Tell me about your backpacking tent!

[PicNick]

I have been a juge fan of snugpak. They have a ton of different types of tents, all are light weight and easy to set up. They have several that would fit your description of what you are looking for.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using OB Talk mobile app

When I'm hammock camping, I use their underquilt in the winter. It was the best mix of price/quality/warmth. I've slept with their underquilt, a 25F sleeping bag, and a rainfly in upper 20F weather and actually got pretty warm. I had to leave my sleeping bag slightly unzipped to keep from sweating!

 

[sabjku]

Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1 when it’s just me-under 2lbs and a lifetime warranty. It’s a small tent but works for me. Friends refer to it as a Bear Burrito[emoji16]


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

 

[SVgarage]

^^^I have the 2-person version of that tent. I think it's called a Lunar Light. 20 years old. What have tent manufacturers been doing all that time to improve on it's design?

The 2-person version of that tent is the TNF Tadpole. I've got one of those. Bought it back long ago...

 

[True North]

I use the Nemo Dagger 3P for my wife and I. Spacious, high quality, but also very light for a 3 person tent.

 

[m_lars]

We’ve got 4 “good” tents in our house. A Marmot Ajax 3, Mountain Hardwear Optic 3.5, Sierra Designs Clip 2 and a Clip 3. My wife and I use the Marmot with our 7yo and have plenty of room. It has vestibules on both of the long sides. I’m 5’11” and have plenty of room to have gear at my head or feet. It weights just shy of 7 lbs, in the bag with extra stakes and a diy tyvek footprint. The Mountain Hardware is a little different with 2 doors/vestibules 90 degrees to each other. It’s huge, nearly square, and easily fits my 2 teenage boys and the dog. Weights 7 lbs 3 oz in the bag with stakes and footprint. The Sierra Designs are not freestanding, where the other 2 are. They’re similar to the TNF tents mentioned earlier with 1 door on the end and tapering way down at the feet. The 2 person weights in at 4lbs 11oz in the bag, the 3 person is with my daughter so I couldn’t weight it. I’d recommend any of them. Mountain Hardwear’s warranty dept was wonderful. The fist time it was set up we got a tear in the fly that no one knew how it got there. Sent it in and they fixed it super fast with no charge, even though it was clearly NOT a defect.

 

[MTN RNR]

When I'm backpacking alone with my dog I use the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2 mtnGLO tent. It's super light and has built in LED lights which are cool, but not a necessity. It sets up and breaks down quickly and is very wind proof and rain proof (wind is the ultimate enemy when backpacking). But two drawbacks to this tent: 1) it's pricy - I got mine on sale. 2) It's not very roomy. When I'm backpacking with someone I'm sharing the tent with I use the REI quarter dome. We will split up the tent to spread the weight. I've spent several days in a row stuck in that tent with my daughter and all our backpacking gear in wind, rain, hail and it held up great (not so sure about me). I've used it for years. I've done a lot of backpacking my whole life. I'd say tent technology has really improved over the years. I would look for the following:
1) How is the tent in the wind - easy set-up? Noisy or quiet? Can it packed up easily in the wind.
2) I love having a vestibule. Great place to keep boots especially when it's raining. Keeps the tent much cleaner (that means the tent lasts longer).
3) What does it weigh? I used never worry about weight 50 or 60 lbs for a 7-8 day trip no prob. No so anymore. Since turning 60 weight has become more of a concern.
4) Other people have mentioned this before but the fewer stakes required for set-up the better and the fewer guy lines for the rainfly the better. If you are only going to be below tree line this is not such and issue other than for time to setup/takedown. Above treelike a freestanding tent is required.
5) Lastly do you need a 3 or 4 season tent. Tents for winter need to be a bit more stout and are heavier. I lost a tent in an avalanche on Mt. Shasta once - don't think anything could be stout enough for that ;-)

Then you need to figure in the whole budget thing.....

There are a lot of good tents these days, but that's how I would prioritize my selection for backpacking.