Here are some great backpacking tents to help you get away from it all.
Sick of the crowded, dedicated campgrounds in your local State Park or National Forest? Ready to leave car camping behind and get out deep into the backcountry this season? We don't blame you. Sometimes you just feel like getting away from it all. As any hiker will tell you, a good backpacking trip is good for both the health and the soul.
The best backpacking tents on the market will make your adventure much more enjoyable. It's your most essential piece of backpacking gear when you think about it.
What should you buy for your new camping tent? We have some suggestions of lightweight tents that offer superior protection from the elements without adding too much trail weight to your backpack. We're including a variety of one and two person tents on this list. Whatever your preference, you're sure to find something that will fit your needs.
Outdoor Vitals Dominion 1 and 2-person Ultralight Backpacking Tent
Travis Smola
I tested the one-person model of this ultralight tent last year and can vouch that it is a quality piece of camping gear that backpackers will love. You get a tent with a 30 denier ripstop nylon bathtub floor and a 15-denier nylon rainfly. That, along with the silicon waterproof coatings help this tent shed water quite nicely. The entire package is also incredibly compact when rolled up. I own several tents and this one is easily the lightest of the bunch. Just remember the interior space of the one-person is quite small. If you're six feet or taller and need a little more space, consider the two-person.
Alps Mountaineering Lynx One-Person
This budget tent is incredibly cheap at just $103, but it has exceptional online reviews for quality. This freestanding tent design uses aluminum tent poles and clips to quickly snap together. It features a 75 denier 185T polyester fly that is coated against UV damage. The floor is a 75 denier 185T poly taffeta floor that is also coated. Vestibules add additional storage space and allow you to keep your muddy boots from tracking dirt into the tent's interior. This one-person tent also features multiple storage pockets and a gear loft to keep your small camping items neat and organized. The one downside is that it is heavier at five pounds, so you will have to watch the weight ratio of what you're packing with your backpacking gear. For anyone just starting out backpacking though, this is a solid tent choice.
Snugpak Journey One and Two-Person models
This bivvi tent is built to have an extremely low profile and comes in one and two-person models. This tent features an aluminum pole design and has a 75 denier 185T polyester rainfly. The tent's interior is a 190T polyester with durable water repellent applied. This is a bathtub style tent with a 210T polyester floor. A bonus with this one is a full mosquito net inner. Helpful because nothing disrupts a good night's sleep quite like bugs. Packed up, the whole tent is only about 23 inches long and has a low weight of approximately 4.4 pounds according to Snugpak's specifications. This tent is also very affordable at $130.
Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 Backpacking Tents
These one to four person backpacking tents are slightly more expensive than some of the other models on this list, but it is also one of the highest-rated ones on Amazon. Users praise the tent body of this model for its incredible light weight and livability. The Copper Spur 2 Platinum weighs just a little over two pounds! That means more room for sleeping bags, cooking gear and firestarters. They're also packed with features like storm flaps on the large vestibule zippers, media pockets and vestibules for extra storage space. The floors of these tents feature a 1200mm waterproof rating in case you like to camp in and explore extremely wet areas.
Kelty Grand Mesa
This lightweight backpacking tent comes in one and two-person models and is offered at an affordable price point for most newer backpackers who want good equipment. This is a three-season tent with a simple, two-pole structure design. The seams are fully taped. The dimensions are 85 inches long by 57 inches high with a peak height of 43 inches. The Grand Mesas also feature a six-foot vestibule area. This tent manages to carry a 4.5-star rating on Amazon over hundreds of ratings. Most praise the tent for being extremely light and good at keeping out the moisture when it rains.
Nemo Hornet
This is arguably one of the best tents on the market right now. For anyone looking for more room in their stuff sacks, but still want the space a 2-person tent provides, consider the Hornet. Somehow, Nemo has managed to make tents that weigh only about one pound, 11 ounces. When fully packed down, the two-person model is only 19.5x5.5 inches. That leaves a ton of room for other gear storage in your bag. The rainfly is a 10-denier nylon ripstop fabric with silicone water repellent applied. The floor is 1200mm waterproof to get you through the worst that nature can dish out. These tents use a unique flybar expansion system that Nemo says gives more headroom inside. These tents aren't cheap at around $367, but Nemo does offer a lifetime warranty. These tents also carry extremely high online reviews from serious backpackers who only use the best of the best.
Marmot Tungsten One-Person
This ultralight tent uses sidewalls that are slightly more vertical than some of the other tents on this list. The idea here is to make a tent that has a bit more room than most models. It's also built to withstand the elements with a 68-denier rainfly that covers the whole tent. The polyurethane-coated floor is also a durable 68-denier. The sidewall and shell are a polyester taffeta. The whole tent weighs just three pounds, eight ounces. This tent carries almost exclusive five-star reviews on Cabela's website. Users praise this one for how well it keeps out the elements.
Crua Outdoors Hybrid Tent Hammock
If you're looking for a little more versatility in your tent, a hybrid tent/hammock like this is a good option to consider. It's a traditional bivouac design, but if you don't like the cold, hard ground, you can suspend it between two trees as a hammock too. The inner layer is mesh, so you can open this tent up for a nice breeze on those warmer summer nights. If trees aren't readily available, it also has a bottom built for camping on the ground with a sleeping pad. It's nice to have some versatility in your camping options when you're deep in the backcountry.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his YouTube channel.
NEXT: GEAR REVIEW: THE OUTDOOR VITALS DOMINION 1P ULTRALIGHT BACKPACKING TENT
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