Tents. Do you really need one?

Really do your homework on what you want a tent for. Again lots of variables, a single person tent, two person tent, shape, water-proof-ness. Do you really need a tent? at this early stage in your adventures perhaps save your money and look at doing your trips so that you stay in huts. This will save you buying a tent at this stage and perhaps use that money to buy a better pack, sleeping bag or boots or some other items that you will use more often than a tent. And really how often are you going to use a tent?

Two different types of tent. A single and double persons tents.  

Is a bivvy bag of more use? (a bivvy bag is like a waterproof sleeping bag cover)  In my opinion for a new adventurer don't buy a bivvy bag. They are more hassle than they are worth. If you really want, a tent is by far the better option. More room for you and gear or partner. You can sit up in it and move around, get dressed or undressed in a tent and remain dry if raining, you could cook in a tent and protect you from the wind/rain and bugs.. But you can't do any of this in a bivvy bag unless you set up a tent fly over the top of your bivvy bag, well then you might as well have a tent.

A Bivvy bag with fly set up. Might as well just have a tent. 

A double person tent allows that much more more for you and gear. 

Assuming you are going to buy a tent, for lightness of use, a single person tent is best but there isn't much room, at a real squeeze you could get two people in one. A two person tent is a bit heavier but a bit more room and strangely enough you can get two people in one. Look at the tent floor as far as it's water proofness and also the tent fly's water proofness. The better it can handle heavy rain fall the better as we can get some real heavy downpours. Sometimes, especially when helicoptering into an area for say a week's hunting I will also take another larger tent fly and rig it up over my tent, this allows me to stay dry under the fly, get dressed, dry damp or wet cloths but more importantly it protects my tent from getting really soaked so it stays drier.

A west cost week long hunting trip. The fly adds the extra level of rain protection.

As I keep saying a good quality tent will cost you, anywhere from perhaps $400 up to $1000 or more.

I have two tents, a single person light weight Macpac Micro light tent for solo trips where weight is an issue (it weighs around 1.2kg's)  and then a two person four season Alpine tent (it weighs around 2.2kg's) for when flying into areas for longer trips. Shop around, ask others what they use, try borrow some to test from friends, like everything, not all tents are made equal, some are better than others and as a rule you will pay for good quality but again money well spent.

My MacPac Microlight tent, ideal for a single person getaway. 

If you buy a cheap tent, say from the Warehouse, it might be OK for use in summer or on those trips where there is a huge high over the country but you might find in a  heavy rainfall your Warehouse tent isn't as waterproof as they have made out. If it's pelting down and suddenly you can feel mist coming through the tent, everything is going to get soaked. Not good. I have had this happen to me on a West coast hunting trip. We fixed the issue by putting up a waterproof fly over the whole tent. Lucky we had one. This is why buying a good quality tent is worth paying that bit extra.