Backpacking Tents
Backpacking tents, (typically nylon) intended purposely for hikers and backpackers in mind, can be a backpacker's best buddy. Certainly, there other ways to spend a night in the woods. Many fast and light hikers are relying on bivy bags to keep themselves warm, nesting their sleeping bags within water-resistant bags and eschewing a tent all together. Nevertheless, these weight watchers often wake up in sleeping bags drenched with condensation, even if the sky was clear all night. Other hikers spend the night under ultra light tarps or in hammocks, but when it starts to rain most of them find themselves flooded out, all too pleased to share your dry, water-resistant tent.
Backpacking tents aren't the weighty, leaking, awkward shelters they once were either. Construction from nylon shells and fiberglass or carbon-fiber poles mean that today's backpacking tents are smaller and lighter than ever before. No more hassling with mismatched tent poles in the middle of the night either; most manufactures now thread their break-down poles with bungee cords which permit the pieces to snap together rapidly. These poles, combined with color-coded snaps on the tent body, mean that most tents can be set up by one person in minutes, even if that one person is stumbling into camp in the dark as it's starting to rain.
Once the tent is put up, you can be guaranteed a dry night. The rain flies off modern backpacking tents are waterproofed and seam-sealed, so you won't wake up at 3am to that tell-tale drip-drip-drip of a leaking seam. They're ventilated also, allowing the moisture and condensation from your breathing to carry outside and avoid damp tent walls in the morning. One more useful, common feature is a vestibule, allowing you to leave your muddy boots and pack outside your tent but still out of the rain.
Other little touches abound. Many backpacking tents are outfitted with gear lofts, utilizing the further space at the crown of the tent's dome for storage of small objects and bags. Others have attachment points for flashlights or lanterns, although it's essential to keep sources of fire or heat away from the man-made materials. Small pouches sewn into the inside of the tent serve as useful places for pocket change or eyeglasses.
When rainstorm clouds roll in it's good to know that you can simply carry backpacking tents, warm, dry shelter in your backpack, which can be standing by to keep off the rain and snow for years to come.