About StockTent

Our Mission

StockTent was founded with a simple yet powerful mission: to help campers everywhere get outdoors with more confidence, through approachable guidance and free tools that make choosing a tent, comparing canvas against nylon, waterproofing a rain fly, and packing the right gear clearer, more rewarding, and more practical.

We believe that every camper, from first-time backpackers to seasoned weekend glampers, deserves access to accurate tools, comprehensive resources, and trustworthy guidance. Our platform bridges the gap between conflicting advice and confident, well-informed decisions about tent selection, backpacking versus family camping, waterproofing and repairs, campsite setup, and the everyday work of keeping gear in good shape.

Through our free collection of tools, we help campers make informed decisions about tent size and capacity, pack weight, season ratings, waterproofing, and gear budgets. Every tool is designed with real-world applicability in mind, tested against the day-to-day realities of life on the trail and at the campsite, and continuously improved based on user feedback. To go deeper, explore our Museum of Shelter & Camping, with galleries on the tents, tarps, and tepees that keep people dry, the tools of the trail, the everyday gear of life outdoors, and the craft of shelter as told through art and history.

Our Story

StockTent emerged from a need we experienced firsthand. While trying to sort through conflicting advice and scattered references, we noticed a common challenge: the lack of accessible, accurate tools for the everyday decisions that come with a new tent, working out how much a pack will weigh, and making the most of every trip outdoors.

Great camping relies heavily on experience and a little know-how, which are invaluable. However, a confident camper also benefits from clear answers about which tent suits a trip, how a fabric handles rain, how much a loaded pack will weigh, how a season rating translates to real conditions, and how much a full kit really costs. We saw an opportunity to combine well-researched outdoor knowledge with modern tools to help campers make confident decisions before every trip.

Our team began developing tools that we wished existed when we started camping ourselves. Each calculator and guide was created to solve real problems encountered on backpacking routes, at family campgrounds, and during shoulder-season trips. We tested every tool against real-world figures, refined the logic based on feedback, and ensured that the results reflected current, widely accepted outdoor and gear-care guidance.

Today, StockTent serves active users worldwide, from first-time campers to experienced backpackers. Our tools have helped people choose tents, estimate pack weight, plan waterproofing, compare materials, size a shelter to a group, and budget for gear, and make more deliberate, confident decisions about getting outdoors.

Our Core Values

• Accuracy First: Every calculation is based on established outdoor references and sound estimating principles and reviewed for reliability. We prioritize precision to ensure trustworthy results.
• Accessibility: Practical tools should be available to everyone who camps, regardless of experience or budget. All our tools remain free and accessible worldwide.
• Evidence-Based: Our tools and guides draw on established standards, proven formulas, and widely accepted gear-industry conventions. We refine our content based on trusted references and expert input.
• Community-Driven: User feedback drives our development. We listen to our community of campers, backpackers, and weekend adventurers and continuously improve our tools based on real-world usage and suggestions.
• Privacy Focused:Your data stays private. We don’t collect personal information, track usage patterns, or sell data. Use our tools with complete privacy confidence.
• Modern & Mobile: Tools work perfectly on any device, from a phone at the trailhead to a tablet in the tent or a laptop at home while you plan. A responsive layout ensures optimal usability everywhere.

Our Expertise

StockTent’s tools and guides are developed and maintained by a team with extensive camping experience across multiple areas:

• Tent Selection: Experience with backpacking, family, and glamping tents, freestanding and trekking-pole designs, and helping campers understand what suits each kind of trip.
• Materials & Waterproofing: Specialized knowledge of canvas versus nylon, coatings and hydrostatic-head ratings, seam sealing, and the re-proofing that keeps a shelter dry season after season.
• Pack Weight & Setup: Expert understanding of base weight, pitching technique, guy-line tensioning, and the campsite setup that turns a rough site into a comfortable camp.
• Cost of Gear: Comprehensive experience with kit budgets, category-by-category costs, and the total cost of a camping setup so you can plan with confidence.
• Seasons & Conditions: Practical knowledge of three-season and four-season ratings, wind and rain performance, and reading conditions so you get the most dependable read on what a trip demands.
• Research Collaboration: Ongoing reliance on authoritative outdoor references and reputable gear resources.

Our team includes experienced campers, writers, and reviewers who bring years of combined time outdoors to tool development. We regularly consult authoritative references and trusted experts to ensure our content reflects current best practices. Our content is general informational and educational content only, and is not a substitute for professional outdoor-safety training — always follow manufacturer guidance and practice safe outdoor and wilderness habits before acting on anything you read here.

Looking Forward

The future of camping lies in the intelligent combination of hard-won experience with modern tools and clear knowledge. At StockTent, we’re committed to staying at the forefront of this evolution.

Our development roadmap includes expanded tools for tent sizing, waterproofing, pack weight, and gear budgeting. We’re also working on multilingual support to serve the global community of campers better, and developing specialized guidance for different trips, seasons, and styles of camping.

Most importantly, we remain committed to keeping our tools free and accessible. As we grow, we’ll continue to prioritize user needs, ensuring that everyone has access to practical camping tools regardless of their budget.

Connect With Us

Have questions, suggestions, or feedback about our tools? We’d love to hear from you. Our community of campers, backpackers, and weekend adventurers drives everything we do. Get in touch.