There are very few things quite as enjoyable as camping in the summer. Something about the clear skies, the hot weather, and the great outdoors just clicks. However, regardless of how clear the skies might be, you still need to buy the best summer camping tent for hot weather.
Don’t let the fact that it’s a hundred in the shade during the day fool you; summer nights can get quite chilly depending on where you live. That’s why you still need a warm weather tent.
Unlike cold weather tents or winter tents, warm weather tents are often made of a lighter material and have better ventilation. While you could very simply choose an all-weather or a 4 season tent, having a specialized hot weather camping tent might be better. They are lighter, more specialized for that kind of weather, and can often double up as backpacking tents whenever you need them for that purpose.
The following list gives you a list of five of the best warm weather camping tents on the market today. We also go a little bit into factors you need to consider when choosing warm weather camping gear, as well as some FAQs further down.
Check out our quick recommendations here, or keep scrolling for detailed reviews:
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Very few brand names inspire confidence in the outdoor industry quite as Coleman does. This reliable brand has made a habit of producing nothing but the best and most expertly crafted products for its legion of loyal customers. This Coleman Cabin Tent with Instant Setup does not deviate from that tradition.
Designed to accommodate up to 4 people, this is a 3 season camping tent that is not only reliably manufactured but also beautifully colored. But enough about aesthetics, what is it that makes this tent stand out from the competition?
For one thing, it’s super easy to set up. This 3 season tent can be set up in under a minute, giving you more time to enjoy the great outdoors as opposed to struggling to get your shelter erect. Made out of 150D polyester with taped seams, it’s designed to withstand the harsh abuse that comes with the great outdoors.
The material is weatherproof with an integrated rainfly which offers you extra weather protection. That is complemented by welded corners, and inverted seams that do an excellent job of keeping the water out should it suddenly start to rain as it so often does in the summer.
The double-thick fabric that has gone into making this tent can withstand the elements and offer you more than just warm weather camping bliss.
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Measuring a whopping 16X11 feet, this Wenzel Klondike 8 Person Water Resistant Tent is one of the best family tents on this list. With the capacity to sleep up to 8 people, it’s an excellent option for people camping in large groups or a big family.
As far as accommodation goes, this tent can comfortably sleep five people within its interior space, which offers 98 square feet of room, and another three people in its 60 square foot zip-up screen room or vestibule. And that’s not all – it offers 6.5 feet of headroom, which allows even the tallest member of the group to stand up reasonably straight while inside the tent.
If, for some reason, there aren’t 8 of you on the camping trip, you can easily transform the screen room into additional gear storage space, a picnic room, or a sun shelter room as you see fit. Since this is a hot weather camping tent, you can expect it to have ample ventilation. To that end, it offers two mesh windows, a rear mesh vent, and a full mesh roof for excellent air movement.
The weather armor polyester fabric features a polyurethane water-resistant coating, which goes a long way to offer you protection from the top to the bottom of the tent. The zippers, webbing, and the threads are treated with water repellency applications that ensure they don’t leak should it rain.
Finally, the fiberglass frame coupled with power corners greatly improves the tents’ ability to withstand high winds.
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The name Pacific Breeze Easy Setup Beach Tent Deluxe XL gives you an insight into just how breathable this summer camping tent is when set up correctly. Designed as a hub, this hot weather tent is an industry leader on many fronts, including its UPF 50+ sun protection capabilities. This is the Deluxe XL version that is designed to be lightweight and quite compact.
Weighing in at just 6 lbs., this tent folds down to a tiny 38 L x 6 W x 6 H, making it extremely portable. In fact, it’s so small it can do very well as a backpacking tent. Made out of water repellent, breathable polyester, this beach tent has three extra-large windows that offer adequate ventilation to keep you cool.
When fully set up, the tent can accommodate up to 4 people. It provides a spacious interior thanks to its 95 L x 52 H x 51 D dimensions. But it’s not just about the size of the living space. It’s also about how comfortable that space is for a group of friends who are camping together.
While the tent doesn’t have any room dividers, it does offer a variety of internal pockets that allow for the storage of some camping gear. It also has hooks on which you can hang your swimming trunks and such. This is a great outdoor accessory by any standard. That’s mostly thanks to the expert construction and forethought that went into manufacturing it.
Equipped with a lightweight yet durable fiberglass frame, this tent is easy enough to set up. And since the beach tends to get very windy, the tent has five sand pockets and four tent stakes that help increase stability.
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The Clostnature 1-Person Tent for Backpacking is a camping tent designed specifically for solo campers who enjoy backpacking in any kind of weather. As you would imagine, when choosing a backpacking tent, one of the most important factors to consider is weight. How heavy that tent is determines how comfortable you will be carrying it around and how much more gear you can bring with you. This tent weighs only 3.7 lbs., which is borderline negligible.
Furthermore, it packs down to a tiny 15″x5″x5″, making it easy enough to put in your backpack yet providing a spacious 7’3″ x 2’8″ x 3′ of living space. Made out of weatherproof material, it has a 210T rain fly and a bathtub that boasts a PU 5000 coating as well as factory-sealed seams to ensure that you will always remain dry wherever you go camping.
Another factor that should come into play when choosing a solo camping tent is how fast and easy it is to set up. This option is a free-standing tent with two aluminum poles, giving it the fast-pitching quality that sets it apart from most of the options on this list. The design takes into account the fact that you might be backpacking in the summer.
As such, it has mesh walls on the interior that offer unrivaled ventilation levels during the day. It also features a D-shaped door which is fairly easy to get in and out of, as well as a vestibule for your camping gear storage.
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Yet another entry from Coleman, this Coleman Sundome Tent is just as expertly designed and manufactured as most Coleman products on the market. This two-person camping tent works great in 3 seasons (summer, fall, and spring). While it’s generally easy to set up, it does take quite a bit of time to do so (10 minutes).
This may not be a big issue to some, but if you are in a rush or are running out of daylight, spending 10 minutes setting up your tent might seem like a lifetime. Besides that little fact, this tent is borderline perfect for camping, hiking, bike camping, and such activities requiring a lightweight and compact tent.
Weighing in at only 7.5 lbs. and packing down to a compact and portable size, it’s easy to carry around with you. It features the exclusive WeatherTec System that is designed to keep you dry even when it rains heavily. It also has a privacy vent window that allows easy airflow while giving you much-needed privacy.
It comes with a rain fly, inverted seams which keep water out, and welded corners that ensure the tent remains sturdy once set up properly. Finally, it tested strong enough to withstand high winds (35+ mph).
There’s something to be said about choosing the right camping tent for your specific needs. Since there are so many different options available on the market today, it’s easy to presume that choosing and buying one is nothing but a cakewalk.
The problem with this assumption is that it often leads to mistakes. There are many different types of tents for specific camping situations. Think about it this way: if you want a glamorous tent, it’s easy to buy the most expensive bell tent you can find.
One that has all the bells and whistles, such as stove jacks and vestibules. The problem with most bell tents is they are massive. They also happen to be canvas tents which are heavy and quite bulky.
Now imagine making that choice without considering the fact that you like solo bike camping trips. The size and weight of a canvas tent simply won’t do in this situation, regardless of how glamorous it may be.
All this is to say that, if you are going to make the right choice as far as buying a suitable camping tent is concerned, there are factors that you simply must consider. Here are some of the most important factors that play a major role in choosing the best tent for hot weather.
A tent’s season rating tells you exactly what kind of weather that particular tent is suitable for before you buy it. If you are looking for the best hot weather tent, you simply cannot ignore the season rating. In this particular case, you will probably want to focus on 3 season tents. These are tents that are often rated for summer, fall, and spring.
The biggest confusion about season rating is that most people assume that going for a 4 season tent would be the best idea. After all, there are four seasons in a year. Why not just get a tent that covers all of them and be done with it? Right?
The issue with this assumption is that it doesn’t take into account the fact that 4 season tents are actually designed for winter camping. In this case, the term “4 season” is misleading. While they can be used all year round, they are primarily designed to withstand cold weather.
This tells you that these tents are inherently warm. Needless to say, you won’t have a very good time sleeping in a 4 season tent in the middle of summer. Since these tents are meant to keep you warm, the conditions therein will be simply unbearable. That’s why summer camping tents need to have a 3 season rating as opposed to 4.
Try as we may, we often can’t keep pesky critters away from our tents. Even if you have a rooftop tent where most creepy crawlies can’t get, there’s always a chance that you will get bothered by mosquitoes and other flying pests. While it might not be possible to keep these pests out completely, we can always minimize the probability that they can get into the tent at night or even during the day.
That is why you need to consider the level of protection offered by the tent you buy. Features such as mesh windows, vents, and mesh walls are excellent options. These features allow your tent to remain well ventilated without letting in any critters.
You also need to make sure that the tent’s zippers and various seals are well-designed and manufactured. These are often the most vulnerable sections of the tent.
Imagine how hot it gets at noon in the middle of summer? Now imagine how much of an oven your tent will become if it doesn’t have any kind of ventilation. When camping in hot weather, simply opening the door to your tent won’t be enough to keep it well ventilated.
You need the tent to be designed so that it allows adequate airflow through and through. This often means that the tent needs to have vents and mesh outlets such as windows, walls, and even the roof can be made out of mesh.
However, the mesh must be tight enough to keep all the critters out while letting in the much-needed air.
The truth is that most other factors on this list are quite important as far as your tent selection is concerned. However, very few of them are quite as critical as the material with which the tent you choose is made. Not only does the material choice determine durability, but it also has quite a bit of a role to play when it comes to weight and heat retention.
Say, for example, you choose a hot weather camping tent made out of nylon. Granted, this will be ultralight and capable of packing down to a rather compact size, making it quite ideal for backpacking and so on. The problem with nylon is that it tends to retain heat, which means that the internal temperature of that tent will be borderline unbearable in the heat of summer.
Now, let’s consider a material such as canvas. It’s strong, durable, somewhat waterproof, and doesn’t retain heat as much as nylon. Canvas tents are excellent options for hot weather camping because the canvas can release heat and maintain a moderately comfortable internal tent temperature.
The only problem with canvas is that it tends to be a bit bulky and somewhat heavy. This means that they aren’t going to be ideal for people who enjoy backpacking. They might work well for people who are into car camping and such.
The idea, therefore, is to go for a tent that falls somewhere in between. One that is made out of a breathable material that is not only lightweight but also waterproof. Materials such as polyester work perfectly.
The tent dimension has a lot to do with just how comfortable the tent will be for people of different sizes. When talking about dimensions, we mostly focus on the available living space and standing space in the tent.
A camping tent that is designed to accommodate more than eight people is going to be massive. This often means that the living area is wide, but so is the peak height of the tent. It also means that the tent will probably have more than one massive door and maybe even a few room dividers therein. These dimensions matter.
Say, for example, you have a massive hot weather camping tent for 8 with a peak height of 6’0″. This means that anyone taller than 6′ won’t be able to stand comfortably in that tent.
Another major factor when talking about dimensions is how compact the tent is when packed. Does it pack down to a small size that can easily fit into your backpack and is therefore ideal for backpacking, or is it bulky and needs a different mode of transportation such as a car?
All these factors need to be considered because they determine how convenient the tent is for your particular brand of camping.
To be honest, weight doesn’t really play that big a role in hot weather camping. This comes down to portability. How heavy is the tent? Is it something you can easily carry along with the rest of your gear in your backpack, or do you need to use a car? How easy the tent is to move around has nothing to do with how it performs in the middle of summer, just how inconvenient it is to move around.
The size of your tent has more to do with hot weather camping than just how many sweaty people it can accommodate. Larger tents tend to have more air inside, which makes them cooler. This is mostly because the heat has more room to dissipate. If you are going solo camping, this effect can be counteracted by getting a smaller-sized tent that has mesh walls.
The size of the tent matters a lot, especially if you are going camping with many people. The closer you are to each other within the tent, the more heat you will produce due to that proximity. Your natural body heat will be more compounded in a smaller tent than it would be in a larger tent.
Are you planning to bring a lot of gear with you? If so, where will you keep that gear at night or when you go exploring during the day? The best camping tents tend to have lots of storage options, such as pockets on the inside of the walls and maybe even a vestibule.
These extra features might seem unnecessary to many, but a screen room is an absolute pleasure when the sun is bearing down on you in the middle of summer. It provides that extra ventilated space in which you can take refuge and just relax. This is especially important when the nights are nearly as hot as the days. A screen room with mesh walls is perfect for relaxing even when there are mosquitoes about.
Dark colors retain heat while lighter colors such as orange or yellow reflect the sun’s heat and keep the tent cooler during the day.
Do I need to pitch my tent in the shade when camping in summer?
Yes, it would be advisable to pitch your tent in a location that is mostly under some kind of shade. This is because direct sunlight can quite easily turn your hot weather tent into an oven, regardless of how well ventilated it might be.
Can I sleep with my tent door open at night?
It isn’t advisable to sleep with your tent door open at night for safety purposes. If you are still too hot, you can sleep with the window flaps and even the rain fly off for extra ventilation.
How big should a hot weather tent be when camping at the beach?
Even though larger-sized tents tend to be cooler in hot weather, the truth is that how big the tent should be is a matter of personal preference. Ask yourself how much space you need, how many people are camping with you in the same tent, and what kind of storage space do you need?
Hot weather camping can be a lot of fun, especially when done under the right circumstances. Getting the best hot weather tent is by far one of the most important decisions you will make towards achieving that end. The list above offers you excellent options.
Need something a bit warmer for other times of the year? Check out our review of the Best Canvas Tents of 2021 for more options.
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