Your backpacking tent won’t provide you hotel level living space. But you wouldn’t want to spend the night cramped or suffocated after a hike as well. Comfort is the trade-off between your tent’s livable area that includes peak height, floor area and dimensions, and wall shape.
Peak height: You would not be jumping up and down inside your tent but pick a tent that you are comfortable at least sitting down. Imagine yourself inside the tent while the storm is raging outside. Check out Bessport Backpacking Tent, it has more height than most of the tents in the list which will allow you a comfortable sitting position with enough distance between your head and the tent peak.
Wall Shape: Backpacking tent with a more vertical wall, the more open the interior will feel. Converging walls like a pyramid-shaped tent wall will always feel more restricted than a tent-shaped vertical which gives a more “spacious” feel. The ALPS Mountaineering Zephyr boasts of ample headroom to move around. This is because of the more vertical design of the tent wall.
Floor area: These numbers will tell you the dimension of your tent in length by width factor. However, keep in mind that the larger floor area does not always mean a larger living space. Floor area must be considered in conjunction with the tent’s wall shape.
Other tents put much consideration into the living area that vestibules and doors are a consideration too. The vestibule is the rainfly extension outside of your tent where you can put your boots or your backpacking bag outside of the tent but still be protected. This helps you to maintain a dry and clean tent inside. The majority of the backpacking tents only have one door. An additional door will add to the weight of the tent. The deciding factor to some is whether the doors are zipper-locked, Velcro, or snaps.
Ventilation is also a consideration for livability. Mesh windows are a common feature to improve ventilation. Some have a removable rainfly to give you versatility in ventilation. We love the generous use of mesh in the tent body of the Coleman Sundome Tent and its partial rainfly which guarantees the tent is well ventilated even in hot weather.