Do Luxury Tents Really Improve Your Camping Experience? Campers Online Have Strong Opinions

As a beginner camper, it's common to want to avoid wanting to spend too much money on gear upfront. This means you may have initially opted for purchasing a budget-friendly tent at your local Walmart for less than $50 — and it certainly got the job done for those first few times out in the wilderness. However, after a few adventurous solo camping trips, you may start to notice how rainwater puddles at the bottom of your tent, and that threads are starting to come loose. At this point, it's only natural that your eyes start to wander toward some more reputable camping brands — ones that claim to be lighter, stronger, and more secure than your flimsy grocery store rig.

But are these pricey tents really worth the hundreds of dollars it costs to purchase them? As it turns out, campers online overwhelmingly think the answer is yes. Redditor u/augie_09 puts it simply: "I've sat in my expensive a** tent in a storm listening to the neighbors' tent collapse and the cussing and anger coming from the occupants as they got dressed and went into the rain in an attempt to fix. They ended up leaving before sunrise. Sitting in my dry stable tent, I thought the extra money was totally worth it." 

The bottom line is, a pricier tent will likely be made from more durable materials, and can help prevent your camping trip from getting ruined by the elements. But how expensive does your tent actually need to be to get the job done? It depends.

The most important thing to help you figure out what tent works best for you is to determine your needs as a camper. Redditor u/igmaino offers a simple question to decide whether or not a top-of-the-line tent setup is worth it, writing: "Is your plan to head out on the occasional overnight, maybe a long weekend here or there, in places where restaurants and resupply are easy? Then it doesn't matter as much." For these types of campers, a mid-range tent from a brand like Decathlon or Naturehike will work well. In fact, users in the r/bikepacking thread recommend both brands as reliable options that will still keep you dry on a stormy night for a reasonable price — which hovers between $100 and $300. 

From there, you can go back to saving money by finding the rest of your camping essentials at Costco. Whatever you do, though, don't cut corners on quality. As redditor u/-Sh33ph3rd3r- writes, "Stay away from Walmart/supermarket tents [...] that sh*** won't keep you dry."

If you're looking for the lightest, most durable option on the market, your best bet will be to explore some pricier brands, like Big Agnes and MSR. According to u/Unable-Inevitable710, "The big Agnes tents think of everything, all the pockets, place to store helmets, washing line straps on outside of tent. The thing is- I know I am going to use this tent a lot, for a long time!" And while these more specialized options will run you anywhere from $300 to $600, these tents prioritize being lightweight for backpacking and highly durable for inclement weather. This makes them perfect for folks who plan to go on long-term backpacking trips and need something both reliable and easy to carry.