5 things I wish I knew before I bought my first tent

I choose my tents the same way I choose a new car: by carefully examining the color and aesthetics only, in that order.

Vestibules are actually French for the place where massive spiders build webs in at night trapping you inside your tent

Excellent advice. When I was a kid I had to learn these lessons the hard way. It's no fun waking up with your sleeping bag sloshing around in a pool of cold water. Back in the day, we had canvas pup tents with no "bathtub floor," and would dig a small trench around the base of our tent so the water shedding off the tent would be routed away. We also had no double walls in our tents, but canvas would swell in a rain and create a watertight barrier. But if you messed up and touched the tent ceiling from the inside, it would form an instant leak by having the fabric disturbed.

The very first thing about setting up a tent, you missed it, pick and choose the exact micro climate the tent will sit on.. Never pick and absolutely flat and level spot. If it rains you will be doing the midnight backstroke. Never set up right under a tree without checking for dead limbs. Never set up out in the wide open if you have a choice,, something, anything to break the wind. The ideal tent site is on the tiniest little nearly flat mound. It only has to be a couple of inches higher than the surrounding AND it must have drainage away from the tent. Near bushes to break the wind, not under huge trees that can direct lightning. Pick the spot perfectly first.

Hey Dan, great video. I agreed with nearly everything you said except the guy line tightening statement. When one is in windy conditions, the wind acts on the fly like a big sail and given the surface area it can whip the fly with a lot of force. Tents with looser guy lines enable the tent to be whipped by the wind and the shock of the guy stopping that movement when the slack in the guy is used up puts a lot of strain on the reinforcement which can begin to tear it loose. Guy lines should be taut, not like the cables of a suspension bridge, for sure, but enough to prevent the fly/guy combo from being yanked. An modification to the guy system that one could make is to add a small elastic bugee about three or four inches long between a pair of loops tied in the guy line so that when staked, the bungee is under tension but there is a bit of slack in the guy line. When pushed by the wind, the elastic can "snub" the force before the guy reaches the end of it's slack and lessen the snapping of the fly. I learned about this from some mountaneers while doing some winter hiking in the Cascades.

I’m loving all your content. It’s clear, informative and you can tell you enjoy it and aren’t just trying to make a quick buck. Your videos are some of the few things I can watch all the way through and remain interested.

Many tents come with covers that form vestibule, which creates a double layer to keep moisture off the tent and allow circulation through/over your tent to keep it cooler in warm weather. Never seen a tent with a pad cover...so we always used big tarps to lay below the tent, but Tyvek is a good suggestion.

Vestibules are also great for keeping the rain out of the inner tent when entering/exiting. I've got one tent with no vestibule to speak of and when you open the zips to get in/out, rain can come in through both inner and outer doors. With a decent vestibule, you've got an area that shelters the inner door and you can have both open without rain pouring through and filling up the "bathtub".

This video was very informative for a beginner like me. I've been wanting to buy a decent tent for some weekend trips but most importantly for my upcoming multi month/year overlanding trip and this is really helping me make the decision on the right tent for me.

Another tip for the better tents is watch Luke On "The Outdoor Gear Review" Saved a lot of frustration with his reviews of set ups, then weather testing of many tents. All kinds of priced tents And he is not sponsored by any tent maker.

I really appreciate how much you break everything down. I've been loving how informative (and funny) your videos are, keep it up!

Great advice and information Dan well worth a view. Ive got the lot , Tyvek footprints , Golite single skin teepee with tub floor (10 years old still great) Vaude Terra Trio up in one 2 skin tough as old boots. And a 6' teepee with built in tub and 6 vents to lower condensation. I pick which depending on the season. PS for those who dont know stick your Tyvek in the washing machine it comes out just like Dans as its normally stiff as sheet cardboard

This September I backpacked for a couple weeks on the SHT. This was my first backpacking trip since 1983 and I was really curious to see how it went with my gear. I started with a Zpacks Solplex. It's a good tent and it did amazing in a super bad (I mean SUPER bad!) thunderstorm that came in 3 waves with torrential rain and high winds. The tent did great. Really impressive tent performance (damn scary night though!). But the condensation in the tent was pretty bad and that ended up being a deal-breaker for me. I switched over to my BA Fly Creek UL2 and I was much happier in a double-wall tent. My daughter used a Zpacks Altaplex (single wall) and was happy with it.

Hi Dan you always bring great and interesting content even if it does not fit our specific needs. Thanks for all of you efforts.

Can’t tell you how much you’ve helped me starting out. I would of waisted a ton of money on the wrong items. I now I have list of items needed and the order I’m buying them. I can see how easy it is to go down the gear rabbit hole, but damn it’s fun. Thanks again and I enjoy watching you on The Office Jim!

Here in Belgium everyone gets introduced to tents because of camp sites at music festivals. Basically everyone gets the same brand from a European sports and camping store (Decathlon) which are known to have great quality, cheap, double walled pop-up tents that are insanely easy to set up. They go for around €60 and I've been using mine for about 6-8 years now.

Good info. I started out in the old canvas wall tent when I was a kid and progressed to a 2 man backpack tent for places like Philmont Scout ranch in NM and hiking Mt Washington in NH. Got old and the wife insisted on a camper. Now I am back to a canvas Kodiak Canvas truck tent. Almost full circle. I still have the old Eddie Bauer nylon (when they actually sold outdoor stuff) but it's 50 years old and would probably disintegrate in a breeze if I ever set it up. Thanks for the video, Stay safe and God bless.

I wish I new that one person tents are very small and just mean as a shelter and that a two person tent is really a one person tent with a decent amount of space to chill when is raining or just to read when I can sleep. My first tent was a Lashan one and I only used once because I hated how small it is. Maybe I will give a second chance in the snow and see if I like it.

I love videos at Camp Becker! As a former cheesehead its like visiting home. I often ponder how many backpackers you could actually hostel in your "camp" at once time. That would be a funny sight; walking out on your deck in the morning to a sea of tents. Great information.

One benefit to buying the footprint meant for your tent is the fast fly mode (setting up the rainfly without the body of the tent). Super helpful if you get caught in the rain, or it is raining when you get to your campsite.