Essence of the Tent

Just what is a tent? For some it’s a house, others a workplace and also to a lot of us it’s our holiday accommodation! Basically, a tent is actually a shelter comprising sheets, or often single sheet, of cloth or other material draped over or mounted on a frame of poles. Additional support might be provided by external guy lines or ropes.

Many modern small tents are free-standing or attached to the ground using tent pegs. An acquaintance of mine actually uses 6 inch nails for tent pegs and happily leaves them behind when breaking camp! Large tents do usually depend on being anchored with guy ropes bound to stakes or tent pegs as mentioned. Tents can trace their ancestry to their first use as portable homes by nomadic peoples. Often following migrating herds of game, these peoples had no requirement for the GPS navigation systems that a lot of us now take for granted. I’m sure you’ll agree tents nowadays tend to be more often connected with recreational camping and temporary shelters. It’s unfortunate the temporary shelters in many cases are the ones seen on the television news, providing shelter for victims of some natural disaster.

Tents range in dimensions from "bivouac" structures just large enough for just one person to settle in up to huge (circus) tents capable of seating many hundreds of people. Leading me to ask the question, when does a tent turn into a marquee? Because the bulk of this post is related to tents used in recreational camping that have sleeping space for one to ten people, larger tents may be discussed in more detail at a later time.

Tents for recreational camping fall under two general categories, those intended to be carried by backpackers or maybe cyclists and larger heavier tents that are usually carried in a car or another vehicle. It's fortunate how the internet helps make the buying of tents and camping accessories generally, so simple. Specially when sites like http://www.mycampingstore.co.uk offer myriad tent bargains. Smaller tents can be sufficiently light that they may be carried for long distances on a person's back, even when a rucksack is carried. I know a number of carp fishermen that equip themselves with such tents when enduring an overnight angling session, though they might not consider themselves campers necessarily.

The 2nd type, or larger tent, dependant upon tent size and also the knowledge of the individual or people involved, can usually be assembled (pitched) in under 30 minutes. You will find specialised tents designed with spring-loaded poles that may be 'pitched' within minutes. Kit yourself out with those essential camping accessories, available from http://www.mycampingstore.co.uk and have an adventure!