3 Main Camping Tent Designs

There are three basic camping tent designs: 1) Dome tent, 2) Cabin tent and 3) A-Frame.

Dome Tent

The dome tent has typically been the camping tent of choice for backpackers, canoe campers and extreme adventurers. There are two types of dome tents; the tunnel or half dome, which is great for backpackers or those traveling light, and the classic geodesic dome.

The dome tent provides a good deal of floor space and is extremely stable in inclement weather. Depending on the size of the dome tent there is usually a good deal of headspace, just not as much as the cabin tent.

Cabin Tent

The cabin tent is popular with families who need or want a lot of space for people and equipment. The cabin tent has a lot of headroom throughout and has vertical walls. 

The drawbacks to the cabin tent are that they are typically heavy, pitching the tent is not very easy and the straight walls can be a problem in a windy setting. The cabin tent is convenient when you can drive straight to the camping pad and you do not expect there to be inclement weather.

A-Frame

The A-Frame tent looks exactly as it sounds. It is essentially two walls that form a triangle with the ground. You may have seen old pictures of Boy Scouts camping with A-Frame tents.

The A-Frame is easy to pitch and strike. You could easily create an A-Frame tent with simply a line tied between two trees and a tarp draped over the line and staked out. The main downside to this type of tent is that the shape minimizes the space available inside.

You probably won't consider this type of tent if you are camping with more than two people. Additionally, it's not a great choice if inclement weather will be a concern.

To see what camping tent works best with different scenarios go to the Purchasing the Right Camping Tent page.