I use a bigger tent for car camping, but for backpacking I've been known to squeeze myself and my two sisters into a 2 man tent. We use a 3 man for myself, my husband, and our two little girls. The gear is mostly either being used or is hung in the bear bag overnight, so we really don't have anything in the tent with us. Mostly empty backpacks are hung in a tree with a pack cover (trash bag) over them. Extra space would really be nice, but I'm not a big person, and every pound of weight counts, especially when you're carrying kids part of the time with all the gear.