Another new camping trend - individual tents

The last several years the groups I travel with have been taking individual tents. On the trip in August on crown land west of Wabakimi, we had five tents for six people. In the Wabakimi area this can be problematic since there are few campsites and many of them are small. We spent most of our one week trip storm bound on a small island with the tents packed together like a homeless encampment in the woods.

On the plus side, it’s nice to have the privacy. I am a restless sleeper and with a noisy NeoAir inflatable pad, so I disturb my tent mates as I toss and turn. And I frequently awake in the wee hours for a hour or so of reading with the headlamp on. The downside is the extra weight and bulk that is packed along. This runs counter to decades of trying minimize the amount and weight of our gear. Maybe it’s just an extension of the comfort gear trend.

What do others think?

Thinking all the way back to childhood, I can only remember one trip where I shared a tent with someone else. It was a family trip with my wife and three small kids. I would never choose to share a tent with an adult other than my wife, and she doesn't camp.

Moreover, my single tents have grown larger over the past 45 years. My most recent single tent is a so-called "three person" tent. What hyperbole! Maybe those size tents were used by three starved soldiers in World War I — but not for me.

It's been somewhat a problem in some of the campsites we've shared on a few river trips as well as on the Bowron Chain in BC a few years back. I'm sure it's gonna get worse. Will campgrounds rebel? Most have a number of tents limit per site already, I think. Ain't any such thing out in the wilderness.

Don't really think this is a new trend, between hammocks and tents we have been doing this for years.

BWCA66 said:

Don't really think this is a new trend, between hammocks and tents we have been doing this for years.

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May not be as new as I think. We've been in smaller groups lately, though see it when camped with other groups, and it's only been lately. We've been doing a lot of desert paddling in the last 15 or so years, and that terrain isn't conducive to hammock use. I've seen exactly one on the Green in Utah, anyway, and I've been doing that run for almost 30 years, not annually, but close. The individual tents there have just cropped up that we've noticed in the last maybe 8 or so years. Our last trips where there were enough trees for hammocks were in BC, 2018 and 2019. No hammocks, but a few solo tents. Could have been hammocks that I didn't see. In the Bowron, one group of 8 guys from Vancouver were obnoxious about it, demanding others already there move theirs so they could be together in a group. Just my experiences. That of others may differ as destination can demand different gear requirements.

I've usually shared a 3 person tent with another. Often one of my sons, but a few times with clients I've invited. Shared tent with other adult leader at Philmont. Just seems like logical weight savings and leaves less trace.

not a new trend at all- all through my scout leading years and on into my instructor decades (1985-2014) we pretty we all used individual leader tents for multiple reasons, we had a few leaders whose snoring could chase away a polar bear ((one guy had the nickname D9, after the CAT bulldozer), We could strategically set our tents for best coverage for the youth, and most importantly, it gave us the opportunity to wind down and get a good night's sleep after 16-18 hours of supervising a dozen or more young teens- that just doesn't happen unless you've spent years spending night in a tent with that other person.

When I paddled and rowed with women I slept with them. Now I paddle with old men and dogs and sleep with dogs.

The last time I shared a tent with a non-family member was about 15 years ago...He was a lifetime buddy that shared many of my interests and activities.
Well, we set up our shared tent on a recently designated camp site at Little Tupper Lake, the first weekend when camping was allowed there.
The site was kinda thick with vegetation and deadfall, we positioned the tent as carefully as possible.
For two nights, I had my sleep disrupted by a root, that intermittently poked me in the back.
When we broke camp, and took down the tents, I looked for that root that kept poking me...

No root!! I never shared a tent with him again!!

That became a running gag for the next decade or so.

I'm nearly always solo and use a 3 man tent. Bring your own or I'll lend you one but I don't plan to share except emergencies and an upcoming exception:

I've recently been told I'll be a grandfather next Spring so I'm planning on having a grandchild along in a few years (4-5 is old enough to walk portage trails, right?). At that time, I would think the grandkid & I will share for a couple of years but I'd expect that it'll have it's own tent as soon as it's comfortable out there.

(Ideally, my daughter will come along and share my extra tent w/ the rugrat & I'll still sleep solo but we'll see)

Years ago with the college outdoor program I worked in, I always shared tent space with my students. But, as the years went on, it seemed a safer bet to sleep by myself. Between moving into a hammock and/or sleeping under a tarp, it solved all my problems. Students seemed to like the "security" of tent walls and a fly; unless they could sleep in a lean-to. There seemed to be some novelty in a lean-to that always attracted them.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

For the last 20 years or so everyone brings their own solo tent. Couples are the exception. Lately I have just rolled out a bed under some pine trees, sleeping with brother and 2 dogs. We are maybe 20 feet apart. It is my favorite way to sleep in decent weather.

ppine said:

For the last 20 years or so everyone brings their own solo tent. Couples are the exception. Lately I have just rolled out a bed under some pine trees, sleeping with brother and 2 dogs. We are maybe 20 feet apart. It is my favorite way to sleep in decent weather.

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NV likely has lots of decent weather. Where I have often paddled never seems to.

I always bring my own just because I don't like to share. And I snore.

But I prefer to sleep in a hammock if at all possible, cowboy if I cannot, and then tent only if there's weather or it's really cold, so I don't often end up in a tent at all, shared or not.

Gamma1214 said:

4-5 is old enough to walk portage trails, right?

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@Gamma1214 I had my 4 yr old on some portage trails in Massasauga PP this year. I plan to take my 3 yr old twins along next time. It’s no problem at all.

Gamma1214 said:

I'm nearly always solo and use a 3 man tent. Bring your own or I'll lend you one but I don't plan to share except emergencies and an upcoming exception:

I've recently been told I'll be a grandfather next Spring so I'm planning on having a grandchild along in a few years (4-5 is old enough to walk portage trails, right?). At that time, I would think the grandkid & I will share for a couple of years but I'd expect that it'll have it's own tent as soon as it's comfortable out there.

(Ideally, my daughter will come along and share my extra tent w/ the rugrat & I'll still sleep solo but we'll see)

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my daughter was just over a year old on her first trip, by 3 she was toddling along with a small day pack, by 5 she carried her clothes and a few toys, by 7 she was learning to solo... My grandson is expected in march, I hope to have him on the water by july...

Nick Pending said:

NV likely has lots of decent weather. Where I have often paddled never seems to.

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Nevada has few decent overnight trips. The whole West is dry in summer.

ppine said:

Nevada has few decent overnight trips. The whole West is dry in summer.

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Does "west" stop at the Canadian border? I see to have been rained on more than a few times on summer trips up there (usually late summer). I'm just joking with you. Otherwise, it usually does happen as you say here in OR, and it's worse east of the Cascade Mountains. And to keep it more on topic, tents might get used more up there, even individual ones. Mosquito factor counts, too. Thanks.

Space can be a luxury or a necessity (or both) depending on your point of view. While I love my smaller more modest home I sure wouldn't mind having a garden gate that opened onto some rolling rural scenes. More space all to myself. I could go skinny dippy forest bathing. Lol.
Our family tents suited whichever arrangements were luxuriously necessary. A 1p became a solitary hangout for our eldest while the 6p provided the family party sleeping/lounging space especially in inclement weather. There was a lot of all that October camping. As the kids grew up and left us for funner activities my wife and I better appreciated the luxury of larger tents. No less than a 3-person best suits us, and the 2-door with vestibules affords us with necessary separate spillover space for shoes etc. Although I'd love/hate to make a big tent purchase just for the sake of luxury and need I've found tarps can expand the camp living space admirably. Which in stormy weather gives us options; chances are one of us will be napping/reading tucked up in the tent while the other is scrunched well down in a chair under the tarp sipping something hot soaking up the view.
I would hazzard a guess and say that there is a solo trend happening; more people are both exploring the outdoors and discovering gear to permit them individual self-sufficiency. I would suggest to a crowd of soloing group trippers that they get creative and be flexible. aka compromise. Either share tents or separate to different sites. It's luxury to have it all but not necessary.

In the 80s and earlier sharing a two person tent with a trip partner was normal. Now that I'm older, I solo in a two person tent, although I'd share it with my wife or son if either came along. My wife won't, and my son would probably bring his own set up. I also have a one person tent, but that only comes along when weight really matters.