Ultralight backpacking tents are a very good choice if you’re attempting to scale back the burden of your backpacking gear however you’re unwilling to surrender the consolation of a tent and sleep underneath a tarp with out insect safety. The lightest weight ultralight backpacking tents are sometimes made with Dyneema Composite Materials (DCF) and use trekking poles as an alternative of tent poles to avoid wasting weight. Whereas many are single-wall tents and extra vulnerable to inner condensation, some are double-wall tents or a hybrid mixture of the 2. However don’t low cost tents made with extra typical materials which are freestanding, extra wind worthy, longer for tall folks, or extra spacious, particularly for {couples}. There has by no means been a greater time than now to purchase a light-weight tent.
Listed here are the ten greatest ultralight backpacking tents that we advocate.
See our recommendation on the backside of the web page for recommendation about how to decide on between these completely different choices.
1. Zpacks Duplex Tent (2P)
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Zpacks
2. Gossamer Gear “The One” (1P)
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Gossamer Gear
3. Durston X-Mid 1 (1P)
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Kasovo Outside
4. NEMO Hornet Elite OSMO 2 (2P)
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REI | Backcountry | NEMO
5. Tarptent Double Rainbow (2P)
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Tarptent
6. Zpacks Plex Solo (1P)
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Zpacks
7. Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo (1P)
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Six Moon Designs
8. Tarptent Notch Li (1P)
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Tarptent
9. Hyperlite Mountain Gear Unbound 2 (2P)
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Hyperlite Mountain Gear
10. Tarptent Dipole (2P)
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Tarptent
Ultralight Backpacking Tent Choice Information
The backpacking tent producers who make trekking poles tents use a variety of various supplies and designs. When looking for a tent, it’s essential to grasp the tradeoffs of the fashions you’re contemplating and the way they’ll complement your adventures.
Ultralight Tent Supplies and Value Factors
Trekking poles tents can be found in quite a lot of completely different supplies and at completely different worth factors. Dyneema DCF is the lightest weight materials and the costliest, partially as a result of it requires specialised manufacturing processes. Tents made with Silpoly, Silnylon, and PU coated silnylon are a lot cheaper than Dyneema as a result of they are often sewn utilizing typical strategies. They’re additionally roughly comparable in worth. It’d be tough to say which is the most effective cloth to make tents with as a result of cloth high quality varies broadly relying on the producer and specification to which it’s made. That stated, ultralight tentmakers are starting to modify away from silnylon to silpoly as a result of it has much less stretch than silnylon and absorbs much less water.
- Tents made with Dyneema DCF are very costly, but in addition very light-weight, waterproof, and robust. They’re extra susceptible to wreck from daylight over the long run, however that’s seldom a problem for most individuals. Dyneema tents should be folded when packed not stuffed, however can nonetheless be surprisingly cumbersome regardless of their low weight.
- Tents made with siliconized polyester (silpoly) are a pretty various to Dyneema DCF as a result of they don’t stretch a lot in a single day or once they get moist from rain. They’re additionally far cheaper and a few are seam-taped, so you need to use them out of the field with none seam sealing.
- Tents made with PU-coated silnylon are usually extra waterproof than common silnylon, however you have to evaluate their waterproofing specs to make certain. The chief good thing about the PU coating over common silnylon is improved UV resistance and the truth that the fabric may be manufacturing unit seam-taped.
- Tents made with silnylon are nonetheless frequent as a result of it’s a simple materials for producers to work with. Whereas silnylon does stretch at night time and when it will get moist, it’s not as huge a deal as folks make it out to be. Silnylon tents should be manually seam-sealed earlier than they can be utilized in wet climate. Whereas you are able to do this your self, my recommendation can be to pay the producer to do it for you so that you get a tent that’s prepared for use when it arrives.
Single-wall vs Double-wall Tents
Ultralight backpacking tents can be found in single-wall and double-wall fashions, with separate internal tents. Whereas each are prone to inner condensation, the benefit of a double-wall tent is the moisture collects on the underside of the rainfly and never on a wall that has contact along with your sleeping bag, quilt, or different gear. The internal tent and rainfly on many double-wall tents can be used independently from each other, for instance as a standalone tarp or as a bug bivy, which might prolong their utility. The benefit of a single-wall tent over a double-wall one is often decreased weight.
If tent condensation ever turns into a problem for you, we advocate carrying a small absorbent face towel to wipe it away. Tent condensation is a small worth to pay for decreased gear weight and it received’t kill you until you’re a witch (wizard-0f-Ozreference).
Headroom
Many ultralight backpacking tents pole tents have a pyramid form which might restrict the quantity of headroom and foot room out there underneath the sloping ceiling. Mendacity in your again and observing a ceiling that’s three inches out of your face may be unpleasantly claustrophobic. Be sure to look at the size of the tents you’re contemplating, along with their peak heights.
Trekking pole tents that require two poles to arrange often have two peaks, which might enhance the quantity of livable house overhead, in comparison with a one-pole tent. Some tent producers additionally cut back the slope of the ceiling to create extra headroom. The most effective instance of that is Tarptent’s use of carbon fiber finish struts to extend the quantity of room underneath the ceilings on the head and foot ends of their tents. The draw back of those finish struts is that it may make tents tougher to pack horizontally in a backpack.
Vestibules
Vestibules are good for gear storage, particularly moist gear storage, and for cooking underneath cowl in windy or wet climate. Most one-pole tents have a single vestibule, whereas two-pole tents usually have two. When shopping for a two-person tent, you’ll undoubtedly need two doorways and two vestibules so you may every have your personal entrance and equipment storage space. It can be fairly helpful to have two doorways and two vestibules on a one-person tent, particularly when you anticipate stormy climate circumstances the place you may need to hunker down in your tent for a day. For that matter, many individuals use two-person tents as solo tents, one thing that’s possible and not using a main weight penalty since most ultralight backpacking tents are fairly light-weight.
Pole Size
While you select a trekking pole tent, you wish to be sure that it’s suitable with the make and mannequin of trekking pole you utilize you probably have a desire. Fastened-length poles that aren’t adjustable may be tough to make use of with trekking pole tents which have very particular peak necessities. As well as, you wish to be sure that your trekking pole handles are suitable if they’ve a non-standard grip.
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