Ultralight backpacking tents are choice once you’re attempting to cut back the load of your backpacking gear however you’re unwilling to surrender the consolation of a tent and sleep below 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 a substitute of tent poles to avoid wasting weight. Whereas many are single-wall tents and extra susceptible 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 individuals, or extra spacious, particularly for {couples}. There has by no means been a greater time than now to purchase a light-weight tent.
Listed below are the ten finest 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 Open air
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 searching for a tent, it’s vital to grasp the tradeoffs of the fashions you’re contemplating and the way they will complement your adventures.
Ultralight Tent Supplies and Worth Factors
Trekking poles tents can be found in a wide range of completely different supplies and at completely different worth factors. Dyneema DCF is the lightest weight materials and the most costly, 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 troublesome to say which is the very best cloth to make tents with as a result of cloth high quality varies extensively relying on the producer and specification to which it’s made. That stated, ultralight tentmakers are starting to change 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 additionally very light-weight, waterproof, and robust. They’re extra inclined to break from daylight over the long run, however that’s seldom a problem for most individuals. Dyneema tents have to 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 lovely 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 should utilize 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 sure. The chief good thing about the PU coating over common silnylon is improved UV resistance and the truth that the fabric might be manufacturing unit seam-taped.
- Tents made with silnylon are nonetheless frequent as a result of it’s a straightforward materials for producers to work with. Whereas silnylon does stretch at evening and when it will get moist, it’s not as massive a deal as individuals make it out to be. Silnylon tents have to 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 together 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 lengthen their utility. The benefit of a single-wall tent over a double-wall one is often diminished 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 diminished gear weight and it received’t kill you except you’re a witch (wizard-0f-Ouncesreference).
Headroom
Many ultralight backpacking tents pole tents have a pyramid form which might restrict the quantity of headroom and foot room accessible below the sloping ceiling. Mendacity in your again and watching a ceiling that’s three inches out of your face might be unpleasantly claustrophobic. Ensure you study 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 improve the quantity of livable house overhead, in comparison with a one-pole tent. Some tent producers additionally scale back the slope of the ceiling to create extra headroom. The perfect instance of that is Tarptent’s use of carbon fiber finish struts to extend the quantity of room below the ceilings on the head and foot ends of their tents. The draw back of those finish struts is that it could possibly make tents more durable to pack horizontally in a backpack.
Vestibules
Vestibules are good for gear storage, particularly moist gear storage, and for cooking below 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 possibly can every have your individual entrance and equipment storage space. It can be fairly helpful to have two doorways and two vestibules on a one-person tent, particularly for those who anticipate stormy climate circumstances the place you might 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 with no main weight penalty since most ultralight backpacking tents are fairly light-weight.
Pole Size
While you select a trekking pole tent, you need to guarantee that it’s suitable with the make and mannequin of trekking pole you employ if in case you have a desire. Fastened-length poles that aren’t adjustable might be troublesome to make use of with trekking pole tents which have very particular peak necessities. As well as, you need to guarantee that your trekking pole handles are suitable if they’ve a non-standard grip.
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