while factory sealed floor and fly seams enhance the water-resistance and block out any chilly breezes that might otherwise creep in. With two people sharing this tent, it's roomy and comfortable even if you have to keep all your gear inside due to inclement weather. The spacious vestibules help with gear storage and offer some space for food prep, repairs, or for slipping on or off those muddy boots. Just don't plan to use this tent for hot weather camping unless you really like saunas.

Amazon ratings of this tent currently hover at 4.3 stars, with most people echoing one reviewer's sentiments that it was "worth every penny" thanks to its high-quality "materials and its construction."

A reviewer with Best Outdoor Gears praised the ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian tent's ability to keep users "dry and protected from all the elements." The Backpacker.com team that tested the Tasmanian said it offered "legit winter protection" after using it to brave an Alaskan snowstorm.

Pros: Four season weather protection, stands up to strong winds, roomy vestibules

Cons: On the heavier side, too hot for summer use

Buy the ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 3 Person Tent on Amazon for 224.64

The best tent for the whole family

Coleman

Why you'll love it: The Coleman Evanston Screened 6 Person Tent is large enough for six people to share, and it's a great choice for car campers or for use on shorter overland treks.

The Coleman Evanston tent has a footprint measuring ten by fourteen feet. That includes a generously covered vestibule area, but the interior of the tent itself is still about ten by ten, or 100 square feet, in other words. This tent is a perfect choice for family camp-outs, provided you are making camp in an area with mild temperatures. The Evanston features huge screen panels and a mesh roof that allow for ventilation and that will keep you and the gang cool when it's warm out, but the tent offers minimal insulation for use in colder climates or seasons.

That said, rain is really no problem with the Coleman Evanston tent. With its rainfly in place and properly lashed down, the tent should stay dry inside even in a downpour. The vestibule is ideal for storing wet or muddy gear and is large enough to serve as a camp kitchen or a spot to hang out and play cards or read. For the glamping set, the Evanston can accommodate two queen-sized air mattresses, but this tent is ideal when shared by a big family of outdoorsmen, outdoorswomen, and outdoorskids who are content to climb into a sleeping bag after a long day spent enjoying the outdoors.

With more than a thousand reviews and ratings, the Coleman Evanston tent enjoys a 4.3-star score. One thankful reviewer's words say it best, so I'll share a comment from Mark L. who wrote: "Our camp site was filled with inches of water, wind was 20-30 mph, rain coming from all directions, and we were under a flash flood watch. The only thing dry was the inside of my Coleman Evanston tent. Bone dry. Thank you Coleman."

In a video review, YouTube gear tester JRESHOW noted the Coleman Evanston tent's quick and easy setup, while a write-up with the Just My Two Cents product guide highlighted the tent's low price and large size, though it bemoaned the fact that there's no way to achieve complete privacy in this tent.

Pros: Spacious tent with high ceiling, very affordable for large tent, decent rain protection

Cons: Very heavy tent, not suitable for cold weather, limited privacy

Buy the Coleman Evanston Screened 6 Person Tent on Amazon for 108.99 originally 178.99

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