Big Tent Little Tent?

[AlwaysOutdoors]

Which do you prefer? One of those large 3 room tents (or similar) or just a smaller one room that can sleep up to 6-8? I think those bigger ones are pain to put up and store so like the smaller one. If we have several coming along we will just bring another smaller one. What about you?

[Newanderthal]

Tarp shelter strung up between hiking poles when I'm alone.
2 man ultralight when I have my woman with me.

[Grandpa]

Three Bedroom tent? Nawww, I go to get away from the crowd. A 3 lb 35 sq ft is big enough for grandma and I and the dog.

[Lamebeaver]

In the mountains, the bigger the tent, the harder it is to find a flat spot to pitch it. The biggest tent we have is a 10x12, and we only use that for car camping. Personally, I think a 7x7 is ideal. It has enough room for two adults and all of their gear.

[ponderosa]

Our HUGE tent for car camping is just a 5 man. We used to have a 7 man, but it just seemed ridiculously big. It's just a place to sleep.

[briansnat]

We have five tents. A 6 person Walrus that we use for car and canoe camping and a 4 person Walrus that we used for backpacking if we took our daughter along when she was younger. It's now our loaner tent.

A 2 person LL Bean dome tent that was our primary backpacking tent for many years, until we purchased a 2 person Sierra Designs Sirus so we could cut down on weight (it weighs about half of what the Bean dome weighed).

Finally I have a Mountainsmith single person bivy. Nice and light and fine for good weather camping but I can't sit up in it, so if I run into a rainy night it can be a bit confining. I use this solo camping or if I'm with a group without my wife along. That way I don't have to worry about sleeping next to some smelly snorer (like me).

I prefer 6 person Walrus because it's nice and roomy when it's just me and my wife. It's also a cinch to set up and does a great job keeping us dry. But at 18 lbs it's not suitable for backpacking.

For backpacking these days it's usually the Sierra Designs tent. It does get pretty cramped in there though, but it's worth the savings in weight.

I'll still use the Bean dome for cold weather camping because the Sierra Designs is mighty breezy (great for hot weather though). I always liked the Bean tent because it was so roomy inside. In a pinch it could sleep 3 but was more of a very roomy 2 person tent. As I've gotten older and as my wife's back prevents her from carrying too much weight we had to cut weight somewhere and the tent was the obvious choice.

[calanta]

As small as possible. When you get too big you end up forgetting why you are there in the first place. Also for us, having smaller single tents for the kiddies pays off in the end, they can carry their own.

[eyebp]

For car camping I just got a big tent. I think its like 7X7 or 8X8 and roughly 1700 pounds. For backpacking I use my Tarptent Moment. Less than 2 pounds and sets up in a flash. Its probably the coolest tent on earth. heehee

[IndianaHiker]

I don't even bring a tent. Here is my new set up.

[eyebp]

I really need to look into geting a hammock.