Answers
One question, one straight answer
57 questions, each on its own page, each answered in a few hundred words rather than buried at the bottom of a listicle. Where the honest answer is "the maker publishes a number that is not measured to any standard", it says so.
Choosing
How each family differs, what to buy first, and what the words on the packaging actually mean.
Fit & dimensions
Packed length, pole diameter, canister thread, cartridge micron rating — the measurements that decide whether a part fits the kit you already own.
Weight & packed size
Why trail weight and packed weight are different numbers, what each maker counts in theirs, and how to compare two that are not the same.
Warmth ratings
What EN 13537 and ISO 23537 comfort, limit and extreme figures are, what they are measured on, and why they are an indication rather than a promise.
Water treatment
What a filter maker states — micron rating, flow, cartridge life — and where the manufacturer instructions and local authorities take over.
Materials & fabrics
Denier, siliconised nylon, DWR, down against synthetic, and what each choice costs in weight, price and care.
Weather & waterproofing
Hydrostatic head on fly and floor, taped seams, and why condensation is not a leak.
Stoves & fuel
Screw-thread against bayonet canisters, what happens to gas in the cold, and which stoves take which cartridge.
Power & light
Lumens against runtime, IP ratings, and what a solar panel peak figure is measured under.
Pitching & setup
Guying out, pegging in ground that will not take a peg, and choosing a spot that stays dry.
Care & repair
Washing a down bag, reproofing a fly, patching a mat, and what makes a repair last past the next trip.
When it goes wrong
A mat that goes down overnight, a stove that fades in the cold, a tent that drips on the inside.