Tent sizes can affect the price and the weight of your tent, making it a very important factor in your search for cheap tents.  So one thing you need to narrow down is whether or not you can bring a heavy tent with you, you might not want to do this if you are hiking in to your campsite.  You also need to consider how much space you and those you are traveling with need to feel comfortable and if you plan on bringing an air mattress or something else that will take up a lot of space. Cheap tents can range from a 1 man tent to 10+ man tents.

1 Man Tents are great hiking tents, bike tents or shelter tents and tend to be smaller so that you don’t have to carry as much weight around.  These tents will usually weigh around 4 or 5 pounds but you will definitely lose your ability to stand inside one of these.   If you want an ultralight tent look at bivy tents.  They can be as light as 1 pound.  The main drawback is that they aren’t good options if you don’t like confined spaces and they want have space for your gear.  Their prices range from the mid twenty dollar mark all the way up to close to one thousand dollars. 

Cabin tents often fit a lot more people in them and feel a little more like home with separate rooms.  But they are also going to be a little costlier than a more simple tent with prices ranging from $60 dollars and going up into the $600’s and higher.  These tents are also going to weigh a little more.  Most weigh close to 40 pounds so you need to take that into consideration if you don’t have easy access to your campsite.  Cabin tents are a great size for families and offer some needed privacy.  If you are looking for a large 10 person tent you will find it with the other cabin tents.

 Tents are usually named by how many people sleep in the tent.  However, you may want to be careful and realize the space they are giving to each person to sleep isn’t taking into consideration your size and it is definitely not being compared to the conditions you are used to sleeping in at home or in a hotel.  Also, make sure you account for space for the things you are bringing with you that need to be in the tent as well.  These tents are cheaper than cabin tents and usually much lighter but they aren’t going to provide you with the same amount of privacy that a cabin tent can. 
 Some of the normal options for these tents are 2 man tent, 3 man tent, 4 man tent… you get the idea.  A 4 man tent is about midsize and these can weigh under 10 lbs and usually weigh in between eightor nine.  You can find these in the 30 dollar range and like the others the more expensive ones can get a bit pricey, usually around 300 dollars.

Tent camping can be a great experience and a great idea for a cheap family vacation.  Just make sure you get the right size for your needs or the great outdoors will feel very small!

Need to know what other factors to look for? Here is a great article that gives you 7 questions to ask when shopping for cheap tents.  Also consider these questions.