Hmm, I agree it's probably not the most eloquent man page ever, however:
Tape Drive Special File Characteristics
Special File Name Rewind-on-Close Retension-on-Open Bytes per Inch
/dev/rmt* Yes No Density setting #1
/dev/rmt*.1 No No Density setting #1
/dev/rmt*.2 Yes Yes Density setting #1
/dev/rmt*.3 No Yes Density setting #1
/dev/rmt*.4 Yes No Density setting #2
/dev/rmt*.5 No No Density setting #2
/dev/rmt*.6 Yes Yes Density setting #2
/dev/rmt*.7 No Yes Density setting #2
does at least give you a clue. Using your examples:
rmt0.1 will rewind on the close of a save, but not retension the tape when it is opened for writing. rmt0.5, on the other hand will not rewind the tape at the end of a save and will not retension it when opening for a save. As far as density settings #1 and #2 are concerned, the man page has this to say:
" 1. The values of density setting #1 and density setting #2 come from tape drive attributes that can be set using SMIT. Typically density setting #1 is set to the highest possible density for the tape drive while density setting #2 is set to a lower density. However, density settings are not required to follow this pattern."
HTH.