A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs. First used as portable homes by nomadic peoples, tents are now more often used for recreational camping and temporary shelters.
Tents range in size from “bivouac” structures just big enough for one person to sleep in up to huge (circus) tents capable of seating thousands of people.
Camping is a popular form of recreation which often involves the use of tents. A tent is economical and practical because of its portability and low environmental impact. These qualities are necessary when used in the wilderness or backcountry. Tents for recreational camping fall into two categories. Tents intended to be carried by backpackers are the smallest and lightest type. Smaller tents may be sufficiently light that they can be carried for long distances on a touring bicycle, a boat, or even a person’s back. Some very specialised tents have spring-loaded poles and can be ‘pitched’ in seconds, but take somewhat longer to strike.
The second type are larger, heavier tents which are usually carried in a car or other vehicle. Depending on tent size and the experience of the person or people involved, such tents can usually be assembled (pitched) in between 5 and 25 minutes; disassembly (striking) takes a similar length of time. The military organisations of most nations use such tents to temporarily house troops living and working under field conditions.
Tents are often used in humanitarian emergencies, such as war, earthquakes and fire. The primary choice of tents in humanitarian emergencies are canvas tents, because a cotton canvas tent allows functional breathability while serving the purpose of temporary shelter.
At times, however, these temporary shelters become a permanent or semi-permanent home, especially for displaced people living in refugee camps or shanty towns who can’t return to their former home and for whom no replacement homes are made available.