Tent Floor Area Compared

A tent's rated capacity is a floor measurement, not a recommendation. Makers count how many sleeping mats fit edge to edge with nobody's gear in the tent and nobody sitting up. So the useful question is not how many people a tent claims to sleep, it is how much floor each of those people actually gets.

Among the 15 six-person tents here, the badge covers everything from 12.5 sq ft a head (Big Agnes Big House 6) to 16.7 sq ft (North Face Wawona 6). That is a third more room per person for the same stated capacity.

					Our realistic figure
KTT Extra Large 12 Person Cabin	12	140	11.7	79	8
KTT Extra Large 12 Person Family Cabin	12	140	11.7	79	8
Guide Gear 10x12 Canvas Wall	10	120	12	,	,
Big Agnes Big House 6	6	75	12.5	,	,
13x10 Large Inflatable Tent	10	130	13	,	,
Marmot Limestone 6-Person	6	83	13.8	76	,
CORE 10 Person Multi-Room Family	10	140	14	86	5
CORE 10 Person Straight-Wall Cabin	10	140	14	86	,
NTK Arizona GT	9	126	14	,	,
Coleman Skydome 6-Person	6	85	14.2	72	4
Kelty Wireless 6-Person	6	86.5	14.4	74	,
CORE 12 Person Straight Wall Cabin	12	176	14.7	,	7
CAMPROS 12-Person 3-Room Cabin	12	180	15	,	,
CORE 12 Person Instant Cabin	12	180	15	80	6
CORE 12 Person Instant Cabin Tent with LED Lights	12	180	15	80	6
FanttikOutdoor Zeta C12 Pro Max Instant Cabin	12	180	15	80	,
Gazelle T4 Hub	4	61	15.2	78	,
Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Screened	10	153	15.3	72	5
Marmot Halo 6P Tent	6	92	15.3	,	,
Trek Canvas Tent 246C	9	140	15.6	,	,
CORE 9 Person Extended Dome	9	144	16	,	5
Nemo Wagontop 6 Person Tent	6	97	16.2	,	,
Outsunny Inflatable Tent, Easy Setup	4	64.7	16.2	,	3
CORE 6 Person Instant Cabin	6	99	16.5	72	,
CORE 6-Person Instant Cabin Tent	6	99	16.5	,	,
Caddis Rapid 6-Person	6	100	16.7	80	4
Coleman Sundome 6-Person	6	100	16.7	72	4
CORE 6-Person Dome	6	100	16.7	,	4
Eureka Tetragon NX Family	6	100	16.7	,	,
Kodiak Canvas Cabin Lodge Stove-Ready	6	100	16.7	84	4
Kodiak Canvas Flex-Bow VX	6	100	16.7	72	4
North Face Wawona 6	6	100	16.7	,	,
Coleman Skydome XL Large Family	10	180	18	,	6
Don't Die In The Woods Survival	2	40	20	,	,
Go Time Gear Life Tent Survival Shelter	2	40	20	,	,
Go Time Gear Ultralight Mylar Survival	2	40	20	,	,
Mylatech Survival XL Emergency Tube	2	40	20	,	,
SE Survivor Series Emergency Tube	2	49.5	24.8	,	,
Guide Gear 10' x 10' Teepee	,	78.5	,	72	,
Kodiak Canvas 8.5x6 Flex-Bow VX	,	51	,	,	,
Naturehike Ranch Fire Teepee Hot	,	190	,	,	,

How to read this

Sq ft per sleeper is floor area divided by rated capacity. It is the only column here we worked out ourselves, and it is the one worth sorting by. As a rough guide: under 14 sq ft a head is a tent you sleep in, around 16 to 18 is one you can sit out a wet afternoon in, and anything above 20 is unusually generous for its rating.

Our realistic figure is what our reviewers put in the write-up when the rated capacity struck them as optimistic, a "6-person" tent that four adults can actually live in. It appears on16 of these 41 tents, because it only goes in when there is something to say.

Where these numbers come from

Floor area, dimensions, peak height and rated capacity are all manufacturer-published specifications, taken from the spec block of our review of each tent. They are not measurements we took with a tape. We say that plainly because the arithmetic does not need them to be ours, dividing a maker's own floor area by the maker's own capacity rating is a fair test of the maker's own claim, and it needs no independent measurement to be true.

The table covers 41 tents rather than every tent on the site, because a figure only goes in when it is stated in our review of that model. We would rather publish 41 numbers we can point at than a longer table padded with estimates. It grows as reviews are updated.

Spotted one that looks wrong? Tell us, we will check it against the maker's current spec and correct it. More on our process: how we test.

Not sure which figure you should be aiming for? Thetent size calculator works it out from who is going, what they sleep on and how much gear comes inside, then tells you which rating to shop for.

Browse the full tent reviews, or start with the best 6-person tents and best 12-person tentsif you already know the size you are after.

Tent Floor Area Compared

How to read this

Where these numbers come from

Next