6 excellent reasons you should camp with a mesh tent
Camping in a mesh tent is amazing! Check out these 6 excellent reasons why you should camp in a mesh tent.
Back when we were living in Texas, we started backpacking a lot in the desert. This led to the idea of getting a mesh tent to sleep under the stars. The BF is a giant and this limits our tent/camping/everything options. So he decided to make a mesh tent for us and it turned out awesome!
Check out this video of me rolling around in our spacious homemade mesh tent!
We have used our mesh tent quite a bit and this article discusses 6 excellent reasons why you should consider camping in a mesh tent.
1. Sleep under the stars
The main reason for wanting a mesh tent was to enjoy those big West Texas skies and it definitely delivers. An additional unanticipated benefit is enjoying sunrises and sunsets from the comfort of your sleeping bag. In a normal tent you wake up, see that there was an amazing sunrise happening, and then have to get up, dressed, and out of your warm sleeping bag to go look at it. With the mesh tent you don’t need to worry about that.
In the middle of the night you just look up and enjoy the milky way.
2. Protection from creepy crawlies
Camping with a mesh tent is basically cowboy camping without the creepy crawlies. You get to enjoy the stars and not worry about rattlesnakes, scorpions, skeeters, and other critters bugging you while you are asleep.
After observing some copperheads and rattlers in our campsites, there is no way I would just sleep out in the open.
3. No condensation
Ha! What could water even condense on in a mesh tent? They are the ultimate in ventilation. On the flip side, you are in big trouble if a rain storm rolls in during the middle of the night. Some folks like to bring a tarp in case of rain.
4. It will not become a sauna in the sun
Have you ever been sleeping peacefully in your tent when the sun starts to shine on it and makes it unbearably hot? A bonus to a mesh tent is the lack of getting hot and stuffy. It’s great for hot weather/desert camping.
The lack of climate control is also a disadvantage. Sometimes those extra couple degrees a normal tent can offer is really nice when it is chilly out.
5. Less wind susceptibility
With other similar tents that are not self-standing in hard to stake ground (often found in desert environments), high winds can mean blowing down your tent. However, we are happy to report that the mesh tent is less susceptible to high winds and less likely to get blown over.
On the flip side, if there is a lot of wind you will be eating sand.
6. It’s ultralight
If you care about saving weight, it doesn’t get much lighter than this. Our mesh tent weights 11.2 oz, the homemade groundsheet weighs 8.3 oz, and the hiking poles are 15.7 oz. For a grand total of 35.2 oz (2.2 lbs).
For comparison, our Zpacks Triplex tent plus poles weigh 48.2 oz (3.0 lbs). The Zpacks tent is smaller and has less headroom (overall less spacious). However, our mesh tent doesn’t have a rain fly, so it isn’t an apples to apples comparison.
Conclusion: Why you should camp in a mesh tent
Just like with everything related to hiking, camping, and spending time outdoors, tent choice is also a personal preference. We love the desert and deserts are good environments for camping with mesh tents (very little rain!). We have found that they are great for sleeping under the stars, protection from snakes, preventing water from dripping on your face, having good ventilation, being less likely to get blown down by high winds, and are super light. Maybe camping with a mesh tent also makes sense for you!
To help figure out your camping preferences check out this article.
