In this article, I’ll list a set of characteristics a 4-season tent should have, that distinguishes it from a 3-season tent, and makes it more winter-weather hardy. This will give you an inventory of items to look for, regarding how to choose a winter backpacking tent.
Afterwards, I’ll show a real world example tent that meets most if not all of these criteria.
How To Choose a Winter Backpacking Tent, Part 1: Criteria
Strong Rainfly Fabric
Your rainfly fabric should be made from at least 30-40 denier (30-40D) silicone coated fabric to ensure it can handle the severe winter winds, snow loads, and keep you warmer inside.
The Lower Part of the Fly Should Meet the Ground
The lower part of the fly should meet the ground either via design, or by use of flaps around its bottom edges that can be buried under snow. This ensures that very little wind is able to get inside the fly, and disturb the thermal buffer zone between it and the tent body. You want to minimize convection in this area to keep the inner tent as warm as possible.
In fact, the tent in the featured image of this article does not meet this criteria, despite being sold at a 4-season premium price.
Strong Tent Floor Fabric
On your tent floor, you’re going to need at least 70-100 denier fabric that’s strong and watertight. Again, like the fly, you want it to be silicone treated to minimize water migration.
Wider Diameter Aluminum Tent Poles
You should choose a tent that has good 9-10mm diameter aluminum poles.
Yes it is common for 3 season tents to have decent diameter poles. The Big Agnes Copper Spur has 9mm diameter poles, and the MSR Hubba Hubba has 8.7mm ones.
But how these poles criss-cross is just as important, as we’ll find out below.
Tent Should Have Abundance of Guy Line Attachment Areas
Some exceptionally well made 4 season tents can handle high winds sans their guy lines. At least for a little while, while you are pitching them.
But for most mere mortal winter backpacking tents, there is the need for copious guy line attachments to keep the poles from moving too much in the wind.
And indeed even the ones that can handle some wind with out them will eventually need them, if the wind picks up enough. Thus you should always be using guy lines for winter and windy conditions.
Dome Shaped Tents Are Likely More Structurally Sound Than Tunnel Tents
Your dome shaped tent should have the classic criss-cross pole design. The poles should cross on top of the tent to provide good snow load resistance. There should be additional pole crossings on the sides of the tent to provide resistance against lateral wind loads.
Your winter backpacking tent should be able to handle 30, 40, maybe even 50mph winds hitting it from the side. And that level of stability starts with have 5 or more criss-crossing sections of the poles.
Your Tent Should Be Able to Be Built From the Ground Up
This helps pitch the tent in windy conditions. Basically, you’ll tie one of your tent’s guy lines to something heavy, like a backpack. Then you’ll stake out the edges of the tent with 45° stake insertions. Next you’ll thread the sleeves at the bottom of the tent with your poles to create a hollow structure. Perhaps you’ll start guying out parts of the tent at this point. And finally you’ll clip the top of the tent to its poles, and finish the guy lines.
A tent design that allows for this step-by-step process minimizes wind load, while pitching the tent. It also keeps the wind from tearing a loosely flying tent that’s half put together.
The Tent Should Have Multiple, Close Together Pole Clips, With Dozens of Clip Points
A three season backpacking tent may have a handful of clips, but this just doesn’t cut it for a winter backpacking tent that has to perform in high winds.
The Vents Should be Near the Top of the Tent, or At Least Off the Ground
When snow ends up covering all the air inlets at the bottom of the fly, you’re going to need a way to breath!
It’s further helpful to have door mesh covered by material that can be unzipped, for further ventilation.
The Walls of the Tent Should Have Enough Steepness to Minimize Snow Load on Top of the Tent
When choosing your winter backpacking tent, look for options with steeper walls if you plan on using it in snowy areas.
Even so, you should perform regular snow load maintenance when in the field, by wiping any heavy snow off that has accumulated on the fly. This minimizes the chance that heavy snow starts to melt and drip down onto the body of the tent. And it minimizes the chance of the fly touching the body, again making an avenue for water transfer to the inside of the tent.
The Tent Should Be Fairly Easy to Put Together Under Adverse Conditions
You don’t want a tent that requires dozens of steps to set up, when you’re trying to put it up in a snow storm.
Indeed your winter backpacking tent should optimally have the rain fly adjoined to the inner tent body through a series of hooks, such that it’s all one piece. That way you’re putting up the entire tent in one go, and not worried about rain/snow getting into the interior of the tent when pitching. And further, you’re not fighting the wind as much, trying to situate a loose fly over your tent body.
There are decent backpacking tents that do have the rain fly separate from the body. For example, the Marmot Thor 2 person tent is a two piece design. But if you’re anticipating being in acclimate conditions, where you’re going to have to go to war to get your tent up, chose a winter backpacking tent where these two items are married by design.
The Vestibule Should Be Large Enough To Allow You To Take Off Wet Clothes and Gear Before Entering the Tent
Not only should you be able to get out of wet clothes in your vestibule, you should also be able to use it as a kitchen, while sitting in your tent. Though carbon monoxide build up is always a concern, it’s almost a given that some backpackers are going to use their vestibule for cooking, when bears and other animals aren’t a concern, due to high winds.
The Tent Should Be Brightly Colored
Bright colored tents are easier to see when visibility is in question. Rainstorm or snowstorm, you should be able to find your way home!
How to Choose a Winter Backpacking Tent, Part 2: Example of a Tent That Meets These Criteria
Now that you know what you look for I will show you a gold standard tent. This one is so much so the quintessential winter backpacking tent, that it’s sold out until May of 2023 though it’s been in production for over a decade. It’s the Hilleberg Tarra 2 Person Tent.
The only criteria the Tarra doesn’t seem to meet is that some of its color choices aren’t bright. Do with that what you will, since all 3 colors are currently on back order.
You can read more about the Tarra at the Hilleberg website.
Further Reading
Check out my other winter backpacking articles on my winter camping, hiking and backpacking page. See ya out there….