Four Season Tents & 3 Season Camping Tents

Four season tents are what you need if you have any intentions on going camping or a mountaineering expedition.

Don’t consider any other camping equipment if you’re going to face heavy rain, strong winds and plenty of snow fall. Most four season tents are tough, manufactured to winter specifications and mountain weather to keep you warm and also endure the harsh climate that you will most likely encounter. It's likely that the thermal equipment that you wear will not be sufficient to protect you against the extreme winds and cold.

The four season tents are generally made to be more durable and tough, and come with more pole sleeves to endure heavy snow or strong wind conditions without falling apart. They also weigh more than three season tents so you’ll have to factor that into your camping or hiking trip. Choosing between four and three season tents will depend purely on whether you're prepared to carry some extra weight in your back pack. The best thing to do is to go down to the camping equipment store and try to have a feel for the weight of these tents on your back.

A four-season tent comes with highly insulated materials and is built to keep the cold out and the warmth in - providing you with the best protection winter camping gear for the price. So as you might expect, these tents excel in the winter but they do not fair so well in the warmer seasons - they sometimes get too hot in the summer seasons due to the lack of sufficient ventilation.

These four season tents also feature a minimum of four poles made of aluminum (four-pole frame designs), to ensure stability in snow covered ground. While sleek in design to not collapse in gale force winds, they are also colored darker than three season tents to absorb as much heat from the sunlight as possible. The roof line architecture of the tents ensure that water and snow fall do not build up and most of these four season tents also can be used as standalone accommodations when there are no places for you to place tent pegs into the ground.

You might expect to may a lot more money for a four season model but it comes with additional features that other tents do not have. For instance, they have "bucket floors" which are waterproof and encompass the entire floor space and even reaches up to 6 inches in height to keep you dry, just in case of any slight flooding in your base camp or even the case of heavily melted snow.

If you are not a hardcore camper, it is probably best you get yourself a three-season tent instead. It’s cheaper and will serve you well in most outdoor conditions, while being extremely versatile in almost all but winter conditions. Not to mention much easier and lighter to carry around.

Coleman, MSR and The North Face all manufacture great four season tents. Check the review below for four-season tent choices:

The North Face Mountain 25

The North Face VE 25 four season tents retail for between $500 - $560 at various online camping stores. They are extremely easy to find as plenty of retail camping gear outlets stock them. These backpacking tents are extremely fast and easy to set up. Featuring dual doors and vestibules, an nylon bucket floors, this tent provides plenty of space for storage and sleeping, making them the ultimate in mountain hardwear.

The North Face also designed polyurethane look-outs as well as vents for you to unzip if you find it too hot and stuffy in the tent. This four season tent holds up extremely well in high winds and is a favorite amongst mountain climbers as it is very durable. It also sleeps up to three people. The downside is that it comes with a very hefty price tag.

MSR Dragontail

This light-weight MSR tent fully protects you in extreme snow and alpine climates. As with all the 4 season tents, the MSR is durable, and provides great shelter while proving a spacious interior resting space. The canopy has a "super-strong" proven hooped design and it’s shape is aerodynamic enough to withstand high winds.

It also come with "Fastfeed" poles for fast setup and large zippers all around for ease of use if you have snow gloves on. The MSR four season tents also feature patented flow through ventilation system to reduce condensation build-up.

For the best prices, check out the many winter camping gear retail stores online. They often have post-seasonal sales and that's the best time to pick up extra mountaineering accessories like a backpack or lite trail tent as well.