If you plan on enjoying the great outdoors, you will be taking part in a tradition that extends back to antiquity. Mankind lived outdoors before we invented- or borrowed from caves; the notion of inside. The first efforts at producing shelter were tents, and handily enough tents are still utilised in camping, hiking, and backpacking today. Actually, tents represent just one of a variety of pieces of outdoor gear that many enthusiasts own.
Back at the age where the complete time job of humanity was that the hunter gatherer lifestyle, we followed a nomadic way of life. This drifting took us into climates that were not always friendly to our own sensibilities. The simplest and most effective approach to deal with that was to take shelter during the night, in addition to in inclement weather. Tents were a powerful form of shelter because the tribe could deliver tents together wherever they went. They could fold up and readily transport over rough terrain.
The first tents were made of animal skins, with timber making up the framework of the tent. The process of tanning turned into the skins into highly durable leather, instead of mere creature skins that could decompose quickly. The tanned hides can be wrapped around the wooden frame to protect it while in transport.
However, how do you carry a tent about? Opposable thumbs are great and all, however they do not appear to be much use for heavy lifting. (Seriously; try encouraging a lot of weight with your thumb sometime and tell me how that goes for you) Well, ancient guys also had the foresight to invent many other things, one of which was the package. Today there is a whole outdoor activity named after the bunch; backpacking.
Modern backpacks, tents, and other outdoor gear bear little resemblance to their ancient predecessors. For one, instead of being used in everyday life, and supposed to hold up to the wear and tear of use over time, contemporary outdoor gear is constructed for minimalists. It's about the lightest weight materials providing the most impact per ounce. Whether it's your back pack, your tent, or your clothing, what's min/maxed to the extreme.
This maxim holds true for nearly all outdoor activities as well. Mountain bikes, kayaking, snow sports, climbing; they all attempt to give you the lightest weight equipment that can perform the job. This also contributes to intriguing unions of technology along with the ruggedness of character. Carbon fiber tent poles unite with space age fabrics... and sit on dirt and rocks. The irony inherent in the mating of two such divergent worlds shouldn't be missing on any outdoorsman.