Check out TarpTent!
Great quality, great value, light weight... You will never talk to someone who owns a tarptent and is not happy with it.
TarpTent would be my first recommendation. Good balance between weight and durability. My Notch is going on 200 miles without any visible wear or tear.
ZPacks if you can afford it, but will have much less durability than a TarpTent, but lighter weight. I bought one but it was too lightweight for me. Missed the features of my TarpTent, and it only saved me 10oz.
REI Passage 2 (tight for 2 people though) would be the heavier, more durable option. Also decently priced. I have one that I only use for base camp but it is very well built.
not long distance hikers
2 people to split weight
Any number of $100-150 tents will work great.
After that, you pay more generally for less weight, and less durability.
If its one person in a 2P tent, you want to pay for that $$2 lb tent. 2 people can split a 4 lb tent fine.
If interested, I have a REI Half Dome 2 HC tent I would be willing to sell you for $125 plus shipping. Send me a PM if interested and I can get you pictures.
are you sure this isnt just condensation on the inside of tent?Originally Posted by tim.hiker
Yea just a cheaper $40 tent I have water proof few times seems to help some...
I would vote for the Double Rainbow. My wife and I just got ours a few months ago and love it! Plenty big and has two good sized vestibules for storing gear.There are a ton of options but I'm personally addicted to Tarp Tents. I use the Rainbow and it' definitely the best tent I've ever owned. It's a single person but could fit 2 in a squeeze (definitely the wife, maybe not a guy friend). They also have the Double Rainbow.
http://www.tarptent.com/double-rainbow.html
I've got the one and two man LLBean Microlight tents (http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/80579...ductId=1337511), and I love them. They are freestanding and durable. They are not as light as some mentioned here, but they Beans has a lot of sales throughout the year. I would stay away from a tarp tent and the really ultralight tents if you are newcomers to backpacking.
We have the Kelty Salida 2 - http://www.kelty.com/p-497-salida-2.aspx and have really liked it. You can find it for about $150 with a little looking. The TarpTent is a lot lighter, but also more expensive.
2005 SOBO Attempt (500 miles)
2024 (?) SOBO Planning
A cheaper option for weight and durability iabthe kelty th2. It is one of their new 'll models and is packed with features for the price. I own a contrail, rainbow, and a lunar duo and when packing with my girlfriend actually prefer the th2 to the smd. And I am a big smd fan. You can get it to.4 lbs and it has a lot of room for what it is. Two doors, full mesh inner, 2 vestibules dac poles and very roomy I interior. I would get it over an Msr any day but everyone like a something different. I have heard lots of stories of the hibbas not holding up well in severe wind.
For whatever reason there were a lot of unhappy REI halfdome hikers on the trail last year. I always asked about them because I nearly bought one, but there was lots of complaints about poor design and getting wet and they overall weight was heavy.
Quarter dome is a much better choice for serious backpack than a half dome. That being said being unhappy about a known characteristic like weight after the fact is pretty dumb, if you want a sub 3lb two person shelter all you gotta do is pay for it.
My bad, quarter dome was what i meant to say. Quarter Dome is the single and Half is the double (sounds right)???
No they are different series, you can get both in a 2p. Half domes are little heavier, and cheaper cheaper. I NOBO'd with a Quarter Dome T1 and it was pretty good. I still have a Quarter Dome t2 for hiking with my partner, but I became a SMD guy on my SOBO and am sticking with that for solo trips.
our passage 2 has been dumped on time after time in deluges that lasted all night. not more than a drop ever made it into the tent. a LOT cheaper than the domes, and while heavier, easy if you split the weight. love this tent for duo camping. really pleased. plus, i got it at 119 on sale. but at 159 its a steal still and with your 20% member coupon you can likely get it at my price. double doors and double vestibules too.
Doin' the trail one section at a time
You can read about my adventures at http://happyonthetrails.wordpress.com/
did i mention freestanding and easy as can be to set up. only upgrade i'd recommend with all that dough you save is lighter stakes but the ones that come with it aren't bad. i use msr micro groundhogs but if you want hook style go for vargo titanium stakes. we sleep very comfortably in it and it has pockets and a gear loft.
Doin' the trail one section at a time
You can read about my adventures at http://happyonthetrails.wordpress.com/
REI Passage 2:
http://www.rei.com/product/810115/re...tent#tab-specs
Alps Zenith 3 AL
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/alps-mountaineering-zenith-3-al-tent-3-person-3-season~p~1480c/?filterString=s~zenith-3-al%2F&colorFamily=03
They both look like good options, but the Zephyr gives you a little extra space and can be picked up for about $100 if you grab a coupon. It sets up almost instantly and includes a gear loft.
Anecdotally I have found that I get less condensation under the rain fly of my Kelty tents than my Big Agnes tents. I've used both in the humid GSMNP. The BA tents seem to always have condensation regardless of the conditions where my Kelty tents only seem to Occasionally get condensation.
If you can get a Gunnison for less than $125, I think you will be quite happy given the amount of money spent.
Last edited by HooKooDooKu; 04-04-2015 at 03:01. Reason: Dang auto correct changing Kelty into Kelly.
My wife and I use a Tarp Tent Rainshadow II.
It's a little more than your budget but It's worked very well for us for years.
It's light weight, roomy, and does a very good job at keeping out the weather and the bugs.
It gives us enough room to bring in our dog, and whatever gear we want with us.
Did the OP say that he preferred freestanding? That makes a big difference. I've got one of each, but platforms make non-freestanding a real pain to set up.
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