Most tent regrets come from answering the wrong question. Start with these three and the choice mostly makes itself.
1. How does the tent get to camp?
In your car: weight barely matters — buy space, headroom and fast setup. On your back: every gram counts — target under ~2 kg for a two-person shelter and pack size becomes as important as floor area.
2. How many people, really?
Tent capacity ratings assume shoulder-to-shoulder sleeping. For comfort, size up: a family of four is happier in a 6-person tent; two backpackers who like their space carry a light 3-person.
3. How often will you actually camp?
A few weekends a summer: prioritize easy setup — quick-open frames save the most first-trip stress. Frequent trips or shoulder-season nights: pay for better fabric, full-coverage fly and stronger poles.
If you're car camping with family
Look at quick-open cabin-style tents — our staff default is the Village series (a Village 6.0 Gen 2 pitches in minutes and stands hip-height rain or shine). Browse all camping tents or the easy-setup collection.
If you're backpacking
Start from weight and work backwards. The backpacking tents collection is sorted for this, and the ultralight collection gathers sub-2 kg shelters, pads and titanium cookware in one place — the Star River UL 2P is the one we recommend most.
Still unsure? Stand inside one.
We keep tents pitched on the floor at all three Ontario stores — come in, zip the doors, lie down. Directions on the Richmond Hill, Newmarket and Ottawa store pages. Planning your first trip too? See campgrounds near Richmond Hill.