Should I Use a Single-Walled or Double-Walled Tent for My Camping, Backpacking, and Climbing Trips?
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The video - which goes into the details that I won’t go into, here (so as to not make the text and the video redundant), prominently showcases four tents (it shows many, but four are in the video quite a bit:
Single-walled:
Double-walled:
These are all very different tents. If you take a look at each one, you will see a variety of weights, features, and even floor space. Because, just like any gear there are tradeoffs. What makes that reality particularly daunting with tents, though, is that tents are expensive. So, I am going to offer a little bit of tent shopping advice, and it comes from the reality that I think most people are going to buy multiple tents at once to match a tent to a particular style of activity.
With that in mind, then, I think of approaching a tent purchase in one of two ways.
The first way is to get a tent that is tailored to the type of activity that you do the most and then put up with it’s deficiencies for other activity types. For example, if you are a three-season backpacker, then, if you are wanting to go the “specialized” route (which also usually means the “premium” route) you can get yourself an ultralight tent that will make your big days far more comfortable. Then, if you end up needing a tent for a car camping trip or an alpine climb or the like, you could a) try to borrow or rent, or b) do what you can to mitigate the tent’s weaknesses (like pitching behind a big wind break if you are above treeline, etc.).
The second strategy would be to get an “all-rounder” tent that can do many things but isn’t the best at any one thing. So, this might be getting a double-walled tent that is one of the lighter models (like a Hilleberg, for instance) that isn’t soul-crushing if you had to take it backpacking but also could withstand some pretty harsh conditions, even in winter environments.
Either way, the idea would be to then round out your collection as you get more into activities that used to be on your periphery: like maybe you were that backpacker that later loved that alpine climb and so got into mountaineering and therefore needed a more stormproof tent option. We’re spreading out cost.
And maybe one more word of unsolicited advice (I guess that’s what blog’s are often for though, aren’t they??): As we get into new activities, we usually start associating with people who are familiar with those activities. Those people probably have the gear to do those activities. So, we have a chance to try stuff out before we go drop that kind of money on a big purchase… like with a tent.
So, take a look at the video. Think about tradeoffs (as always), and I hope it helps you with any tent purchasing process you might be facing.