Tent Capacity

[GA_gal]

I remember camping with my parents when I was still a child and my father bought a 4 person tent that ended up being cramped with 2 adults and a child in it. How is tent capacity gauged? How does a manufacturer decide how many people will fit in the tent? Should I always assume that the capacity on the tent is higher than the true number of people that will fit comfortably inside?

[charley]

I always figure at least 1 person less then what the manufacture says. Big tents like 6 or more I would even think 2 less. I think they mean how many can be squeezed in it.

[Hikenhunter]

I always figure one person is equal to one ridgerest. Then they lay those ridgerest's tight against one another. If you need room for gear and just for comfort figure one person for every two that the manufacturer says can fit.I have an old Timberlite 3 person tent. It is just enough room for two adults and gear. When I pack alone I take a two man tent and am quite comfortable with my dog and our gear in the tent but I would not want to try to squeeze two adults into any of them.

[Gondor]

I always use +1 logic. If the tent is a 3 person tent than it is a 2 person tent and so on. Most of the manufacturers will be too optimistic in their assessments.

[Barney]

That is a good logic. It also depends on the height of the people in that tent. I generally don't like when my therm-a-rest touches the sides of the tent.

[ppine]

Ignore the capacity and go by square feet. Use a tent that you are familiar with as a basis for comparison.

edit- People look at boats, travel trailers, and tents and the first question is how many does it sleep? The old adage for boats is 6 for cocktails, 4 for dinner and 2 for overnight. That works for trailers and for tents too, no matter how big they are. If you have kids we can make an exception to the rule.

[swebob]

When a manufacture says a tent will fit so many people, they are talking about sleeping shoulder to shoulder. Its just my girlfriend and i that go camping and i have a 10 x 14 tent, my last tent was a 8 x 8 and just too small for use and take in mind we car camp so the extra weight we deal with for the comfort..

[Barney]

I like rectangular tents because even square feet parameter can be misleading. If you buy some triangular or hexagonal tent it won't be that practical.

[TakeAHike]

We had a 4 person tent that barely fit us and our gear comfortably. Now we have a huge tent that is bigger than we will probably ever need but we like it. It is easy to set up and tear down. I think the +1 logic is a pretty safe bet.

[Grandpa]

30 sq ft is big enough for dog and I. 140 Sq ft is about right for grandma and I. But if I got a bigger tent, say a 12x16, I'm sure she could find a use for all of that too.