Tents are very simple structures used as shelter, made of some sort of frame with a material covering it. In most cases, tents are made to be readily put up or taken down, making them ideal for travel. There are a number of types of tents, ranging from traditional cultural structures to those used in contemporary backpacking and camping.

Traditional tents include the yurt, wickiup and tipi. Yurts are tents traditionally used by Asian nomads. They are round structures with wooden poles for supports, covered with felt or canvas. The top of the yurt is a crown shape, with a hole in the center allowing smoke to escape and light to enter. In North America and Europe, the basic yurt design has been used for durable temporary and semi-permanent structures. Wikiups and tipis are both tents used by some native American tribes. Both are temporary or semi-permanent structures, usually made with wooden supports and hide coverings.

There are many types of modern tents available for camping, each with its own special advantages. Some are light and easy to pack, others heavier and more durable. Some retain heat even in sub-arctic conditions, while others are built for hot-weather camping and have excellent air flow. Modern tents range from one-person pup tents to large cabin tents capable of accommodating many people.

The A-frame tent is one of the most classic tent designs. Well known for their use by boy-scouts, A-frame tents are what many people think of when they imagine a tent. A-frame tents have two poles, each forming a triangle on either end of the tent, and a central pole forming a ridge. They have steep-angled walls and are usually just large enough to accommodate a person sleeping. Guide wires help hold the tent in place, but this style of tent is very unreliable in windy conditions. A-frame tents are very light weight themselves, but as a tarp is often needed to ensure the camper stays dry, the ultimate savings on weight is not very high.

Dome tents are one of the most popular tents in use today. They are available in a variety of configurations, but the most common is one in which two jointed poles are crossed over one another to form a large, bent X. Dome tents provide excellent stability in windy conditions and naturally slough snow off of themselves. They have a good amount of interior space and headroom and are very easy to set up. Many dome tents are built to have their poles lock down to the tent base itself, allowing the fully erected tent to be moved around without being disassembled. This feature is very useful if a camping site was chosen with poor drainage, enabling campers to easily move away from water and simply stake the tent down in a new location.

Cabin tents are enormous tents designed for use with car camping or other forms of camping in which weight is not an issue. They are heavy and large, but offer an incredible amount of internal space. They usually consist of a number of poles jointed together for easy assembly, and form a pentagonal structure with a high ceiling and more than sufficient floor space.

Geodesic tents are also rapidly gaining popularity amongst normal campers. The geodesic tent takes the design of the dome tent and improves upon it to give it better strength and resistance to wind. The poles of geodesic tents cross many times, lending strength to the entire structure which can withstand wind and snow from multiple directions. Virtually all tents used in extreme-weather conditions and high-altitude climbs are of a geodesic design.

In addition to these four main tent configurations, each tent type may come with different modifications suited for specific weather needs. Hot-weather tents, for example, utilize mesh walls to allow the camper to breathe and moisture to escape the tent easily. Whatever your needs, there is certain to be a tent out there that is perfect for you.