Tent

A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric over or attached to a border of poles or attached to a supporting cable while slighter tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or pegs. First used as portable homes by traveling peoples, tents are at the present more frequently used for recreational camping and transitory shelters. Tents range in size from one-person "bivouac" structures for a hiker to sleep in to huge tents capable of seating thousands of people. The mass of this article is concerned with tents used for recreational camping which have sleeping break for one to ten people. Larger tents are discussed in a separate section below.

Tents for recreational camping go down into two categories. Tents intended to be carried by backpackers are the smallest, lightest, and most costly type. Smaller tents may be sufficiently glow that they can be carried for long distances on a touring bicycle, a boat, or even a person's back. Some very specialized tents have spring-loaded poles and can be 'pitched' in seconds, but take rather longer to strike.