One size fits all? Not when you’re talking about tents. Check out these four new shelters, fit for soloists or big families.
REI Hobitat 4 Yes, the Hobitat is a tent, but you’d be better served thinking of this as a modular home. The four-person tent comes standard with a rainfly and mini vestibule, but it’s also built with a special “connect tech zipper” that allows you to add a full-sized garage. Pop open the garage’s awning and you’ve got shaded outdoor lounge space; close it down completely and you’ve got weatherproof storage for all your gear. Not that the tent isn’t spacious enough on its own. The odd pod-shaped design gives you more headroom throughout the tent, and tons of mesh pockets and hang loops keep your family’s gear off the floor. 16lb 8oz. $269; rei.com
Sierra Designs Lightning HT 2 Compared to most two-person tents, which are really only big enough for one regular-sized person and a dog, the Lightning HT 2 feels like a roomy amphitheater. The square footage isn’t revolutionary (28.5 square feet) but a few smart design features enable the Lightning HT 2 to live big. An extra ridge pole adds head room, then double doors keep you from having to step over your buddy every time you have to pee. And the rain fly has two separate vestibules, so you each get your own space. It’s a fully mesh tent, so if the weather’s right, ditch the fly and the entire forest becomes your bedroom, minus the bugs. 3lb 14oz. $279.95; sierradesigns.com
The North Face Meadowlands 6 The trouble with big family tents is that they often require an engineering degree to pitch them. The North Face simplifies the process as much as possible with the Meadowlands, a six-person behemoth, by giving you color-coded poles and exterior pole clips, so you don’t have to fish the poles through 13 feet of tubing. As for space, the Meadowlands has it: 90 square feet to be exact. There’s lots of mesh for venting, but the tent is burly enough to hold up to winds that might cripple lesser family digs. 14.4 pounds. $429; thenorthface.com
