This is just one installment of 37 Things a Man’s Gotta Do This Summer, our annual compendium of everything worth seeing, doing, eating, drinking and generally making time for in your neck of the woods between now and September.
Summer affords you plenty of reasons to go outside. The right tent offers you a rock-solid reason to stay there.
And these are the five tents that’ll get you through almost any situation, from hanging in the backcountry to festival camping to erecting your own treehouse.
Get out there.
For a Tribe: Heimplanet Mavericks
The problem with a big tent is it’s both heavy as hell and time-consuming to erect. At 55 lbs, Heimplanet’s Mavericks solves one of those riddles: it takes just minutes to assemble, because it’s inflatable. The geodesic structure also has plenty of cross ventilation, so you’ll stay comfy.
For the Car Camper: Tepui Baja Ayer
If you fancy yourself a car camper, then you’ve got to step up to a roof tent. Tepui makes several models, all of which you temporarily afix to an auto’s roof-rack. Set up is a simple as unzipping the cover and pulling the ladder up and over. And inside is a comfy memory-foam mattress, plenty of ways to create cross currents, pockets for gear and hooks for lights. Here’s our full review.
For the Hammock Camper: Nubé Stratos
Hammock camping isn’t for everyone, but the Nubé Stratos is so easy to use and offers so much in the way of storage that pretty much anyone may fall in love with the concept. It’s especially great for summer, as the bug net lets you sleep somewhat open-air. Here’s our preview.
For Beach Days: REI Screen House
REI’s screen house really comes in handy when you need a shelter on a hot and/or buggy day. Its mesh-net walls provide 360-degree views, and a waterproof roof that peaks at seven feet offers plenty of headroom. It allows the breeze through while keeping those pesky UV rays at bay.
For the Backcountry Backpacker: NEMO Dagger
The NEMO Dagger weighs less than three pounds and assembles in minutes. Plus it gives you plenty of headroom, unlike most backpacking tents, in which you feel like sardine. The ripstop fabric ensures shelter from afternoon thunderstorms, and solid ventilation ensures you won’t be sitting in a steam room when that happens.
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